Author: Tina Alvey Dale

Tina Alvey Dale

Fort Smith residents to soon pay credit card fees for city payments

The Fort Smith Board of Directors approved a plan Tuesday (Dec. 3) to pass along credit card fees to citizens. The city uses PayIt as a third party to process…

Kemp wins Fort Smith Board Ward 3 runoff election

Lee Kemp will be the new director for Ward 3 on the City of Fort Smith’s Board of Directors. He received 66.5% of the votes in Tuesday’s (Dec. 3) runoff…

Fort Smith Board approves 2025 capital improvement budgets

Approved City of Fort Smith utility department capital improvement plans (CIP) drastically reduce capital expenditures for water and sewer for the coming year compared to estimated spending in 2024. The…

Fort Smith Police launch S.H.I.E.L.D. program to help troubled youth

The Fort Smith Police Department (FSPD) has launched the Shield Our Youth initiative, a new community-driven program designed to prevent juvenile crime. The program aims to address community challenges and…

Fort Smith Board reviewing budget allocations between departments

The Fort Smith Board of Directors is hoping a better evaluation of allocations will help take some of the stress off the utility department as well as other city departments….

Historic Adelaide Hall in downtown Fort Smith to be demolished

There was hope a Nov. 6 fire at Adelaide Hall in downtown Fort Smith would not be the end of one of the city’s most historic buildings. But it is…

Home builder group works with students to build the Santa House

Local businesses, the Greater Fort Smith Association of Home Builders (GFSAHB), community organizations and the Fort Smith Public School District are bringing a little magic to Fort Smith this year…

Federal grant to help Fort Smith install safety measures on streets

Fort Smith has received a $1.241 million federal grant to advance the city’s Comprehensive Safety Action Plan, also known as the Safe Fort Smith Plan. Part of the funds will…

Fort Smith Board to discuss 2025 budgets, financial strategies

The City of Fort Smith budget hearing is set for Friday (Nov. 22) and the city’s Board of Directors are going in with a goal to balance the needs of…

Report: New Fort Smith water leaks outpace repaired leaks

Water leaks seem to be a constant headache for the City of Fort Smith with a new leak seeming to spring up with every one repaired. The utilities department has…

Hmong family focus of ‘Big Read’ program at U.S. Marshals Museum

The U.S. Marshals Museum in Fort Smith received a $20,000 grant from the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA), in partnership with Arts Midwest to help fund the Big Read…

City of Fort Smith denies city boss exceeded authority with EPA grant program

The City of Fort Smith and City Administrator Carl Geffken filed an answer to a lawsuit brought against the city regarding the city’s Climate Pollution Reduction Grant program, denying all…

Bragg picks up endorsement in Fort Smith director runoff election

Carl Nevin has endorsed Russ Bragg for Fort Smith City Director Ward 3. Bragg and Lee Kemp will face each other in a runoff election Dec. 3. They, along with…

Kids Unlimited Learning Academy moves into new Fort Smith facility

Over the past nine months, a renovation has transformed the 30,000-square-foot former home office of Beverly Enterprises near Central Mall in Fort Smith into the largest early intervention day treatment…

Crawford County officials want library system to pay potential lawsuit award

Attorneys for Crawford County have asked the court to understand it is time for a First Amendment lawsuit against the county to finally come to an end. The attorneys also…

Arvest Foundation, Rheem support Fort Kids Children’s Museum

Fort Kids Children’s Museum has received gifts from the Arvest Foundation and Rheem Manufacturing as part of the effort to raise more than $16 million to build a children’s museum…

Fort Smith area homebuilders learn more about VA loans

With more military veterans buying homes in the Fort Smith area, builders, remodelers and real estate agents need to know more about Veteran Administration (VA) loans and how they can…

Fort Smith Board delays approval of capital improvement budgets

The Fort Smith Board of Directors tabled approval of all departmental capital improvement plans (CIP) until after all-day discussions on the city’s 2025 budget, which is scheduled for Nov. 22….

Franklin County residents, legislators quiz state officials about planned prison

The community of Charleston was blindsided with news that a state prison was going to be built near their small town when the governor’s office made an announcement Oct. 31….

Charleston area residents push back against planned prison; ready for town hall

Residents are hoping to get some answers and maybe encouraged the Arkansas Board of Corrections to rethink a prison near Charleston during a town hall meeting Thursday (Nov. 7) at…