Fort Smith

A season of purpose

Amongst the laughter and shopping, baking and giving, decorating and partying lie reflective thoughts of one’s life dancing around in many people’s minds.

Creation of Leadership Franklin County announced

Arkansas Rep. Leslee Milam Post, D-Ozark, announced the creation of Leadership Franklin County, a program housed at Arkansas Tech University-Ozark Campus and aimed at creating leadership opportunities to expand the…

Regional building sector remains healthy

Construction continues to be a healthy sector of the Fort Smith regional economy, with building permit values in three key regional cities up more 33% for the year. Building permits…

Arkansas exports up 14% in 2011

New federal data shows that merchandise exports made in Arkansas increased 14% in the first 9 months of 2011 compared to the same time period in 2010. The U.S. Commerce…

Benjamin Bonneville Collection

Fort Smith Museum of History Bonneville Collection As part of the Fort Smith Museum of History’s Veteran’s Day Exhibit, select artifacts from the Bonneville Collection may be viewed…

Plan moves forward for water park, ball fields

The aquatics facility at Ben Geren Regional Park is back on the table. After removing the earmark at the last Committee as a Whole meeting, the Sebastian County Quorum Court…

188th support briefing date set

Favorable financial figures that are part of a “focused plan” protect and enhance the future of the 188th Fighter Wing in Fort Smith were released Monday (Dec. 12) by the…

Open House crowds fill Fort Smith Public Library

The event was free to the public, but donations of a non-perishable food item were encouraged to support the Holiday Food Drive.

Floodplain changes to save thousands in premium costs

An approved change in Fort Smith floodplain maps could save city home and business owners thousands in insurance premiums beginning March 2012. The city’s engineering department recently found errors and…

Fort Smith enplanements up in November

Enplanement traffic at the Fort Smith Regional Airport was up almost 5% in November, but the year-to-date traffic remains just slightly below 2010 levels. November enplanements at the airport totaled…

Taylor joins KHBS/KHOG-TV sports crew

Josh Taylor joins KHBS/KHOG-TV (Channels 40 and 29) as sports anchor and reporter in January. Taylor will anchor 40/29 Sports at 5:30, 6 and 10pm on weekends, report throughout the…

The City Wire seeks demographic info

The City Wire is again pushing an annual survey to gather basic demographic info about it’s growing number of visitors. The data will also be used to help in expansion…

InvoTek receives Alzheimer’s research grant

Alma-based InvoTek recently received a Small Business Innovation Research grant of $150,288 from the National Institute on Aging. The grant will fund the development of a training tool to help…

Furloughs possible with state trial court workers

Earlier this year, the state’s trial court system experienced a near-catastrophic cash flow crisis. Declining revenues from fewer civil case filings and supposedly less-than-stellar budgeting resulted in a scare for…

Dynamic Marriage Class

Dynamic Marriage Class That Can Revolutionize Your Marriage In Eight Weeks Is Available In Alma, AR Is your marriage in a rut – not bad, but not all that…

Blevins to follow court order, reinstate employees

Sebastian County Circuit Clerk Ken Blevins has blinked. Blevins, who faced a contempt of court charge and possible arrest, has agreed to allow employees Tyanna Caldwell and Cassie Vega to…

Oklahoma energy

Gov. Fallin: Energy industry key to job growth

Honored, again

Editor’s note: Following is a repeat of an essay first published Dec. 13, 2009. The essay is republished here as a reminder of the 2011 Christmas Honors effort. Link here…