Column

Primary thoughts

Our primary election came and went. Good people won and good people lost. The real losers are those of us who fail to stop and enjoy the process — this…

Updates, endorsements and lions, oh my!

This will be short and sweet. We’re going to cover a few topics and then move on to a cup of coffee and piece of pie. Or beer and pizza….

Fortunate son (2010)

Editor’s note: This essay was first posted May 10, 2009. A lot has changed in Mom’s world. The world in 1949, the year of her birth, was a crazy place….

The Rosey

We’ve received a few more real letters from a real reader with a troubled dog. Or maybe it’s a real dog with a troubled owner. Anyway, as noted in our…

Elvis is the answer

The folks recently met who were appointed by the Fort Smith board of directors to figure out what to do with the Fort Smith Convention Center and the potential of…

Think beyond the pandering

Once again we voters are peppered mercilessly via our television, radio and mail box to support candidates who deserve our votes because they love the Lord, love the Constitution and…

Recycling for Earth Day

Editor’s note: This essay first appeared Aug. 1, 2009. It runs here again because Earth Day is April 22 and we believe recycling an essay will help save a piece…

Regarding Rosey, again

We’ve received a few more real letters from a real reader. As we noted in our first conversation with Rosey’s owner, we’re not sure about the dog, or the story…

Finding Madonna

There he was, Anthony Bourdain, visiting with a French vineyard owner about what makes the grapes in his field taste different compared to the same class of grapes growing just…

Billy returns

Billy, an old college friend recently dropped in for a chat. He finds amusing this recent spectacle of folks showing up at Fort Smith board meetings to harangue board members…

Anger management

This is a request for you, Kind Reader, to compartmentalize your animosity toward the steaming pile of federal government that has forgotten that natural fertilizer becomes toxic when spread too…

As it once was

The thing you need to know about Fort Smith Mayor Ray Baker is that he’s tremendously more interested in ensuring cheap and convenient television access to local religious programming and…

Regarding Rosey

The following is a real letter. From a real person. We’re not sure about the dog. Or the story about the dog. But we do take this opportunity to reply…

You want me to support what?

What follows will be a series of observations, lists and explainers all presented in a possibly naive hope they will clear the fog of misinformation, poor information and no information…

Unimportant things

There are a lot of important things we could discuss. Our world of local, state and federal politics are awash in oddities, what ifs and what the hells. The primary…

Parker’s big pipe

Kyle Parker has a big, big, big pipe to play with. That short starter sentence is silly double entendre that high-falutin’ folks will label sophomoric and wholly unnecessary until they…

Looking ahead

And now for the Top 10 Fort Smith regional stories of 2020. Yes, 2020. 10. U.S. Rep. Philip Merry, D-Fort Smith, ends his fifth term as Arkansas’ 3rd District Congressman…

Measure twice, cut once

We are edging closer to screwing this up. That’s the feeling a few folks are getting with this ongoing and seemingly unguided discussion about improving quality of place assets in…

The parade and banquet guest

Dear Gov. Mike Beebe: Was pleased to hear of your planned visit to Fort Smith for the Martin Luther King Parade down Garrison Avenue. Hope you’re able to bring Arkansas’…

Front and center

Arguably, the most effectively outspoken chairman of the Fort Smith Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors in recent history was Emon Mahony Jr., who once unapologetically alleged during a speech…