News on the Wire

Area building permit values down 45%

Development in Greenwood and in the regional new home construction sector is not to blame for a more than 45% dip in combined building permit values in Fort Smith, Greenwood…

U.S. Marshal Bass Reeves meets Morgan Freeman

Legendary U.S. Marshal Bass Reeves — portrayed by Baridi Nkokheli of Fort Smith — visited Saturday (April 3) with legendary and Academy Award winning actor Morgan Freeman about the plans…

Scene by Carson: A tough report on Downtown Fort Smith

feature story by Amanda Carson [email protected] Downtown should be the focal point for entertainment, food and shopping for any major city. Considering Fort Smith is the second largest city in…

Sen. Lincoln to meet with RITA board (Updated)

U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln plans to make the most of her upcoming trip to Fort Smith by also meeting with a group working to upgrade railroad lines at Chaffee Crossing….

Tea Party treads lightly with U.S. Rep. John Boozman

Editor’s note: The following story is reposted here courtesy of TalkBusiness.net. At Smitty’s BBQ in Conway, they serve more than a mean pulled-pork sandwich. It’s a weekly meeting place for…

State tax collections down, but decreases moderate

Arkansas’ tax collections are down compared to comparable 2009 periods, but at least the rate of decline began to moderate in March. Year-to-date (July 2009-March 2010) gross revenues totaled $3.922…

Regional bankruptcies and incorporations

Following are recent bankruptcy and incorporation filings from Crawford, Franklin, Logan and Sebastian counties. The information is provided by The Daily Record. a Little Rock-based news and legal information publisher….

Baldor CEO shares culture with leadership group

story and photos by Linda Kaufenberg John McFarland, chairman and CEO of Baldor Electric Co., was the final of four speakers in the Spring 360 Leadership Series. The 360 Leadership…

‘Coalition for Arkansas Jobs’ organizes to oppose Card Check

The Coalition for Arkansas Jobs, reported to be supported by small businesses in Arkansas, launched Thursday (April 1) for the sole purpose of gathering election-year opposition to the Employee Free…

‘Community celebration’ planned for Mitsubishi

Gov. Mike Beebe and half of Arkansas’ Congressional delegation will be in Fort Smith on Tuesday (April 6) to join in a “community celebration” and thank Mitsubishi officials for their…

Glidewell ahead of Files, Medley in campaign funds

If cash were truly king in an election, Rep. Frank Glidewell would be a favorite to win the three-person GOP primary for the Arkansas Senate seat (District 13) that represents…

Arkansas Best, Baldor, USA Truck see quarterly stock gains

The three publicly held companies based in the Fort Smith area saw their stock prices gain during the first quarter of 2010 — a trend not unlike that with most…

Arvest issues statement on student loan change

Bentonville-based Arvest Bank took the unusual step Wednesday (March 31) of notifying its customers, universities and the media that the federal government is soon to end the national banking industry’s…

The City Wire Special Report: A preacher crusades for a medical clinic

Editor’s note: This is the second in a series of stories on mental illness and healthcare issues. Throughout 2010 The City Wire will attempt to post at least one story…

Baldor exec pay down, employee profit plan up

What a difference a year makes for the employees of Baldor Electric Co.’s profit sharing and savings plan — a plan that holds 3.578 million shares of company stock, or…

Fort Smith board agrees to pursue homeless task force ideas (Correction)

Editor’s note: See correction below. The Fort Smith Board of Directors agreed to actively pursue recommendations to respond more collaboratively to the city’s homeless problems, with City Director Steve Tyler…

Arkansas Trucking Report profiles new Arkansas Best CEO

Editor’s note: Following is probably one of the best introductions — written from a lengthy interview — of Judy McReynolds, the relatively new president and CEO of Fort Smith-based Arkansas…

USA Truck, Baldor expect higher costs from new health care law

While the debate rages as to how much the newly signed federal health care law will cost the U.S. business community, at least two publicly held companies important to the…

Harris, Hunton push for District 87 House seat

story by Marla Cantrell [email protected] Republican Justin Harris will face Democrat Earl Hunton in the District 87 Arkansas State Representative race in November. Both call themselves conservatives. Hunton is pro-life…

Homelessness Task Force to issue recommendations

A Homelessness Task Force created in August 2009 by the Fort Smith Board of Directors is expected to report back to the board Tuesday (March 30) on 14 recommendations that…