Fort Smith

Fort Smith Board to discuss 2025 budgets, financial strategies

The City of Fort Smith budget hearing is set for Friday (Nov. 22) and the city’s Board of Directors are going in with a goal to balance the needs of…

Report: New Fort Smith water leaks outpace repaired leaks

Water leaks seem to be a constant headache for the City of Fort Smith with a new leak seeming to spring up with every one repaired. The utilities department has…

Dispute continues over Crawford County library lawsuit legal costs

Because Crawford County officials “ignored good faith attempts” to resolve a lawsuit filed against the county’s library system for book censorship actions, the county should pay the legal fees, according…

Franklin County group hires attorney to oppose planned state prison

Fort Smith attorney Joey McCutchen has been selected as legal counsel for a Franklin County group opposed to a planned state prison in the county. He’s not sure if they…

Hmong family focus of ‘Big Read’ program at U.S. Marshals Museum

The U.S. Marshals Museum in Fort Smith received a $20,000 grant from the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA), in partnership with Arts Midwest to help fund the Big Read…

Arkansas River traffic up almost 2% through October

Improving water levels on the Mississippi River have helped tonnage on the Arkansas River to swing from being down 4% year-to-date through August to being up almost 2% through October….

City of Fort Smith denies city boss exceeded authority with EPA grant program

The City of Fort Smith and City Administrator Carl Geffken filed an answer to a lawsuit brought against the city regarding the city’s Climate Pollution Reduction Grant program, denying all…

Bragg picks up endorsement in Fort Smith director runoff election

Carl Nevin has endorsed Russ Bragg for Fort Smith City Director Ward 3. Bragg and Lee Kemp will face each other in a runoff election Dec. 3. They, along with…

Kids Unlimited Learning Academy moves into new Fort Smith facility

Over the past nine months, a renovation has transformed the 30,000-square-foot former home office of Beverly Enterprises near Central Mall in Fort Smith into the largest early intervention day treatment…

Crawford County officials want library system to pay potential lawsuit award

Attorneys for Crawford County have asked the court to understand it is time for a First Amendment lawsuit against the county to finally come to an end. The attorneys also…

Arvest Foundation, Rheem support Fort Kids Children’s Museum

Fort Kids Children’s Museum has received gifts from the Arvest Foundation and Rheem Manufacturing as part of the effort to raise more than $16 million to build a children’s museum…

Fort Smith area homebuilders learn more about VA loans

With more military veterans buying homes in the Fort Smith area, builders, remodelers and real estate agents need to know more about Veteran Administration (VA) loans and how they can…

Historic downtown Fort Smith building may not be a total loss after fire

Adelaide Hall, one of the oldest buildings in downtown Fort Smith, may not be a total loss following a Nov. 6 fire. A property owner rep says the structure appears…

Board of Corrections votes to accept land for planned prison

The Arkansas Board of Corrections (BOC) on Friday (Nov. 8) voted to accept the land for a planned 3,000-bed prison in Franklin County. The move comes after considerable protest from…

Fort Smith Board delays approval of capital improvement budgets

The Fort Smith Board of Directors tabled approval of all departmental capital improvement plans (CIP) until after all-day discussions on the city’s 2025 budget, which is scheduled for Nov. 22….

Franklin County residents, legislators quiz state officials about planned prison

The community of Charleston was blindsided with news that a state prison was going to be built near their small town when the governor’s office made an announcement Oct. 31….

Charleston area residents push back against planned prison; ready for town hall

Residents are hoping to get some answers and maybe encouraged the Arkansas Board of Corrections to rethink a prison near Charleston during a town hall meeting Thursday (Nov. 7) at…

40 consecutive months of Arkansas tourism tax growth ends

For 40 consecutive months, beginning in March 2021, revenue from Arkansas’ 2% tourism tax has been above the same month in the previous year. But that ended in July when…

Fire burns historic downtown Fort Smith structure, extent of damage unknown

Historic Adelaide Hall in downtown Fort Smith, home to the Bricktown Brewery restaurant, was damaged by a fire that began early Wednesday (Nov. 6) morning. The extent of the damage…

Bragg, Kemp head to runoff in Fort Smith Director race

With no candidate receiving a majority of the votes, the Ward 3 position on the Fort Smith Board of Directors will be decided in a runoff election set for Dec….