by - December 17, 2022 9:50 am
Riff Raff: Recipe support
Dr. Seidensticker, a college professor, made me a cassette tape of recordings of music by composers Haydn, Stravinsky, Wagner, and others, although he said Wagner could be tough to follow…
Riff Raff
by - June 28, 2022 1:52 pm
Riff Raff: A cash and culture change in Russellville
About three decades ago, Arkansas Tech University let me graduate. My attendance was problematic for a few ATU leaders, and, likely, I was not the only person celebrating my graduation….
by - May 9, 2022 11:05 am
Riff Raff: A note about David
A specific item is why most attend a voting or study meeting of the Fort Smith Board of Directors. A zoning change. Proposed policy opposition. Or support. A not-in-my-back-yard issue….
by - March 16, 2022 9:59 am
Riff Raff: The dumb cycle
The television ad for an Arkansas GOP candidate for a federal office blasts, “Babies, Borders, Bullets.” The complex is oversimplified because, you know, don’t think; be enraged. Be alarmed. And…
by - February 27, 2022 3:18 pm
Riff Raff: A welcome pivot
Self-recognizing a hubris-induced mistake and turning to humility-driven corrective collaboration often results in a better outcome. So it is with the Fort Smith Board of Directors and their collective pivot…
by - December 12, 2021 8:45 pm
Riff Raff: Private votes on the public’s business
Here we go again with the city of Fort Smith and its inability and/or unwillingness to conduct the public’s business in public. City directors and administrators come and go, but…
by - November 22, 2020 5:37 pm
Riff Raff: The big ask
It was a sudden and surprising move, if not a perplexing pick that remains an enigma despite an explanation from the Fort Smith Public School Board president. Deputy Superintendent Dr….
by - August 16, 2020 4:18 pm
Riff Raff: Local problems
The Fort Smith Public School Board on June 22 rejected a bid recommendation by a Texas-based company managing the district’s $120 million millage construction and instead gave the work to…
by - January 1, 2017 10:47 am
Riff Raff: Calling the system an SOB
Editor’s note: This essay first appeared Dec. 28, 2008, on The City Wire, now Talk Business & Politics. It continues to be an appropriate note to begin a new year….
by - November 11, 2016 8:16 am
Riff Raff: A Veterans Day remembrance
Editor’s note: This essay about my grandfather, Raymond Evans, was first published November 2002. Raymond Evans died Dec. 6, 2008. There is no expiration on the need to remember Veterans…
by - October 30, 2016 2:50 pm
Riff Raff: 3 concerns with Issue 3
As a former chamber of commerce employee, Issue 3 is appealing. As an Arkansan interested in good public policy, the appeal wanes. Issue 3 would amend Arkansas’ Constitution “to encourage…
by - October 20, 2015 3:02 pm
Natural gas, budgets and BS
Some in the upper levels of Fort Smith city leadership have said the city has cut expenses as much as possible and the best/only way to fix budget holes is…
by - September 26, 2015 2:11 pm
An unexpected cavalry
Downtown Fort Smith was alive. Alive with “special energy.” A new element of culture was brought to the city. The “cool switch” was turned on for Fort Smith. Those are…
by - August 20, 2015 9:03 pm
Carter’s charity
It’s not likely I’ll soon praise the presidency of Jimmy Carter, if for no other reason than dad would disown me. He is not a fan of the Georgia peanut…
by - August 9, 2015 11:26 pm
Escalating the avoidance
Recent commentary suggesting citizens should avoid escalation during police interactions to avoid negative outcomes serves only to escalate avoidance of what is a broad and complex problem. Reducing violence and…
by - July 12, 2015 8:59 pm
Breaking the law
The trust and transparency deficit with Fort Smith municipal government took another hit Friday (July 10) when Mayor Sandy Sanders admitted – maybe unwittingly – that the Board broke state…
by - July 5, 2015 6:19 pm
The jobs hole
Recent numbers reflect well on the Fort Smith metro economy, but there remains a four-letter word that makes unpleasant a more in-depth conversation: Jobs. Positive economic headlines have been frequent…
by - June 29, 2015 5:10 pm
You should know Jack
Let’s take a moment and talk about the late Jack White and leadership and paperclips. Jack is remembered by the Jack White Legislative Golf Classic held each year by the…
by - May 17, 2015 11:26 pm
Trust, transparency and trails
Funding for a 35-mile multi-use trail system in Fort Smith wasn’t rejected because voters don’t like trails. It wasn’t about the trails. Never was. It was about trust. It was…
by - May 7, 2015 4:11 pm
A fortunate son
A lot has changed in Mom’s world. The world in 1949, the year of her birth, was a crazy place. Europe was rebuilding its continental economy, the Soviets were rattling…