Opinion

Big Screen Peter: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

The Narnia film is slightly above average in quality but likely will be a big hit with those 16 years old or younger.

Innovation often birthed by mix of creativity and problem-solving

Stockman suggests that listening to your inner child could help improve innovation skills.

Dear Santa:

Dear Santa: Consider me back among those who believe. And, knowing that to return I must have once departed the faithful, forgive the years of not sharing in the Ho,…

Adam & Eats: Tassanee’s Thai Cuisine

The quality of the food, Adam says, easily makes up for the relatively slow service.

Big Screen Peter: 127 Hours

The good news is that Peter found a movie he thinks will be a classic. The bad news: It ain’t playing in the Fort Smith area. Yet.

12,000, again

Editor’s note: Following is a repeat of an essay first published Dec. 13, 2009, following the overwhelming success of the first Christmas Honors. The essay is republished here as a…

Adam & Eats: Penjamo

This new restaurant has decent food and the atmosphere includes flat-screen TVs and portraits of Jesus and the Virgin Mary.

Big Screen Peter: Love & Other Drugs

Possibly the only saving grace of the movie is that it doesn’t shy away from the reality of sex.

Business success also involves being thankful

Stockman encourages business owners to take time to thank those important to the business.

Dear Fort Smith regional legislators:

Dear Fort Smith regional legislators: Having given up a few years ago on Santa Claus (apparently, the North Pole logistics folks can’t hook a believer up with a few cases…

Adam & Eats: Skinny’s White Spot Cafe

The folks at Skinny’s crank out good food at great prices, but they don’t much about Bob.

Big Screen Peter: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I

Overall a good movie, but Peter says the action and narrative was a bit rushed.

Small business owners shouldn’t neglect HR

Stockman says good human resources practices are the best preventive medicine for small businesses.

Seeking salvation

The thing with this regional economic development alliance thing is that I’m not feeling the religion. You’ll find me on the back pew working hard to suppress my cynicism as…

Adam & Eats: Las Senoritas

The food is OK, but the restaurant has a familiar theme … sports bar and scantily-clad waitresses.

Big Screen Peter: Skyline

The movie about an alien invasion was well shot and includes real and honest emotions, but the ending didn’t do it for Peter.

Wants, needs and ditches

A debate possibly best captured by English historian Edmund Burke is one we might consider in our pondering about the future governance of more than 80,000 Fort Smith citizens in…

Adam & Eats: Al’s Real Pit Bar-B-Q

The real fries and spicy barbecue sauce that kicks you in the mouth has Adam thinking the low prices and good food are a winning combo.

Big Screen Peter: Due Date

It has some funny parts, but Peter says it falls well below the potential of the acting and directing talent.

Remembering Raymond

Editor’s note: This essay about my grandfather, Raymond Evans, was first published November 2002 when I was business editor of the Times Record. A version of that essay can be…