Fort Smith

Make voting mandatory

The U.S. prides itself as the beacon of democracy, but it’s very likely no U.S. president has ever been elected by a majority of American adults. It’s our own fault…

Donations to arts rose 4% to $13 billion in 2011

BLOOMBERG — Donations to the arts in the U.S. rose about 4.1% in 2011, to $13.1 billion, according to a report released June 18 by the Giving USA Foundation. Such…

Bell to resign as Arkansas Ag Secretary

Richard “Dick” Bell, Arkansas’ Secretary of Agriculture, will leave his post on June 30. In a letter to Gov. Mike Beebe, Bell says he is leaving because he has accomplished…

U.S. builders begin work on more single-family homes

BLOOMBERG — Builders broke ground on more single-family houses for a third consecutive month in May and rising construction permits pointed to further gains, showing the residential real-estate market is…

Freight industry struggling with ‘ups and downs’

A sentence from the Cass Freight Index well summarizes a collection of reports that track economic health through trucking industry activity: “Overall, still positive growth, but many ups and downs.”…

Between the Covers To the Land of Dreams Workshop

Well-known artist, Barbara Burrows, will be teaching this series of art classes. This is a fun and informative program for people of all areas of ability – from budding artist…

Arkansas Electric Coop CEO favors carbon tax

Duane Highley was named as the new CEO of the Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas in November 2011. Since coming on board with the state’s second largest electric utility, Highley has…

Some certificates better than a college degree

The classical depiction of “getting an education” meant finishing high school, going to college, and picking up, at the very least, a bachelor’s degree. But a Georgetown University Center on…

The no-tax pledge battle

“Tell me something cheerful” is how Grover Norquist, the president of Americans for Tax Reform, has started most of the conversations I’ve had with him over the past 20 years….

Bank alerts customers to ‘phishing’ scam

BancorpSouth issued the following “phishing” warning on Monday about attempts to scam customers: “BancorpSouth customers, as well as customers of other banks, are experiencing an increased level of fraudulent messages,…

Priority Bank plays defense with regulators

Priority Bank, based in Ozark with its largest branch and lending office in Fayetteville, was put on notice by federal regulators last month for “unsafe and unsound banking practices” with…

Brown-Hiller-Clark agents named to network

Agents at Fort Smith-based Brown-Hiller-Clark & Associates have been named part of Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield’s Preferred Agent Network, which recognizes top-producing, independent agents and brokers. The preferred…

Dr. Seals joins Sparks Health System

Sparks Health System is pleased to announce another new physician has joined our staff. Dr. Tyree Seals, D.O., has joined Sparks Health System and is now accepting new patient appointments…

Mayor Sanders avoids trash-vote veto discussion

Will Fort Smith Mayor Sandy Sanders veto board action approving the solicitation of bids from third-party refuse collection providers at the Tuesday night (June 19) meeting of the Fort Smith…

Small Greek economy could make big waves in the U.S.

Could a collapse of the Greek economy, which is just a little larger than the economy of Washington state in terms of GDP, really push the U.S. into another recession?…

Panther deal will help ABF, but not a ‘cure-all’

The Arkansas Best acquisition of Panther Expedited Services will help diversify the company and provide a revenue boost, but it won’t help the Fort Smith-based transportation holding company improve its…

Federal health-care ruling spurs guessing game

BLOOMBERG — In the next two weeks, John Roberts will sit in his high-backed, black leather chair in the U.S. Supreme Court’s marble courtroom and tell a hushed crowd that…

Hoodwinked

In explaining why individualized trash collection preference is a right of citizenship beyond the whims of collective governance, Fort Smith Director Philip Merry Jr. says the city is not necessarily…

2% or 20%?

A friend related to me a conversation he had a few years back with a yellow pages salesman. The salesman was explaining to him the difference, in his opinion, between…

Audit: Sales plan needed for Fort Smith Convention Center

The Fort Smith Convention Center plans to step up its game for 2013. On Friday (June 15), an internal audit was released from Fort Smith city auditor Mitzi Kimbrough that…