Second, support for Arkansas Week provided by the Arkansas Democrat Gazette.

The Arkansas Times and KUARFM 89.

And hello again everyone and thanks very much for being with us.

No, it's not COVID, but it is the 10th leading cause of death in Arkansas.

And increasingly, its victims are our youngest.

We will address the tragedy of suicide a bit later in the program and take note of one approach that's helping Arkansans who spent time in an especially stressful occupation.

First, the politics of the coming primaries and the general election to follow with Arkansas Republicans firmly in command.

It would seem that most GOP candidates think the path forward is ever more to the right.

Are they correct?

And assessment now from two men with deep experience in Republican politics, former Arkansas Speaker Jeremy Gillam.

Now with you see a GOP consultant bill Vickery gents thanks very much for coming in a million different ways we could start this off.

But let's do it.

Let's try to whatever happened to the 13th Commandment.

Thou shall not speak ill to victory.

What happened?

Yeah, I well, I think you see playing out here in Arkansas, where you see playing out nationally, and that is the clash of the populist Republican versus the more old line established Republican in.

And we're not even talking about the old old Rockefeller Republicans.

That's not even exactly that does those are Bigfoot sightings?

I think.

But the reality is.

Old mainline conservatives are at odds to some degree with a more populist side of the Republican Party and and it's, you know, typically in a primary you can't get your never beaten running to the right.

This gentleman knows a thing or two about winning elections next to me and I think you just see some folks understanding now that in in terms of the Republican primary, the center is not the center, it's the right, right?

And you can't be on the other side of the center, so a little bit of geometry there.

Jeremy.

Well, how can remember even when I first was elected into the house, you still, you know everybody was on the same team.

You didn't talk critically publicly about, you know a fellow Republican colleague.

Or you know anybody that was in the Republican tent and how quickly that is changed to wear now?

I mean, that's that's your opening salvo when you get into a racist is to try to tear everybody else that's in there down to try to build yourself back up.

And it's it's making.

For an interesting dynamic moving forward because at some point you've got to govern and and you've got to be able to try to pull everything back together and and it makes it difficult when some of the rhetoric is has gotten sharp as it has.

And in these cycles.

Yeah, maybe we're being here a bit opaque at the top.

A little bit of cryptic.

I thought.

We have had some announcements by Republican candidates in the last few days in which they openly gnaw at at one another bill.

Yeah, it's it to Jeremy's point, I mean.

Gloves are off, not in the last round they're off, you know.

They get out of the car to go make the speech to announce, yeah, but I think also that is indicative of a lot of the passion that exists now and and you touched on it right off the bat.

Look, it's a Republican state.

The primaries where all the action is the Republican primaries.

That's who's going to win.

Will see how redistricting plays out, but but the reality is, it's all about the Republican primaries in May.

That said, there is an open willingness.

Two wanted to be very combative and to sort of take the fight to your opponent right off the bat.

I do again.

I think that is highlighting this sort of populist wing versus the old sort of more traditional conservative wing of the Republican Party.

Both believe they're right and both are willing to say it and then be critical of the other side.

Are we looking Jeremy here?

Mr Speaker at a real bloodletting come in the months ahead.

I don't.

I don't know that we'll get there well enough to damage a nominee significantly.

I don't think so.

I think with the way that the electorate has moved to the right.

In Arkansas that at the end of the day, no matter what is said in the Republican primary, I don't see that being enough to damage them in a general election.

I just don't think the demographics play out that way.

Yeah, I agree 100%.

I think he's exactly right.

No, there's no such thing as too far to the right.

Republicans close ranks and get behind one another, especially given the way the modern Democratic Party in Arkansas has been framed as part of the National Democratic Party.

Hard to the left, so now Republicans.

Like I said, close ranks and get behind the nominee.

One of the gubernatorial not Republican gubernatorial candidates would gleefully said you met him nationalizing this right.

Of course, I'm naturally, or is it?

How could I?

How could I not?

Either tactically or strategically, I cannot do that, and I think that and you probably will articulate this more in the in the coming days with with her tour around the state, but I think she's looking at this as look.

Arkansas does not exist in a vacuum.

Miss Sanders were to yes, and I think she's she's looking at this saying we don't exist in a vacuum, and so yes, there's going to be Arkansas issues.

We're going to deal with, but we also exist within the composite of of the United States of America.

And So what happens in DC?

Does affect us, and so we're going to make sure that we fight against those things and that's been her message and she has definitely said this is yes, I am.

I'm doing this and I'm going to stay with it and it doesn't look like she's going to deviate from that at all with nine or having raised $9 million bill victory against a fraction of that bomb is roughly her.

Principle upon arrival right now, where does that leave Miss Rutledge?

Is there a path forward for where is her past?

Well, I think you know.

I think the attorney general surprised a lot of people when she won in the first place, and so that when I mean she really bootstrapped that campaign together, no one gave her much of a chance.

She won and she has served and only got more popular the longer she's been in office.

So I think that emboldened her and her campaign to say, you know, we've sort of done this.

We've seen this.

We've seen this movie once before, and we can do it again.

It cannot be denied to too.

But point Jeremy, making that that Sarah Huckabee Sanders has a properly and artfully contextualize the race in Arkansas's role in the nation.

You can't.

These national issues affect Arkansas in a big way.

Just look at the money that's coming into Arkansas from the federal government.

Look at the issues surrounding the pandemic.

Of course, there are national issues, and I think she's done a very good job of laying that out.

And that's why you got you got a governor has to understand where Arkansas is as a part of the country, not just siloed off.

With the small issues that we may need to deal with one on one here so.

At that end, $9 million go a long way.

I agree, and I think, and I think you'll see Miss Anders pivot in some of the the conversation as the weeks and months go on towards some of the in state issues, but she she's very much staked that this is the path that she's going to go for the time being and the from what I can tell, at least so far the voters in Arkansas are responding to that.

I mean, where you go?

The talk is about her campaign and.

And so she she's definitely, you know, struck a chord with with the Republican base and we'll see, you know, if if the attorney general is able to erode that overtime or not, but at least right now it looks like that both they're going to stick with their courses for the time being.

Our senior US senators.

Of course, up next year, and he if you can't go too far to the right in Arkansas.

But he is, he's the most moderate, the most centrist of anybody who's announced anyway for his for his see.

I think there's three.

Now he has two rivals, so does that pose any dilemma for Mr Bozeman?

I I tell you, the big thing to two issues here.

I think that that John Bozeman does have a foot in the more traditional Republican camp.

He's well respected amongst those folks.

He has the endorsement of Donald Trump and that is a big card.

I mean, if we want to use poker terms.

That's the one you drop on everyone and you put $4 million of advertising behind that.

It makes it an effective campaign message going forward.

Yeah gentlemen, we talked about, or somebody mentioned redistricting earlier, that's coming.

That's coming up.

Congressional reapportionment is is well, we won't see a great well, we'll see some change, but I don't think it will alter the dynamic any.

Or do you dispute now, no.

Legislative redistricting, though, is coming up and that.

The knives could come out over that intra party knives, right?

Mr Speaker well and and there's already are.

Yes, yeah, you've already started to to see that around the Capitol that Members are are looking and realizing that they're going to have to run against each other in some parts of the state, because the way the districts lines are going to be drawn, you're going to have districts absorbed into each other, and it's going to be that way, and the house and the Senate.

And so there's they're starting to become a little of anxiety around.

How that's going to play out, to say the least, because they've realized, well, if my district, if I've got to pick up 5000 people and my neighbors got to pick up 5000 people and and and the one on the other side of them got to pick up 5000 people, then we may all three be in one district.

And so I think that is going to definitely be a factor for the next couple of months.

Until those maps get finalized and the Members are going to be sweating quite a bit.

And I think there's going to be a lot of sleepless nights with.

With certain folks, and in certain parts of the state 15 seconds bill, you got it Northwest Arkansas really gains.

That's where we're probably going to see some of these things because that's where the population is shifted.

If you're a ruled Democrat in Arkansas, I think you are the Bigfoot sighting from now on.

It's it's not going to exist.

Republicans will pick up seats in the general election and build a majority even more.

Bill Vickery.

Jeremy Gillam thanks for coming and come back soon.

Good roots in a moment.

America's exit from Afghanistan and agriculture in Arkansas.

That and farming as not only occupation but maybe salvation.

Logan Duvall connects the dots in this month's Good roots.

It's estimated that 9% of US farmers are veterans, once defending it now feeding it.

Many find that the steady schedule and physical stamina needed for farm work make it an easier switch during what can be a difficult time of transition.

Military veterans focused on sustainable and regenerative methods, like here at the farm barefoot Bend are a big bolster to the local food system and it's amazing to see programs that help support it.

That's our focus in this good roots.

Located just outside of Benton in Lonsdale, the farm at Barefoot Ben is owned and operated by former Army Ranger Damon Hilton and his family.

What may be most interesting about Damon story is that before the military, he had never farmed before we dabble in a little bit of everything, believe it or not, so I've got egg layer chickens.

I've got pigs.

Pastured pig program grass fed beef program.

I've got a couple donkeys, got a couple horses, goats, lambs.

Guinea's got a little bit of vegetables, had a midlife crisis so that's how everybody.

So I had five deployments between Iraq and Afghanistan and when I got out in my head I was just going to go out and, you know get the sales job.

Just go make a whole bunch of money and I rapidly started to realize that you know that that wasn't doing it for me.

I kind of had this this this empty spot, you know.

And so my wife and I were.

Just taking a Sunday drive and found this farm, you know it was like all right.

Well, let's buy this far and you know she looked at she's like what do you?

What are you talking about?

You wanna put an offer in on a farm and I was like yeah I want to be a farmer so I I quit my job that I had had for five years really good paying sales job had a you know, a pretty healthy 401K for you know being out of the military for short amount of time cash it all in and and bought a farm for the first few months.

We didn't really know what we were doing.

We were just kind of spinning and I looked at everything.

From row crops to tobacco and we started looking at this group.

Southern sustainable Agriculture Working group.

That's where we found the program farm to farm which is focused on veterans getting into agriculture that absolutely was instrumental in helping us get started, just like Green Acres, he decided decided to move out here as part of Senator Bozeman's annual agricultural tour, he made a visit to a couple of Arkansas veteran farms.

We've got a lot of veterans that are coming back.

And deciding what they want to do in the next phase of their life and farming is something that appeals to a lot of them.

And the question is how do you get into it?

You know, it's kind of daunting.

Yeah, yeah, it's not your area of expertise.

So armed to farm programs like that really do an outstanding job of not only helping them get started, but these are programs that will kind of hold their hands from then on.

I think that armed to farm will continue to expand.

Certainly these are programs that.

Myself in my situation, you're working with agriculture were very interested in.

I'm certainly very concerned about suicide in the military, our veterans and amongst those in the regular military missions.

Every night it was just a lot.

What I didn't realize is the whole that it was going to fill in me from from not serving anymore.

Being able to to fill that hole, you know, fill that vacancy.

What was huge.

There are not enough services out there in the rural areas there are 13 community mental health centers in the state of Arkansas, 13 and there's 75 counties.

And you know that's not very many.

I've heard this many times for us.

They're talking about commits is that they're not going to do it, are they?

They're just talking, and that used to be sort of like a a an adage.

Well if they talk about it, they're not going to do it if they're talking about it, they're thinking about it.

And if they're thinking about it, there's a possibility they're going to do it.

You know, they have to re enter not only the society as a whole.

But they have to re-enter their families, their relationships that have.

Have continued to develop as they've been gone sometime.

You know, there's guilt.

There's remorse.

Post Traumatic stress disorder that so many of them come back with, and that's unpredictable.

And often times we don't know what's going to trigger it.

But when it does, they go into, you know, full blown trauma response.

It's just going to take time, and it takes understanding and a lot of patients on the people who are involved with the person returning to try to understand.

He's not the same right now.

He may never be the same one of the programs that we've advocated and worked really hard to create, which is is just now.

Getting off is allowing the groups in the local communities that are doing a very very good job in suicide prevention.

Giving them small grants so that they can be helpful, get involved, and then also steer them into the VA.

Besides providing the support that they can give David, I know from you know.

My experience, not nearly as extreme as y'all, but work in EMS.

You have bad calls, you're up all night.

You're doing stuff that nobody outside of your little world can understand can relate to.

It's easy for people to say, Oh well, you know, and I can understand what you're going through.

They don't, they don't.

They don't understand, but it's it's not because you know, there's not a sense of empathy there or anything.

They just just don't get it.

And and that none of that's normal, right?

I mean working EMS call or or anything like that or.

You know, watching somebody get burned up with an ID.

None of that's normal.

I mean, these aren't normal things.

PTSD is a real thing and you know it can happen from a car accident or losing a loved one or anything like that.

What was the biggest transition helper for you of?

And why is agriculture a part of that?

I would say the first thing is is finding that level of service again.

I had a purpose, there was a nutritional aspect too.

I was eating good.

Yeah, I was.

I was feeding my family well.

I started sleeping better.

I mean there was just like there's just all these things that started coming about because I had a better association with food.

You know, food security for my community.

Our farm is a small farm, but we produce a lot, right?

And so you know, we can feed a good amount of people and I think that the more these local farms actually realize that the the big impact they can have.

I think we're going to start to see more of that.

And and hopefully we start to see.

More veterans getting involved in agriculture and I'm an army guy so not to steal the Marine core deal.

But you know, adapt and overcome.

That's a.

It's a real military mindset, and so I think it lends itself very well to farming because you do have to adapt and you do have to overcome.

And I mean these animals are dependent on us.

I love it.

I love what you do and thank you all for being an inspiration to so many other other people looking for lot in that darkness.

So it's there's there's like there's.

That's all I can say to other veterans.

Is there's light there.

There's a purpose that you can find.

I didn't know that I was going to find that purpose when I started down this road.

Many veterans return home feeling lost and without hope agriculture maybe a new mission to transition back to civilian life for good roots.

I'm Logan Duvall.

Major funding for good roots is provided by Arkansas Farm Bureau, Arkansas Farm Bureau advocating the interests of Arkansas's largest industry for more than 80 years.

Arkansas counts on agriculture, agriculture counts on Farm Bureau.

As was noted in that segment, the stress of duty in a combat zone has its counterpart.

When a man or woman in uniform leaves the service.

And to be certain, suicide is not a threat to military personnel alone.

Every year it takes from us men and women, teens, boys and girls, people of every race, creed, color, income level and occupation.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States.

September 10th is World Suicide Prevention Day, and with us now, Shauna Burns of Harrison, a licensed clinical social social worker with whom Arkansas PBS has partnered on programs designed to educate families and friends and individuals to the warning signs of suicide.

Miss burns.

Thanks very much for coming in.

Obviously the focus in that piece anyway is current or retired service personnel, particularly those who are leaving combat zone.

Really, a time of great stress, or it can be.

Yeah, absolutely.

You know I, I think of stress and trauma.

You know, when our soldiers come back home from the battlefield, you know that that's not normal.

That's something that that has been horrific.

And and I think of our mind like a boiling pot of water.

You know, every that pressure in there from the pain.

It's going to come out and many times.

We see that pain come out, you know, through anxiety and just not knowing what to do.

But if we don't get the pain out, it's going to stay in and so like a volcano, the caldera, right, it can implode and so we see that a lot of times with our veterans, they'll start withdrawing.

They the pain gets overwhelming, and when they can't fix it, it it just it just intensifies.

And so when it's not dealt with, it's going to cause problems.

And unfortunately, we are seeing suicide.

And right now I believe we're losing 20 to 22 veterans a day to suicide, well, and another alarming trend is is the increase in suicide among the young 21 or 35 and younger?

Is the dynamic the same as with veterans with young people?

Yes, absolutely.

So we in Arkansas, the second leading cause of death for suicide for our middle school and high school students, and second leading cause of death and college youth.

And in the United States ages 10 to 34, it's the second leading cause of death as well.

So it is a pandemic itself.

Suicide is a huge problem that we have to.

We have to respond because it's it's taking a lot of our youth.

What is driving these numbers?

What's what's at work here?

You know there's there's.

So when you research it, you find so many factors and you'll find correlations with trauma with abuse.

Neglect.

Once again, all that pain in there if we don't deal with it, it's going to come out.

Or it's going to implode and it's going to cause those problems so you know my my thinking along along those lines is.

Disconnection is one of the biggest things that we're seeing with suicide.

Humans have a need to connect, you know, our brains are wired for connection and when we begin to see our youth disconnecting and I think the pandemic caused that problem even more, we saw a disconnection and isolation.

Then we begin to see that when we pull away from one another, we begin to see those problems intensify.

Once again, we were not created to be alone.

We were created for connection error with a bit more.

If you would.

I am a parent or I'm the spouse of a veteran.

What am I looking for in a partner and a spouse in a in a child warning sign?

Absolutely some of the there's several warning signs to watch for Clark flat.

He is the founder of the Jason Foundation.

A wonderful.

A wonderful nonprofit organization that just has so much brings so much awareness and resources for those who are struggling.

But he says that four out of five individuals who attempt suicide give clear warning signs and so some of those warning signs to watch for are once again disconnection when we see them withdrawing when we see them not finding interest in some of the activities they've loved.

When we begin to see them at, you know, a deepening depression.

Or explosive outbursts are actually signs of suicide as well.

Other things to watch for us when we hear threats of suicide, he says.

A common myth is that they're just doing it for attention, but the reality is, they really are.

They're crying out and from the moment of having a thought of wanting to end one's life to actually acting on it can be very quick.

So we want to pay attention.

We want to watch for those signs and reach out and get help.

And there is help available, absolutely.

Some of the some of the avenues that are available.

Conventional phone or text absolutely absolutely.

988 is a number that's very quick and easy to remember.

Similar to 911988.

Pick up the phone and call it actually on the hotline.

It actually diverts for military families and also for those who are non military.

So it's wonderful in Arkansas if you call that number they'll it's a national number.

They will divert you to the state to your state and find local resources.

For you all right, Sean Burns.

Thanks very much for being with us.

Thank you for having me.

On this program, this very program, about 20 years ago to the day.

We spoke the name of the one Arkansan we knew had perished in the nightmare that within hours acquired its own abbreviation, 911.

We dreaded the likelihood of other names from our state and eventually seven would be recorded.

Seven among the almost 3000 who died in the attacks.

Two decades later, we speak all their names.

They were Joanie and Jimmy.

They were Barbara and the ham, and they were Sarah and Bernard and Melissa.

They loved and they were loved.

And will be back next week.

Support for Arkansas Week provided by the Arkansas Democrat Gazette.

The Arkansas Times and KUARFM 89.