Miller County Republican Committee Monthly Meeting

Miller County Republican Committee’s monthly meeting is at 6:30 p.m. Monday at Big Jake’s BBQ on Arkansas Boulevard.

The meeting will host Circuit Judge Jake Looney of the 18th West Judicial District. Looney is a candidate for Position 1, District 4 on the Arkansas Court of Appeals. The position serves Miller, Little River, Hempstead, Hot Springs, Howard, Logan, Montgomery, Pike, Polk, Scott, Sebastian, Sevier and Yell counties.

The meeting is open to the public.
For information, call Clinton Thomas at 870-774-0505 or visit millercountygop.com.

Judge Jake Looney

Judge Jake Looney, Circuit Judge for the 18^th West Judicial Circuit (Polk and Montgomery Counties) is a candidate for election to the Arkansas Court of Appeals, District 4, Position 1 in the May 2012 Non-partisan Judicial Election. District 4 consists of fifteen counties in Southwest and Western Arkansas.

Judge Looney is in his second term as Circuit Judge and as the only judge in the circuit handles all Criminal, Civil, Family, Juvenile and Probate cases. Prior to his election he taught law for twenty years at the University of Arkansas School of Law in Fayetteville where he was founding director of the Graduate Program in Agricultural Law and served for eight years as Dean of the School of Law. He previously taught at the undergraduate level for seven years and in secondary schools for three.  Previous legal experience includes the practice of law in Mena and service as Deputy Prosecuting Attorney for Polk and Little River counties.

During his academic career Judge Looney taught a wide range of law courses including Agricultural Law, Water Law, Environmental Law, Contracts, Sales, Comparative Law and International Law. He published six books and over 150 articles in legal journals and other outlets.

 He is a former President of the American Agricultural Law Association; served as a Special Assistant Attorney General to advise the Arkansas Water Code Study Commission and on the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission. He is a member of the American Judges Association, the American Council of Family and Juvenile Court Judges and is on the faculty of the National Judicial College.

Judge Looney graduated from Mena High School and attended Southern Arkansas University and then the University of Arkansas where he received the B.S.A. degree in Agriculture. He holds two M.S. degrees from the University of Missouri, one in Animal Science and one in Agricultural Economics. His law degree is from the University of Missouri-Kansas City where he was a member of the law review.  A strong advocate of life long education, Judge Looney more recently completed a M.A. degree in History at  the University of Arkansas and a M.J.S. in Judicial Studies at the University of Nevada-Reno in conjunction with the National Judicial College. He is currently a candidate for the PhD in Judicial Studies at UNR and will complete all degree requirements next year.

He and his wife of 47 years, Era, own and operate Shadowridge Ranch, a commercial cattle operation in Polk County and raise, for fun, spotted donkeys. They have one son, Jason, who works for Comprehensive Juvenile Services.

Note: Article provided by campaign to elect Judge Jake Looney.

2012: A New Year

Today is January 2, 2012.  Today I posted my new calendar called “Reagan Ranch” from the Young America’s Foundation (http://www.yaf.org).  The foundation owns and maintains Ronald Reagan’s famous Rancho del Cielo home.   The ranch, know as “The White House of the West” during the Reagan years, hosted meetings, press conferences, daily work, and ultimately relaxation for one of the most beloved Republican Presidents of all time.

As I posted the new calendar right next to the computer screen where this article is now appearing, I noticed that the first month has a section called “Ronald Reagan On America’s Future.”  It is fitting that at the start of each year American’s should look to what the future holds.  Reagan was always looking forward and many of the things he said, wrote, and discussed with others dealt with the future of America.  He knew he would not see the future, but he also knew the groundwork for any future had to be completed daily.  We complete the groundwork for the future when we build a new school, a new building, and a new road.  We complete the groundwork for the future when we raise up our children, teach new generations about America, and each time a new man or woman completes military training.  We complete the groundwork for the future when Americans expand their education, expand into arts and literature, and expand into the world of science.   The one quote from Reagan that seemed to encompass all these ideas on this calendar is “America’s best days are yet to come.”

Reagan believed with all his heart that America’s best days were ahead.  He saw a future of freedom, success, and a positioning of the United States as a world leader of peace and prosperity.  He saw this because he saw that Americans, no matter what they have faced, have always risen above the call and thrived.

When the Republican Party was first founded, it was built on the principals that no man should own another.  In other words, slavery in the United States was wrong.  The party positioned itself to defeat slavery.  Later the party would support the right of former slaves to vote, the rights of women to vote, the civil rights movement, and even the right for African American school children to attend public school.  The party would go on to fight Communism and dictators around the world and hundreds of other causes.  The party once again stands on the threshold of a threat against American freedoms. 

Today America is threatened by those who would remove freedoms and hand them over to foreign powers.  America faces a government that threatens to remove even the basic rights to arms.  America faces a war within to dismantle freedom as we know it and ensure that no generation ever understands freedom again. 

So as the new year sets in and calendars go up in offices, homes, schools, and establishments across the country, remember that the “best days are yet to come,” but know they will not come without work.  When Reagan went to Rancho Del Cielo, he went to rest and relax, but he also worked.  He worked because America can never shut down business.  Not one second can go by where Americans are not conscience of the work at hand or there will be no freedom for the next generation.  So as 2012 gets underway, celebrate, enjoy, and look to another year of greatness for America, but also look to a year of dedication, work, and preparation.  Make sure that generations to come remember that to have the best day yet, requires the work of today no matter when today is on the calendar.