Author: Michael Tilley

Michael Tilley

Polish F-35 jets expected to soon arrive in Fort Smith

The first two F-35 fighter jets built for Poland will soon roll off the Lockheed production line in Fort Worth, Texas, and Col. Nicholas Ihde is ready to fly one…

Traffic up 1.3% at Fort Smith Regional Airport through November

Enplanements at the Fort Smith Regional Airport between January and November totaled 56,430, up 1.3% compared with traffic in the same period of 2023. November traffic was down almost 7%…

Five Rivers buys Consolidated Terminal’s Van Buren operation

Van Buren-based Five Rivers Distribution has acquired the Van Buren operations of Covington, La.-based Consolidated Terminal and Logistics Company, according to Five Rivers President Marty Shell. Terms of the deal…

‘No-tolerance jaywalking’ policy a response to Fort Smith pedestrian deaths

With yet another pedestrian hit and killed in Fort Smith by a vehicle, Fort Smith Police Chief Danny Baker issued a public statement Monday (Dec. 9) saying the department is…

Crawford County library system director changes attorney, alleges ‘reckless’ actions

The back-and-forth over payment of legal fees in the Crawford County Library System case has taken several turns in recent weeks, including the library system director naming a new lawyer…

All Arkansas metro job numbers up in October report

All eight of the metro areas in or connected to Arkansas had job gains in October, and five of the eight areas had year-over-year jobless rate declines. Northwest Arkansas had…

Fort Smith metro home sales rebound, up 6.5% through August

The Fort Smith metro appears to be rebounding from an almost 15% decline in 2023 home sales and a 12% decline in the combined value of home sales. Metro area…

Summit Utility customers to see a more than 23% rate increase

The Arkansas Public Service Commission (APSC) on Thursday (Nov. 21) approved a more than 23% average increase in natural gas residential energy bills for Summit Utility customers. The Colorado-based utility…

Arkansas medical marijuana sales down almost 3%, but pounds sold up 23.2%

Arkansas medical marijuana sales through October total $227.8 million, down 2.65% compared with $234 million in the same period of 2023, according to information provided Wednesday (Nov. 20) by the…

Fort Smith Board moves forward with federal climate grant participation

The Fort Smith Board of Directors on Tuesday (Nov. 19) approved moving forward in the process to accept a $14.5 million grant that is part of the federal Climate Pollution…

Dispute continues over Crawford County library lawsuit legal costs

Because Crawford County officials “ignored good faith attempts” to resolve a lawsuit filed against the county’s library system for book censorship actions, the county should pay the legal fees, according…

Franklin County group hires attorney to oppose planned state prison

Fort Smith attorney Joey McCutchen has been selected as legal counsel for a Franklin County group opposed to a planned state prison in the county. He’s not sure if they…

Arkansas’ 2023 per capita income up 5.4%; Northwest Arkansas top metro area

Northwest Arkansas’ 2023 per capita income of $89,095 ranked 16th among the nation’s 384 metro areas and was the top ranked metro area in Arkansas. The state’s per capita income…

Arkansas River traffic up almost 2% through October

Improving water levels on the Mississippi River have helped tonnage on the Arkansas River to swing from being down 4% year-to-date through August to being up almost 2% through October….

Cherokee Nation lawsuit seeks to block enactment of Issue 2 amendment

A zombie issue in Arkansas is the Pope County casino license fight between Cherokee Nation Entertainment (CNE) and the Choctaw Nation. On Friday (Nov. 8), legal action was taken to…

Historic downtown Fort Smith building may not be a total loss after fire

Adelaide Hall, one of the oldest buildings in downtown Fort Smith, may not be a total loss following a Nov. 6 fire. A property owner rep says the structure appears…

Board of Corrections votes to accept land for planned prison

The Arkansas Board of Corrections (BOC) on Friday (Nov. 8) voted to accept the land for a planned 3,000-bed prison in Franklin County. The move comes after considerable protest from…

40 consecutive months of Arkansas tourism tax growth ends

For 40 consecutive months, beginning in March 2021, revenue from Arkansas’ 2% tourism tax has been above the same month in the previous year. But that ended in July when…

Fire burns historic downtown Fort Smith structure, extent of damage unknown

Historic Adelaide Hall in downtown Fort Smith, home to the Bricktown Brewery restaurant, was damaged by a fire that began early Wednesday (Nov. 6) morning. The extent of the damage…

Issue 2 passes, Pope County casino dead; Issue 1 receives voter approval

Tens of millions of dollars spent for and against an effort to block construction of a casino in Pope County with a constitutional amendment resulted in the passage of Issue…