News on the Wire

July commerce up in Fort Smith

July commerce in Fort Smith was surprisingly strong, with tax collections up more than 8% compared to 2010. Each of the city’s 1% sales taxes (1% for streets and 1%…

Survey seeks input from Hog fans

The Razorback athletic program and the Razorback Foundation are launching a survey today (Sept. 27) to collect your opinion on a variety of issues related to sports programs at the…

Business Hall of Fame inductees announced

John Ed Anthony, Wayne Cranford, Walter Hussman Jr., and the late Jack Shewmaker have been selected as the next Arkansas business leaders to enter the Arkansas Business Hall of Fame….

Area home sales jump in August, inventory dips

August home sales in Sebastian and Crawford counties were up 28.8% thanks to a big gain in Sebastian County sales, according to the August Weichert Realtors-King Realty Group Real Estate…

Collections indicate improving Arkansas tourism industry

story by Roby Brock and Michael Tilley [email protected] Arkansas’ tourism tax collections through July are up 1.74% compared to the same period of 2010 and aren’t far behind 2008, the…

Downtown Fort Smith postal union pickets planned

Members of four unions representing employees of the U.S. Postal Service plan a to gather on Sept. 27 outside the downtown Fort Smith office of U.S. Rep. Steve Womack, R-Rogers….

Beebe not in ‘panic mode’ to replace Haley

Editor’s note: Roby Brock, with our content partner Talk Business, wrote this report. He can be reached at [email protected] Gov. Mike Beebe said Friday morning (Sept. 23) he is actively…

Three 1% prepared food tax forums scheduled

Let the forums begin. Ditto for the organized opposition to the 1% prepared food tax. Forward Fort Smith, a group formed to support passage of the 1% prepared food tax,…

FCRA donates land to county, seeks Kentucky Guard money

story by Aric Mitchell [email protected] The Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority (FCRA) met Thursday to act on two new recommendations from the Real Estate Review Committee (RERC). The first recommendation was…

Area tourism taxes up through July

Although July hospitality tax collections were down in Van Buren, the regional tourism industry continues to push collections above 2010 levels. For the first seven months of 2011, hospitality tax…

Fort Smith enplanements up in August

Enplanements at the Fort Smith Regional Airport were up in August, but remain below the year-to-date activity compared to 2010. For the first eight months of 2011, enplanements at the…

Arkansas income up 4.82% in second quarter

Personal income in Arkansas during the second quarter of 2011 was $99.649 billion, up 4.82% compared to the second quarter of 2010 and up 1.32% compared to the first quarter…

IEC director job, entity expectations discussed

Qualifications for a director, organizational expectations and incubator options were the focus of a Tuesday meeting (Sept. 20) that is part of a series of meetings focused on restarting the…

Republicans have legislative edge; Tea Party an asset

Editor’s note: Roby Brock, with our content partner Talk Business, wrote this report. He can be reached at [email protected] Arkansas Republicans have a generic advantage over Democrats in the preliminary…

Fort Smith chamber surveys members on 1% tax vote

The Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce pushed an electronic survey out its membership on Tuesday asking for their thoughts about the Fort Smith Convention Center and a proposed 1%…

Top ABF management change announced

Wes Kemp, president and CEO of Fort Smith-based ABF Freight System, will retire Dec. 31, ending an almost 43-year career with the less-than-truckload operator that has included significant company growth and tough economic times. [Wes Kemp, ABF]

Sebastian County officials consider major budget changes

story by Aric Mitchell [email protected] Following the Sebastian County Quorum Court’s joint meeting with the City of Fort Smith last week, earmarks were a big topic at Tuesday night’s regularly…

NWA ‘State of the Region’ report released

Education attainment and university research funding were the weak areas in a Northwest Arkansas economy that continues to perform well despite state and national economic conditions, according to a new…

Rep. Altes may face ethics violation charge

Trouble may be brewing for Rep. Denny Altes, R-Fort Smith, related to his alleged threat to hold up a budget because of a tiff between his son’s sanitation business and…

Obama’s negative ratings increase in Arkansas

Editor’s note: Roby Brock, with our content partner Talk Business, wrote this report. He can be reached at [email protected] For Arkansas voters, President Barack Obama started with a pretty poor…