by - July 13, 2014 1:17 pm
Faith and politics
A new twist occurred July 1 in the U.S. Senate race between Congressman Tom Cotton (R- Dardanelle) and Senator Mark Pryor (D-Ark). In giving his reactions to the U.S. Supreme…
Opinion
by - July 7, 2014 3:47 pm
Education beyond high school
Today’s economy is more competitive and more complicated than it was fifty years ago. Oklahomans entering the workforce today are not just competing against Texans; they are competing against Americans…
by - July 6, 2014 6:44 pm
Reflecting, already
The back and forth advertisements from Arkansas gubernatorial hopefuls Asa Hutchinson and Mike Ross often elicit an emotion a more disciplined journalist would not reveal. And that emotion is this:…
by - July 6, 2014 6:32 pm
Be careful with caring
On May 20 a Fort Smith convenience store, Mr. Jiff, was robbed. The lady working in the store at the time, Ms. Henry, was thrown to the floor by the…
by - July 6, 2014 1:44 pm
More needed from Hutchinson, Ross
There is some confusion surfacing in the Arkansas Governor’s race. Here we sit just past the 4th of July heading into the November election cycle with two distinct Arkansans vying…
by - July 1, 2014 7:56 pm
Economic stability. Now what?
The corpus of the Fort Smith regional economy is not a fully recovered patient but we should pause to take note of recent positive developments. The developments may offer even…
by - June 29, 2014 6:28 pm
Beebe’s Special Session call
I have called the Arkansas General Assembly to Little Rock for an extraordinary session, often referred to as a special session. There are legislative issues to be addressed before the…
by - June 29, 2014 6:19 pm
The President’s war
The recent advances of the ISIS insurgency in Iraq, which threatens to undo what this country poured so much blood and treasure into is disturbing to many Americans, particularly veterans…
by - June 26, 2014 6:05 pm
A ‘Bold’ push for jobs
There’s something in the water. How else do you explain the success that Arkansas entrepreneurs have enjoyed over the past 50 years? There is no precedent for a state with…
by - June 22, 2014 8:53 pm
Walmart and lottery tickets
If I were a small convenience store owner enjoying the nuances of selling a plethora of Arkansas Lottery tickets, a pack of Marlboros, a Slim Jim or two, an occasional…
by - June 22, 2014 8:32 pm
Trust and city government
Trusting people has its risk as well as its reward. Business works best when you can trust your employees to show up to work and work hard and when you…
by - June 19, 2014 8:00 pm
Just don’t call him a Savior
A simple and smart-alecky assessment could be that singer-songwriter Sturgill Simpson ran out of beer before he ran out of herb and converted an empty Bud can into a bong…
by - June 16, 2014 4:56 pm
A legal mess
A rarely used procedural action taken June 11 by the Fort Smith Board of Directors to kill a review of the city’s long-term relationship with and recent billings from the…
by - June 15, 2014 6:21 pm
What did we gain in Iraq?
In May, my wife Cara and I had the pleasure of seeing her son graduate from the Army Academy at West Point. To watch so many young men and women…
by - June 15, 2014 6:04 pm
Floyd becomes the top Baptist
The Reverend Ronnie Floyd of Springdale this week became the third Arkansas-based pastor history to lead one of the largest U.S. religious denominations, the 15.7 million Southern Baptists. Floyd, back…
by - June 8, 2014 9:55 pm
Would you invest in your business?
Many new business owners open for business with limited capital but unlimited dreams. If the market is cruel to their business concept, their limited capital becomes a capital shortage that…
by - June 4, 2014 9:31 pm
College student perspective
Now that May has ended thousands of newly minted college graduates in Arkansas will join the workforce – or at least they will try to join the workforce. Two recent…
by - June 1, 2014 5:30 pm
Isbell the AMP and You
He dang sure shouldn’t be, but Jason Isbell was an afterthought on the promo stuff announcing a July 7 concert at the AMP in Northwest Arkansas. Isbell would probably be…
by - June 1, 2014 4:51 pm
Asa goes bold on fighting crime
It came as no surprise this past week when Republican gubernatorial candidate Asa Hutchinson, a former federal prosecutor, unveiled a plan to ratchet up efforts to curtail violent crime and…
by - May 29, 2014 5:41 pm
Arkansas’ income-parity struggle
A long-standing economic goal of Arkansas officials is to achieve 100% income parity with the United States. The goal is ambitious – overly so in the short-term but possible long-term…