Author: Michael Tilley

Michael Tilley

Lawsuit filed against Arkansas State Police about Gov. Sanders’ travel info

Little Rock attorney and political blogger Matt Campbell has filed a lawsuit against the Arkansas State Police (ASP) claiming the state law enforcement agency is not complying with record requests…

ArcBest reports gains in per day shipments, better revenue

Third and fourth quarter financial results will not be as healthy as they were in what was a record-setting 2022, but officials with Fort Smith-based ArcBest say market realities are…

Medical marijuana sales up 4.6% for the year, prices becoming ‘more competitive’

Arkansas’ medical marijuana sales totaled $164.6 million in the first seven months of 2023, up 4.64% compared with the same period in 2022, according to the Arkansas Department of Finance…

Fort Smith metro home sales down 16.2% through June

There were 1,641 homes sold in the Fort Smith metro between January and June, down 16.2% compared with the same period in 2022. The value of the sales was down…

State of the State Mid-Year 2023: Arkansas’ steel industry to bolster overall manufacturing sector

Editor’s note: The State of the State series provides reports twice a year on Arkansas’ key economic sectors. The series publishes stories to begin a year and stories in July/August…

Arkansas’ July jobless rate remains at a record low of 2.6%

Year-over-year job gains Arkansas during July outpaced labor force growth which helped keep the state’s jobless rate at a record low of 2.6%, and was well below the 3.3% in…

Fort Smith airport traffic declines through July; runway work to be complete in September

Fort Smith Regional Airport enplanements totaled 34,456 between January and July, down 2.7% compared with the same period in 2022. Reduced flight frequency by American Airlines is one reason for…

State of the State Mid-Year 2023: U.S., Arkansas economies to be pressured but won’t falter

Editor’s note: The State of the State series provides reports twice a year on Arkansas’ key economic sectors. The series publishes stories to begin a year and stories in July/August…

Legislators, students critical of decision to drop AP African American studies course

A group of Arkansas legislators and students are firing back at a late Friday (Aug. 11) decision by the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) to drop an AP African American…

HanesBrands to close Clarksville hosiery plant at end of September

HanesBrands has confirmed it is closing its hosiery production plant in Clarksville at the end of September. The move shutters a plant that once employed at least 570 in the…

ABF Freight poised to benefit from a Yellow bankruptcy

Fort Smith-based ArcBest and its subsidiary ABF Freight have a “meaningful” chance of turning the failure of Yellow into bottom-line green, according to investor notes from Stephens Inc. issued Monday…

Office building, apartments part of top Sebastian County property deals in June

The $3.515 million sale of an office building used by the Social Security Administration was the top June property deal in Sebastian County, according to information provided by the office…

Citing First Amendment rights, federal judge blocks implementation of Act 372 (Updated)

Editor’s note: Story updated with changes and additions throughout. U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Brooks has granted a preliminary injunction against implementation of Act 372, a law that allows books…

‘Woke’ politics could delay money for foreign pilot training center in Fort Smith

If the stars line up in the next few months amid the gravity of “woke” politics, the ongoing effort to create a foreign military pilot training center in Fort Smith…

Prior restraint, and ‘appropriateness’ debated in hearing about pending Arkansas library law

After an almost five-hour hearing, U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Brooks said Tuesday (July 25) he will decide on a preliminary injunction request seeking to block Act 372 – an…

Arkansas’ June jobless rate of 2.6% marks fourth consecutive month of a record low

A year-over-year gain of more than 21,000 jobs and an almost 20% drop in the number of unemployed pushed Arkansas’ June jobless rate to a new record low of 2.6%….

Arkansas Tourism Ticker: Tax revenue, jobs point to continued industry gains

Healthy gains to begin 2023 for the state’s leisure and hospitality (tourism) sector are continuing. Arkansas’ tourism tax is up more than 10% between January and April, with average tourism…

Arkansas River tonnage up 19% through June, inbound shipments up 38%

Tonnage on the Arkansas River totaled 6.297 million tons between January and June, up 19%, with inbound traffic on the navigable water up 38% in the first six months, according…

Arkansas ends fiscal year with a $1.161 billion tax surplus

Arkansas ended the fiscal year with a $1.161 billion tax revenue surplus driven in part by a more than 8% growth in sales tax collections. But recent federal data suggests…

‘Harsh setbacks’ overcome to open the U.S. Marshals Museum in Fort Smith

The relief was palpable among many of the 350 who gathered Thursday (June 29) to open the U.S. Marshals Museum in Fort Smith. It was a project 16 years in…

Fort Smith metro home sales up almost 4% through April

Bjarke Ingels Group to plan, design 422,000-square-foot university in Bentonville

Retail sales rose 7.19% in May despite inflation, tariff costs

Northwest Arkansas Council hires regional workforce program director