Fort Smith

Christmas Splendor Open House

Trees and new sex rules focus of Fort Smith Board votes

The Fort Smith Board of Directors took a tongue-lashing from one of its citizens, extended allowable land use for sexually oriented businesses and settled the Barlee II Properties litigation Tuesday…

Voting open for Burlsworth Trophy semi-finalists

On Tuesday (Nov. 20) the Burlsworth Trophy selection committee announced the top 10 semi-finalists for the 2012 award. The Burlsworth Trophy is awarded to the most outstanding football player in…

Tusk to Tail: It’s tough to be a Hog fan

The Sunday morning phone call from my father has become a staple of our relationship. Every Sunday, like clockwork, he and I discuss the Hogs at length. Every Sunday, win…

U.S. freight numbers down in October

The closely watched American Trucking Associations’ tonnage index fell 3.8% in October, with Hurricane Sandy blamed for some of the negative direction. Also, Cass Information Systems reported a decline in…

Obama spells out rules for health insurers to cover sick

UnitedHealth Group Inc. and other health insurers would be able to vary their premiums based only on age, tobacco use, family size or geography under proposed U.S. rules meant to…

Target turkey dinner costs less than Wal-Mart

A Thanksgiving Day turkey dinner costs less at Target Corp. than at Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s largest retailer, according to a Bloomberg Industries analysis. A basket of 18 Thanksgiving…

SEC Football Week 13: Gridiron clashes in regular season finales

This week is always bittersweet for me. I absolutely love the pageantry of college football, and there is no other weekend that puts the game on such a showcase as…

Housing starts at four-year high boost U.S. expansion

New-home construction unexpectedly climbed to a four-year high in October, more evidence of a revival in the industry that’s helping propel the U.S. economy. Housing starts rose 3.6% to a…

Arkansas’ jobless rate rises in October

With almost 4,800 more Arkansans unemployed during October, the state’s jobless rate inched higher to 7.2%. October marked the 45th consecutive month Arkansas’ jobless rate has been above 7%. The…

Differing stories emerge on downtown landscaping

Fort Smith Director Pam Weber and Frank Sharum, sub-contractor on the downtown streetscaping project, are not telling the same story. At night two of city budget hearings (Nov. 15), Weber…

Car-Mart shares tumble on sluggish earnings (Updated)

Investors found it easy to drive away from America's Car-Mart following a lackluster earnings report released late Monday, (Nov. 19). Shares of America's Car-Mart tumbled nearly 11% in near-record volume…

Arkansas Policy Foundation renews tax cut call

Emboldened by Republican control of the Arkansas Legislature for the first time in almost 140 years, the Arkansas Policy Foundation (APF) is renewing its call for tax cuts that could…

Oklahoma Governor opposes Medicaid expansion

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin (R) said Monday that the Oklahoma Department of Health will not participate in a state-based health exchange or to expand Medicaid – key parts of the…

Christmas Honors event includes Secret Service agent

Philip Merry was nine years old and riding his bike home from Patrick Henry Elementary School in Tulsa when the rain started pouring down. He stopped at a phone booth…

Wal-Mart shoppers seen overrunning Black Friday protests

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. workers demanding better pay and benefits vow to mount 1,000 protests online and outside stores up to and including Black Friday. The strategy risks showing the company’s…

Existing-home sales in U.S. increase to 4.79 million rate

Sales of previously owned U.S. homes climbed in October, indicating gains in the real estate market are being sustained by cheap borrowing costs. Purchases of existing houses, tabulated when a…

Tyson Foods’ shares rally on outlook, solid earnings

Tyson Foods' investors had much to be thankful for Monday morning (Nov. 19) as the meat giant’s stock price rose nearly 10% on an optimistic outlook for the next three…

Secession talk

Talk of secession has returned. Is that because people enjoy acting like children, so upset about certain, recent election results that they prefer to engage in la-la land wishes possessing…

Grad student researching Whirlpool impact

Leslie Hassel plans to be in the Fort Smith area several days during the fall 2012 semester to gather oral histories and other information for what she hopes will be…