Opinion

The new hospital CEO says …

Folks in the Fort Smith area are so hospitable that they’re likely to forgive Melody Trimble for never having visited Graceland. That Trimble readily admitted — “I drove through but…

Fantastic Mr. Fox delivers humanity without humans

Smarty-pants Peter Lewis reviews an animated movie with words like, “auteur,” “paragon,” and “nefarious.” We’re having him drug-tested. Again.

Acting, directing and synthesis necessary to convert book to film

Without the key ingredients, Peter says a film from book can suck as bad as did “New Moon.”

A compassionate pause

The Fort Smith board of directors on Tuesday (Dec. 1) faces an appeal of a Fort Smith Planning Commission approval of the Community Rescue Mission’s 3,300-square foot dormitory-style housing for…

‘Labor Day’ delivers Henry, tomato soup and fish stick dinners

Henry shares five days of his life at 13 with a depressed mom who finds new love with a convict.

The ‘New Moon’ movie sucks. There, we said it.

Peter notes that when you base a movie on a mediocre book, you get something worse than the book.

Being thankful a key to being healthy

story by Marla Cantrell [email protected] It’s not easy being happy. Authors write bestsellers detailing the search for it. Theme parks are based on it, commercials at Christmas promise to sell…

It’s important to seek to avoid problems before they arise

Stockman forwards 11 ideas on how to best nix common problems in small business startups.

Condolences and gratitude

Let’s first note the recent passing of Birnie Pryor, a kind and successful Fort Smith businessman who was a lifelong supporter of downtown Fort Smith. He was 73. Birnie was…

A unique option for small business funding

Stockman outlines one way a community can raise funds to support entrepreneurial efforts.

It’s time for ‘Brief Interviews with Hideous Men.”

Peter reviews the special screening of a Sundance Film Festival movie that “documents” the effort to learn the true reality of men.

Billy says …

Billy, an old college friend, has taken to renewing our past chats via e-mail. He’s found some measure of amusement watching us folks in the Fort Smith area debate and…

Remembering Raymond and the others

Editor’s note: This essay was first published in November 2002 when I was the business editor of the Times Record. A version of that essay can be found here.) This…

Peter mixes a little religion with thoughts on sharing music

There is an old-school way of sharing music emerging that fosters C-O-N-V-E-R-S-A-T-I-O-N. That’s just crazy talk.

Businesses need to effectively deal with those who remain

“Layoff survivor sickness” is noted as a problem that can cripple the organization that remains after a round of layoffs.

Happy Birthday to You!

We re-started this thing called The City Wire a year ago Nov. 3. By way of reminder, let’s revisit a few points from the simple vision we expressed almost 12…

A low-budget movie delivers the thrills

As it turns out, “Paranormal Activity” is not an explainer movie as to why the football Razorbacks are inconsistent from week to week. But it is a scary movie that taps into our primal fear of bad things happening while we sleep.

Lines of optimism

There is a fine line between naivety and optimism. Let’s walk the line. The line walked here is that we have more reasons to be optimistic about the future of…

A significant difference

Recently received a letter from the Leadership Fort Smith Alumni Association requesting nominations for the 2010 Jack White Leadership Fort Smith Award. “Our Jack White Leadership Fort Smith Award recognizes…

Chili, sex and silence

Like a good pot of chili on a cool and damp fall day, the following collection of sentences, punctuation and bad grammar contains several ingredients. We hope it satisfies without…