by - February 2, 2014 8:32 pm
“Unreasonable.” “Vindictive!” “They read too many books.” “They avoid common sense.” “Fort Smith is the laughing stock of the state.” Above is a sampling of the comments I heard from…
by - January 20, 2014 3:40 pm
The members of the Arkansas General Assembly return to the Capitol in February for the 2014 Fiscal Session. This will be the third such session since voters changed the Arkansas…
by - January 19, 2014 5:35 pm
The success of Obamacare depends on my son and those in his demographic, or we have been told. He is a healthy male in his 20’s whose health insurance premium…
by - January 5, 2014 8:21 pm
I received a call from Fort Smith Mayor Sandy Sanders a few weeks ago, kind of. It was an automated call. If you live within the city limits of Fort…
by - December 22, 2013 4:33 pm
What is it about the human species that compels us at the beginning of each year to make New Year’s resolutions? Everybody means well but within a few weeks resolutions…
by - December 8, 2013 5:09 pm
Last month my article “We have arrived” focused on a conversation about Fort Smith compared to Pine Bluff and was provoked by a “top ten list” ranking Fort Smith as…
by - November 29, 2013 10:23 am
Arkansas must use every available tool at our disposal to highlight our state's economic advantages in a competitive global marketplace. Companies looking to call Arkansas home need and want easy…
by - November 24, 2013 5:35 pm
This time last year the political rhetoric and conversation around coffee was about the expiration of the Bush “tax cuts.” Most provisions lowering federal income taxes after President Bush had…
by - November 17, 2013 6:42 pm
There’s a friendly debate among Arkansas politicos these days: If Hillary Clinton is the Democratic nominee in 2016, will she be able to win our state’s six electoral votes? And…
by - November 12, 2013 10:09 am
Students in the Bentonville, Fayetteville and Greenwood School districts, in four consecutive annual reports (2005-08) produced by our economic think tank earned 'A' grades for their performance on standardized national…
by - November 11, 2013 4:33 pm
For years I have been saying in jest that if Fort Smith isn’t careful we will become the next Pine Bluff. We’ve arrived, at least in one ranking. The website…
by - October 27, 2013 5:32 pm
Almost every homeowner understands the concept of home equity. Home equity is the money you would expect to be left over after you sold your house and paid off the…
by - October 20, 2013 12:48 pm
For only the second time as governor, I have called legislators to the State Capitol for a special session. These sessions are meant to be narrow in focus and efficient…
by - October 13, 2013 5:17 pm
The power of compound interest is one of the first subjects a person is taught when learning about personal finance. Compound interest uses the leverage of time and returns (interest,…
by - October 8, 2013 4:54 pm
This week, energy leaders, environmental experts, education professionals and a host of other industry specialists will gather in Tulsa for the Third Annual Oklahoma Governor’s Energy Conference. The conference, which…
by - October 6, 2013 8:57 pm
As a kid, one of my favorite things every Saturday morning was watching Mid-South Wrestling. It was always filled with theatrics, high drama, and a lot of bad acting. Every…
by - September 29, 2013 6:34 pm
Tuesday is the big day, the opening of the American Health Benefit Exchanges, more commonly referred to simply as the state insurance exchanges. You can expect a lot of chatter…
by - September 15, 2013 7:33 pm
A new day is how the U.S Department of Health and Human Services describes Jan. 1, 2014 “for the 19% of Arkansans who don’t have insurance, or Arkansas families and…
by - September 12, 2013 7:56 pm
The last two decades have not been kind to manufacturing, once Arkansas' largest private industry sector. Manufacturing peaked at 247,300 in February 1995, and has shed 93,400 jobs – an unprecedented…
by - September 8, 2013 5:49 pm
It’s still very early, but many people have already made bold predictions about the 2014 election cycle based on early polling data. It’s always important to remember that polls are…
