Column

The immigration march

As a product of the 60’s, I learned what power there is in showing up to make one’s voice heard. Public policy changed because every day citizens showed up and…

Walton Arts Center growth

Over the past decade, attendance at Walton Arts Center has grown nearly 60%. We host Broadway, classical music, children’ programming and other arts events that are generally only seen in…

Harvel’s transition

The news this week of the December 2013 retirement of Paul Harvel as the CEO of the Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce reflected this outgoing executive’s niche for planning….

Mr. Sam’s meeting metamorphosis

Like much of small town America, the circus comes to town only once a year. That’s what Wal-Mart shareholders and Northwest Arkansas have come to expect each June. Just like…

Casino accounting

I hate gambling. I even hate attending conferences in Las Vegas when I don’t gamble. For me gambling at a casino is a noisy, smoky waste of time and money….

Oklahoma resilience

May was a difficult, heart wrenching month for the state of Oklahoma. The lives of at least 40 men, women and children were cut short by tornadoes that ripped through towns…

The politics of nonsense

Enough already with folks like our United States Senator Mark Pryor of Arkansas saying Obamacare is not so bad because the Republican-controlled legislature in Arkansas voted for a plan to…

Whirlpool on Wall Street

If one were to look around, one might revel at the active and ever-changing events emblazoned in our world. Crisis and calamities stun us, while occasional good fortune favors us….

Pryor the target

United States Senator Mark Pryor, while not a favorite of many in state and national pundits, is still talking “straight and tough.” And like it or not, every day that…

Notes from the ‘pie box’ fiasco

This past week’s headlines on the fall of Martha Shoffner, the former Arkansas State Treasurer, has ignited the debate on why do Arkansans “need the state offices of Auditor, Treasurer…

Pliers and personnel

The last time Potts & Company hired a person, we were down to two candidates. After sifting through the resumes and checking references, the last step was the personal interview….

Veteran support

While Memorial Day is set aside to remember those who have died in service to our country, it naturally also brings to mind our living veterans and our men and…

Political petulance

The deceased and fantastically brilliant comedian Mitch Hedberg once quipped that he wore a necklace “cause I wanna know when I’m upside down.” Well, when the detached and fantastically buffoonish…

Arkansas's innovative approach to implementing health-care reforms has garnered national attention. Instead of increasing the number of people receiving traditional Medicaid services, we've developed a plan to expand health-care coverage…

ABF kudos and ADEQ concerns

The City Wire says don’t forget, as time rolls on in the slow-moving Whirlpool clean-up plan for its former Fort Smith plant site and surrounding residential neighborhood, to ask the…

Here we are again

“You will never plow a field by turning it over in your mind.” – Irish proverb Here we are again in Fort Smith with another study. This time it’s an…

Porn star dreamin’

“Son, what are your plans after you graduate this month?” “Well Mom, I’m heading to California to be a porn star. I’m going to follow my passion!” If being a…

Asa and Brandon

Has Arkansas finally found a candidate for Governor who is camera shy? I seem to recall Asa Hutchinson as a candidate for several offices, U.S. Senate, Attorney General, Congress and…

Sustainable packaging and Wal-Mart

In an effort to connect buyers, product suppliers and packaging suppliers, Wal-Mart held this week its 8th annual Sustainable Packaging Exposition. The retailer looks to drive innovation, “every day low…

We must renew the 1% county tax

When famed jurist Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. noted that taxes are the price we pay for civilization, he likely had in mind taxes like Sebastian County’s 1% sales tax. County…