Editor, The Commercial:
(This is a statement from Jefferson County Sheriff Lafayette Woods Jr. on the death of Sgt. Joshua Caudell, who was killed Monday.)
Today is a very sad day for the state of Arkansas and the entire law enforcement community. Today, Arkansas Department of Corrections Sgt. Joshua Caudell was shot and killed in the line of duty. Sgt. Caudell was a 10-year veteran of the Arkansas Department of Corrections and a sworn law enforcement officer as-signed to ADC’s K-9 Unit.
As Sheriff of Jefferson County, I extend my deepest condolences on behalf of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office to the family, friends, and fellow officers of Arkansas Department of Corrections Sgt. Joshua Caudell.
Sgt. Caudell, 29, was killed in the line of duty this morning, while attempting to apprehend a suspect.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Sgt. Caudell, along with fellow ADC K-9 Unit personnel, displayed an immense capacity for responding to the aid of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office when called upon. The professionalism exhibited and assistance provided by Sgt. Caudell on an ongoing basis was invaluable in furthering the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office mission. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Caudell Family as well as our Arkansas Department of Corrections Family, who along with our agency benefited from Sgt. Caudell’s loyalty and commitment to public safety.
Sgt. Caudell is survived by his wife and three children.
We pause in our normal operations to mourn with the Caudell family and the Arkansas Department of Corrections. Sgt. Caudell died a hero and his selfless sacrifice while protecting the community he served will always be remembered.
The flags at Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, W.C. “Dub” Brassell Adult Detention Center, and Jack Jones Juvenile Justice Center will be lowered to half staff in honor of Sgt. Caudell’s memory, bravery, and making the ultimate sacrifice to ensure the safety of those he was sworn to protect. The flag shall be lowered immediately and remain at half-staff to the day of interment.
LAFAYETTE WOODS JR.,
JEFFERSON COUNTY SHERIFF
The real issues
Editor, The Commercial:
In the early ’60s, Mitt Romney’s “Bain Capital” (a venture capital company) began buying up various companies and “off shoring” the work to third world countries, primarily to China and South East Asia for cheap labor and no unions.
Geo. W. Bush’s two tax cuts were to benefit “job creators” and they did — but in slave labor countries — not America. Those whose jobs were exported were relegated then to the ranks of the “working poor” here.
CEOs and share holders benefited at the expense of the American workers. We became an “Oligarchy” which is a country ran for the wealthy by the wealthy. That is still the case and the 2017 massive tax cuts benefitting corporate America by the Trump cabal only made bad matters worse. No re-shoring of jobs was required and the return Trump promised did not happen.
By the time the pandemic hit we’d become dependent on China for most of our medical practice attire such as masks and garments.
Months before that was known we had Trump deliver a “crotch kick” to China with demands made of a Communist Dictatorship that accomplished very little other than render them obstreperous and adversarial.
The pandemic hit, and Sen. Tom Cotton and Trump hurled accusations at China regarding the virus lab at Wuhan for which neither had a shred of evidence — just a couple of arrogant, ignorant elected people who know no restraint or common sense when they want to run their mouth for attention.
It made China even more difficult to deal with by the trained viral specialists whose job that became. The allies of the U.S. also found their dealings there more difficult.
Since Biden’s election, there has been very little accomplished due to obstruction of all and anything Democrats propose by a collusion of Republicans who were elected to serve us — but are enthralled to Trump and still hate Obama and any who served under him that are white!
They stacked the U.S. Supreme Court with Republicans whose allegiance appears to be to the Republicans before the rights of the citizens. Judge Clarence Thomas’ wife sent all kinds of social media messages praising the Jan. 6. insurrectionists — yet Thomas has said nor done anything to allay our justified fear of his participation on the court.
Despicable as they are to all decent thinking people, those Confederate statues to dead men are not the real danger to us and Democracy. The real and imminent danger to us is those elected bigoted racists who would and are forbidding the teaching of truthful history to our kids and restrict the voting rights of the citizenry.
If you don’t know the truth you can’t really be free! They are in thrall to a would-be dictator who has made racism, bigotry, and white supremacy acceptable again in the country — even among many who’d call themselves “Evangelical Christians!”
Karl Hansen,
Hensley