Opinion
WHAT GIVES : A note from the readers
Greg Harton gregh@nwarktimes.com
Last week, I asked readers for their thoughts about how a newspaper should deal with a circumstance like Steve Clark’s, the candidate for Fayetteville mayor whose terms as Arkansas’ attorney general ended with a felony conviction for theft by deception. - Sunday, May 11, 2008
Times Editorial : City Plan 2025
One of these days a student will raise his hand and ask his teacher why downtown Fayetteville is different than every other town. At the current rate, it seems increasingly plausible that the reply will go something like this: “I’ll bet you won’t believe me, but at one time there was nothing special about downtown Fayetteville. The way residents and visitors alike came into and left that section of town used to be no different than the way things worked in every other community in America. For just a couple of bucks, you could fill your gas tank and drive your car anywhere you wanted to go in downtown — whether it was a friend’s house in the Washington-Willow Historic District or the old Walton Arts Center. Just imagine being able to simply drive to any of those places. It must have really been something to be alive back then.” “So what happened? I mean, why did they change things?” a second child asks. - Sunday, May 11, 2008
Letters to the editor
May 11, 2008 begins the annual celebration of National Nursing Home week. - Sunday, May 11, 2008
THE BROADER VIEW : Forty years — forward and backward Parallels and paradoxes
Hoyt Purvis email@nwarktimes.com
As we proceed through this year, there will be many references to and recollections of 1968 — that tumultuous time 40 years ago. It was a year of tragedy, assassinations, riots, upheaval, divisive conflicts and political surprises. - Sunday, May 11, 2008
Guest Commentary : Want to reduce your taxes? Get rich
BY HOLLY SKLAR Minuteman Media
When it comes to cutting taxes for the wealthy, President Bush can truly say, “Mission accomplished.” The richest 1 percent of Americans received about $491 billion in tax breaks between 2001 and 2008. That’s nearly the same amount as U.S. debt held by China — $493 billion — in the form of Treasury securities. - Sunday, May 11, 2008
MODERN TIMES : Gas-tax madness
Art Hobson ahobson@uark.edu
Presidential candidate John McCain recently uttered one of the year’s worst ideas, a “spherically stupid” idea — stupid no matter which way you look at it. To my dismay, Hillary Clinton soon picked up the same refrain. - Saturday, May 10, 2008
Times Editorial : Flagging support
People have a hard time admitting the realities that make their guilty pleasures possible. The answer? Cover up the truth as best we can. - Saturday, May 10, 2008
Guest Commentary : Spending good money for bad bullets
BY RYAN ALEXANDER Minuteman Media
It sounds like the plot of a Tom Clancy thriller: A tiny company run out of an unmarked Miami Beach office by a barely legal troublemaker siphons hundreds of millions of dollars from the Pentagon by selling it rusting weapons from aged Communist stockpiles. - Saturday, May 10, 2008
Letters to the editor
Bigotry and blindness at work - Friday, May 9, 2008
Guest Commentary : Maybe it takes an elitist
BY DONALD KAUL Minuteman Media
Ihave a confession to make: I’m an elitist. - Friday, May 9, 2008
Gas pandering
There is no bigger, more far-reaching question facing Americans today than how to continue to fuel the vehicles that keep society moving. - Friday, May 9, 2008
Times Editorial : 1.26 cents for your thoughts
As of Tuesday, a penny (which is 97.5 percent zinc and 2.5 percent copper) cost the U.S. Mint 1.26 cents to create. A nickel (which is 75 percent copper and 25 percent nickel) cost 7.7 cents to make. The difference adds up. Ultimately, Americans are spending tens of millions extra annually to keep the coins around. - Friday, May 9, 2008
Times Editorial : The difference
Today is May 8. That means, just for all you amateur presidential historians out there, that this is Harry S. Truman’s birthday. His remarkable life remains significant a whopping 124 years after his birth — and if for no other reason than the current president, George W. Bush, likes to frequently compare himself to the nation’s 33rd commander in chief. - Thursday, May 8, 2008
HATCHET : Huckabee’s VP stock is rising
Lucas Roebuck lucas@roebuckcompany.com
Conventional wisdom suggests Sen. - Thursday, May 8, 2008
Letters to the editor
Nation’s future needs reformist attitude Among the many lessons I have been taught over my long life is that you learn from the past, work for the future, live in the present, then treat every day as if it was your last and how you will be remembered. - Thursday, May 8, 2008
Times Editorial : Designing Fayetteville
Tim Conklin, planning and development management director for Fayetteville, has become a bit of a fixture at City Hall. For 15 years and in various planning capacities, he’s helped guide this town toward a more sensible future. His has been a positive influence. - Wednesday, May 7, 2008
TABLE FOR ONE : Happy Birthday Willie
Grady Jim Robinson GradyJim@aol.com
It’s hard to believe Willie Nelson celebrated his 75th birthday a few days ago. It’s even harder to believe that Willie became the biggest name in music over 30 years ago, with hits like “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain,” “Georgia on My Mind” and “Mamas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys.” And he’s still going strong. In fact, Willie’s epic life is highlighted in a new biography written by Joe Nick Patoski titled “Willie Nelson: An Epic Life.” Don Tyson, who has known the Texas legend for over 35 years, located Willie in Norway and sent birthday flowers. Tyson got an e-mail from Poodie, Willie’s trusty roadie, that read, “Willie got the flowers, but he was already drunk.” My first glimpse of Willie was way back in 1962. I didn’t know who he was nor who he would someday become, but right there on black-and-white television was a strange sounding guy in a dark suit, white shirt and tie. That was part of the Nashville scene in those days. Ray Price, Faron Young and others performed in suits and ties lookin - Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Letters to the editor
The minority opinion In keeping with the primary charge of the Future of Fayetteville High School Select Committee 2, the following is a list of arguments in support of building a new high school at the Deane Solomon site: The school system currently owns the Deane Solomon property. As such, the highest and best use of the site is for a school. If the district did not purchase the property with this use in mind, why was it purchased? It is highly unlikely the school board approved the purchase of the property with intentions of holding it in portfolio as an investment. If sold, trying to recoup that investment could take years and most likely will result in a loss. - Wednesday, May 7, 2008
The right direction
The presidential hopefuls still standing — Republican John McCain and Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton — seem to have found a patch of common ground in their support of a federal Shield Law for reporters. - Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Times Editorial : Votin’ time
There’s no sense in trying to deny it. Once lawmakers decided to uproot the state’s presidential contest from its traditional late spring/early summer placement and stick it in February, it killed much (if not all) of the interest that we would historically be feverishly reporting right now. If the state’s presidential primary was coming up in a couple of weeks as it has in the past, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton would be crisscrossing the Natural State in search of votes. Instead, because the state decided to hold its primary the same day as more than a score of other states, Arkansas received zero limelight. - Tuesday, May 6, 2008
JUST A THOUGHT : If I were king
Scott Shackelford scotts@nwarktimes.com
Suppose I were king of Fayetteville, and Karon Reese of the Washington-Willow Neighborhood Association came up to me while I was holding court at my favorite restaurant in Fayetteville (Hugo’s ) while sitting at my favorite table (You know, the one in the corner where if you look up you can see potential customers walking overhead as they traverse Block Avenue). - Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Guest Commentary : A glass half full and leaking
BY DONALD KAUL Minuteman Media
The outlook isn’t bright for the home team these days. - Tuesday, May 6, 2008