Opinion

Here we are again

“You will never plow a field by turning it over in your mind.” – Irish proverb Here we are again in Fort Smith with another study. This time it’s an…

Porn star dreamin’

“Son, what are your plans after you graduate this month?” “Well Mom, I’m heading to California to be a porn star. I’m going to follow my passion!” If being a…

Asa and Brandon

Has Arkansas finally found a candidate for Governor who is camera shy? I seem to recall Asa Hutchinson as a candidate for several offices, U.S. Senate, Attorney General, Congress and…

Sustainable packaging and Wal-Mart

In an effort to connect buyers, product suppliers and packaging suppliers, Wal-Mart held this week its 8th annual Sustainable Packaging Exposition. The retailer looks to drive innovation, “every day low…

We must renew the 1% county tax

When famed jurist Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. noted that taxes are the price we pay for civilization, he likely had in mind taxes like Sebastian County’s 1% sales tax. County…

Questions about Halter’s promise

It seemed like a good time and place for Democratic candidate Bill Halter, the “sparkplug promoter” behind the Arkansas Lottery for Scholarships, to inform this local crowd of his gubernatorial…

Tax Cuts and other moves

A majority of the 135 Legislators in Little Rock campaigned on tax cuts, not surprisingly in a conservative state. Campaigning and enacting are two different measures, and there were a…

89th Session Wrap, part I

What began as a Session with historical implications ended as a lesson in real world governance and bi-partisanship with major agenda items being completed. The newly minted Republican majorities in…

Media smarts

Folks sometimes wonder about the intelligence of us media folks. I was laid off by one of them big newspaper companies, so my IQ must have been below the bar….

Hogs on the Buffalo

Even the 89th General Assembly, which just went home this week, admits there is a problem. But they didn’t fix the problem. Yes, there is a problem with a hog farm…

Seek first an exit strategy

I recently heard an attorney say 70% of partnerships end in “divorce.” She didn’t give her source for the 70% statistic, but from my own observations, the majority of partnerships…

A plea to support Leadership Fort Smith

I was in one of the first classes of Leadership Fort Smith. Leadership Fort Smith is now in its 26th year. More than 650 folks have completed the program and…

Governor promotes ‘artistic tourism’

Spring marks the start of a new tourism season for many travelers who come to Arkansas for our great outdoors. But recently, more and more visitors are drawn indoors to…

Recycling and gift shops

The urge to save humanity is almost always a false-face for the urge to rule it.  – H.L. Mencken Recently toured several of the fine museums in Chicago. The city…

More Whirlpool spin

No one expects a quick outcome to a hazardous chemical spill, made decades ago by Whirlpool Inc., that has leached its way into the working class neighborhood of Fort Smith…

Campaigns go ugly early

We’re officially now one day into the fight for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination and Mike Ross and Bill Halter are already trading jabs. During his Little Rock stop Wednesday (April…

Of game changers and barbecues

The optimist says the HMA deal bringing around 400 new and good-paying jobs to the Fort Smith area is a sign the region can recover from the more than 12,000…

The April 15 Survival Guide

There are the “haves” and the “have nots”; the haves, the individuals who have already filed their tax returns, and the have nots, those who haven’t filed their income tax…

The gubernatorial frontrunners

Somehow the announcement last week that former Congressman Mike Ross, D-Prescott, has quit his cushy job as the Governmental Affairs of the Southwestern Power Pool, seems appropriate. And timely. It…

A call to action

Like every other community in America, the Fort Smith Region is currently experiencing a silent crisis – CHILD ABUSE. This crisis has been going on for far longer than any…