Author: Michael Tilley

Michael Tilley

Fort Smith airport traffic up in April, $13.5 million in work may begin in June

Commercial traffic out of the Fort Smith Regional Airport was up 1.36% in April, and is up less than 1% in the first four months of 2026 compared with the…

Fort Smith board reviews first quarter finances, fund balances

The city of Fort Smith’s finances are on good footing to begin 2026, with general fund revenue up 2.13% and general fund expenses down 17.1%, according to figures provided by…

Fort Smith metro home sales up 8% in early 2026

The number of Fort Smith metro homes sold in the first two months of 2026 was up 8% and follows a 2025 in which home sales numbers were down 8.2%….

Fort Smith Board set to consider change-of-government election ordinances

A discussion Tuesday (May 12) about the process to change the Fort Smith form of government produced two competing future board agenda items. One item calls for a change of…

Change of government review again on Fort Smith Board agenda

The Fort Smith Board of Directors is again set to review the legal process to change through a citizen vote the city’s form of government, and how a mayor-council form…

February jobs reports shows decline in Fort Smith metro jobs

Of the seven top job categories in the Fort Smith metro, only the tourism and the education and health services sectors posted job gains in the February report from the…

Fort Smith mayoral, director candidate packets available for 2026 election cycle

Less than 24 hours into the official election cycle for Fort Smith mayor and director-at-large positions, six candidate packets have been picked up, said Fort Smith City Clerk Sherri Gard…

Work begins on F-35 academic training center at Ebbing Air National Guard Base

Brig. Gen. George Walter issued a challenge during Wednesday’s (May 6) ceremonial ground breaking for an academic training center at Ebbing Air National Guard Base in Fort Smith. The construction…

Tourism, healthcare help push Arkansas’ March job numbers higher

A similar story continues for the Arkansas economy, with the healthcare and tourism sectors driving job growth. The March jobs report shows a year-over-year jobs gain of 0.5%, with the…

Fort Smith community promoter Judge Jim Spears has died

Judge Jim Spears, a leader with many Fort Smith projects, including the effort to bring the U.S. Marshals Museum and the Bass Reeves statue to downtown Fort Smith, died Tuesday…

Estimating water capacity, demand challenges Fort Smith board and city admin

Editor’s note: This is the fifth story in a series addressing identified Fort Smith water system replacement and repair needs with cost estimates that approach $600 million. Link here for…

City of Fort Smith ’disbursement’ errors noted in draft audit report

Fort Smith attorney Joey McCutchen is again pressing the issue of what he says is inappropriate spending by Fort Smith Mayor George McGill. An Arkansas Legislative Audit (ALA) report found…

UAFS ceremonially opens advanced manufacturing lab, workforce center

An almost $7 million facility ceremonially opened Monday (May 4) at the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith (UAFS) is designed to help the Fort Smith metro recruit, retain and…

Arkansas tax revenue tops $1 billion in April, up almost 15%

A significant gain in individual income tax revenue and an almost 6% gain in sales tax revenue pushed overall Arkansas tax revenue to $1.079 billion in April, up 14.8% compared…

More than 1,000 signatures gathered to change Fort Smith’s form of government

The effort to place a Fort Smith form-of-government question on the November general election ballot has approximately 1,100 signatures as of April 29, with about 30 volunteers working to gather…

Fort Smith sales tax revenue up almost 5% in the first quarter of 2026

Fort Smith sales tax revenue is off to a good start in 2026, with the city’s share of the Sebastian County 1% tax up 5.3% in the March report, above…

Mercy Fort Smith says funding is complete for first phase of cancer center expansion

Mercy Fort Smith announced Wednesday (April 29) that the hospital system has raised enough money to fully fund the $41 million expansion of its Fort Smith cancer center. What is…

Baptist Health to close more Fort Smith services, cut 150 jobs

Little Rock-based Baptist Health announced to Fort Smith hospital and clinic employees on Wednesday (April 29) that it will over the next 60 days close several clinics and services, resulting…

February job numbers up in most Arkansas metro areas, jobless rates rise

All seven metro areas in or connected to Arkansas posted higher jobless rates in February compared with February 2025, with three metro areas posting rates lower than Arkansas’ February rate…

Process continues to rename the Fort Smith Public Schools admin center

A process that began in February to name the administration center of the Fort Smith Public School District is moving forward, with former Superintendent Dr. Benny Gooden’s name the leading…