Last week’s column in this space generated a great deal of reaction, including a quick response from state Rep. Bob Ballinger. Ballinger phoned our office in Berryville almost before the ink was dry, it seems, to complain about the column and ask for space to write a rebuttal. He also wondered why I didn’t call him before I wrote it...

Bob Ballinger will tell you — and anyone else who will listen without taking the time to do a little homework and check his facts — that the “liberal media” is ganging up to pick on him. Well, I’m a member of the media and I’m a liberal on an awful lot of issues — like not hating my neighbor because of whom he chooses to love and not treating poor people like subhumans because they have committed the sin of being poor. ...

It’s been a mild winter in Carroll County, most folks would agree. But it’s still winter, and I still hate it. I hate winter for a lot of reasons, not the least of which are the cold and dark. As a matter of fact, the darkness is probably my number one complaint about this time of year. People need sunlight, and there just isn’t enough of it this time of year. Of course, the days are already getting longer, but I won’t be happy until we spring forward in a few weeks...

Professional football is my favorite sport, and the Super Bowl is my favorite sporting event (except, of course, for the 2016 World Series). I’ve seen every game since 1980, when the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Los Angeles Rams for their fourth Super Bowl title. But I’ve never seen a Super Bowl like the one I witnessed on Sunday...

As 2017 draws to a close, it’s a time to reflect on the last 365 days. It’s also a chance to look forward to 2018 and think about some of the things we’d like to accomplish in the next 365 days. With that in mind, here’s a look at some of my New Year’s Resolutions, in no particular order. Some of them are more serious than others, but I’ll leave that for you to judge...

Dear readers, Indulge me if you will, as a journalist who is passionate about the history of newspapers and as the grandfather of a curly-haired 8-year-old boy who is currently wrestling with the very question that vexed 8-year-old Virginia O’Hanlon 120 years ago...

Some of you readers, I’m sure, have seen the new HBO documentary “Meth Storm.” I watched the film over the weekend and found it to be a dark, depressing examination of a segment of our society that is becoming all too common and all too close. The film follows a family of meth addicts in Van Buren County over the course of two years and explains that while law enforcement has been largely successful in eliminating domestic meth labs, the result has been an influx of an even more potent version of the drug from Mexico.. ...

A recent issue of the Lovely County Citizen included a lively Forum section, with several readers writing to voice their opinions. Several wrote about the paper’s recent coverage of a county election commissioner who was arrested after a bizarre incident involving an alleged false accident report that police say led to a car chase and a physical altercation...

It’s the middle of October. It’s one of my favorite times of year — although the weather this year hasn’t exactly been typical for October. Most years, October is the time when temperatures begin to drop and we get those beautiful days and nights where the air is brisk and refreshing without being downright cold...

The long wait is almost over. Football season is just days away. For Arkansas Razorbacks fans, the season actually starts a couple of days earlier than it usually would, with the Razorbacks opening on Thursday night at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock...

My high school class held its 30th reunion on Saturday. While I didn’t attend, it has been fun catching up with my old classmates via Facebook in the weeks leading up to the event. It has been interesting, too, seeing how some classmates’ appearance has changed dramatically while others don’t seem to have aged at all. ...

If you read this column regularly, you probably know that I am a long-suffering, incurable fan of the Chicago Cubs. Of course, it seems as if 35 percent of the American population is a Cubs fan these days, but many of them haven’t earned that title. It’s easy to jump on the bandwagon when a team is winning, not so much when you follow a team for more than 30 years without a World Series appearance...

One of my favorite musical artists is a gentleman named Robert James Ritchie. You might know him better as Kid Rock. I’m sure that revelation is a little surprising to you. Kid Rock likely isn’t the kind of music you would expect a middle-aged newspaper editor to listen to, but I’ve always appreciated rock music and Kid Rock is a talented musician...

July 21 will mark the five-year anniversary of my father’s death. It’s been on my mind lately. My dad and I were never close; I’m not sure if that’s because we were so different, or if it’s because we were so much alike. Certainly, there were a lot of things we didn’t agree on. ...

As a general rule, I don’t write columns about local news stories. The reason is that I might have to cover a story that I’ve written about, or at the very least be involved in supervising coverage of that story. I don’t want anyone to think that our reporting of any particular story is anything less than 100 percent objective...

As I write this column, it’s Memorial Day. Across Carroll County — and across the country — ceremonies are being held to honor and remember those men and women who gave their lives in military service. One of those ceremonies took place this morning in Green Forest, where longtime Green Forest High School teacher and coach Jim Goins was among the speakers. ...

Sunday is Mother’s Day. For some of you readers, it will be a day to celebrate and honor your mothers by spending some time with them. There will be flowers, special meals and time spent together. For others, and for me, it will be a day to remember the mothers that we can’t spend the day with — we’ll celebrate and honor our moms, too, but we’ll have to do it more quietly, in our hearts...

“Well, it’s cancer.” That’s the message I received a few weeks ago from a dear friend. She had feared as much, and I had tried to reassure her that everything would be OK. In the wake of the diagnosis, I asked if there was anything I could do to help. ...

I grew up as a die-hard Arkansas Razorbacks fan — especially when it came to Arkansas basketball. My parents weren’t sports fans, so I didn’t get introduced to sports as early as a lot of my peers. I had to discover them for myself, which happened around the time I was 10 years old...

Show me a newspaper reporter who’s been in this business for a few years, and I’ll show you a cynical, skeptical individual who thinks they’ve seen it all. It takes a bit of toughness to cover some stories, and not everyone is cut out for it. I would like to think that I’m tough enough to cover any story that’s put in front of me. ...

I’ve made my living as a journalist for nearly 28 years now, starting as a 19-year-old sports editor at the Baxter Bulletin in Mountain Home. Over the course of my career, I’ve covered everything from an elementary school spelling bee to an execution at a state prison...

Last week in this space, we published a guest column written by Tom Larimer, executive director of the Arkansas Press Association. The column originally was published as part of the APA’s weekly electronic newsletter. I liked it so much, and it was so well-written, that I called Tom and asked for his permission to publish it in the Carroll County News. He graciously agreed, and I hope our readers found it as informative and engaging as I did...

Super Bowl Sunday is always a bittersweet day for me. Yes, it’s the most important day of the professional football season, but it’s also the last one. Pro football is my favorite sport, and as soon as one season ends I’ll start counting the days until another begins...

I'm pretty sure I'm a rarity among fans of professional football. I absolutely love NFL football, especially this time of year. But I don't have a favorite team. That makes the playoffs much less stressful for me, as I can enjoy the games without living and dying with every play like many of my friends...

Mondays are the busiest day of the week for the news department here at the Carroll County News. That's because Monday is when we work on our Midweek edition, which is due at the press on Monday night. Sometimes, Monday stretches past midnight as we try to make sure that we give our readers the latest local news...

End of the year columns can go in a lot of different directions. I could look back on 2016 and some of the important stories that happened in Carroll County -- like Tyson Foods' announcement of major expansion plans in Green Forest, or the re-election of County Judge Sam Barr and Sheriff Randy Mayfield...

My dad earned his living as an appliance repairman. I earn mine putting words on paper. It's odd how some talents get passed from generation to generation and some don't. My dad personified the old saying "if he can't fix it, it ain't broke." Everyone in our family -- heck, everyone in the little town where we lived -- knew that if their washer, dryer, refrigerator, air conditioner or any other home appliance suddenly stopped working, Ronnie Loftis was the man to call. ...

A popular joke that I've seen over the past several months goes something like this: I possess a device, small enough to hold in one hand, that gives me access to all the knowledge of human history. I use it to watch cat videos and argue with strangers on the Internet...

Thanksgiving is the one day each year that we set aside specifically to count our blessings. This year, I had a little extra counting to do. My grandson, Liam, celebrated his first Thanksgiving this year -- eight days before his first birthday. And while he might not have completely understood or enjoyed the experience (he was definitely NOT a fan of his Thanksgiving-themed hat), his Pops definitely did...

I was wrong about the 2016 election. I first wrote about Donald Trump's candidacy in August 2015, describing him as a "self-important windbag who should never receive a single vote to become president of the United States." A year later, I wrote about Trump again. This time I described him as "a puffed-up, steroidal version of a stereotypical used-car salesman (with sincere apologies to used-car salesmen)."...

Regular readers of this column know, sometimes to their great chagrin, that I tend to be fairly liberal in my political leanings. What most of them probably don't know is that on some issues I'm actually quite conservative. The dichotomy of abortion and the death penalty in America is perhaps the strongest example...

I celebrated my 47th birthday last week, in enemy territory. No, not Donald Trump's campaign headquarters. I can tolerate a lot, but not that. I'm talking about Busch Stadium in St. Louis, home of those lousy, good-for-nothing St. Louis Cardinals. That's right: Not only am I a Democrat, but I'm also a die-hard Chicago Cubs fan. ...

My most recent column in this space focused on a certain presidential candidate, and it drew a significant amount of criticism on social media. That doesn't bother me one bit, but I thought this week it might be a good idea to get away from politics and focus on something really important...

Two weeks ago today, the presidential candidate representing one of America's two major political parties made a not-so-subtle suggestion that supporters of the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment could potentially assassinate his opponent. The suggestion was met by his audience not with shock, not with boos, but with a smattering of laughter and applause. ...

Many years ago, I coached a fifth- and sixth-grade boys basketball team in Pine Bluff. The team was made up entirely of African-American boys, ranging in age from 10 to 12. And it was a very good team. The only games we lost during my first season as coach were in a tournament where we competed against older players...

It's a presidential election year, and this particular presidential election is perhaps the most divisive, vitriolic, just plain nasty campaign in my lifetime -- if not ever. For that reason alone, there is certain to be an enormous voter turnout on Nov. 8, both across the United States and right here in Carroll County. Voters on both sides of the aisle are fired up about the national race and eager to have their say in the outcome...

Regular readers of this column know that last December, I was blessed with my first grandchild. William Edward "Liam" Loftis was born on Dec. 2, 2015. There's nothing I wouldn't do for little Liam, I said at the time, except for one thing: I'm not changing any diapers. I've paid my dues, I told myself, and I can relax and let somebody else handle the diaper duties from now on. Liam is welcome to come and stay a few days with me in Berryville, I said. As soon as he's potty-trained...

I didn't get a Father's Day phone call from either of my sons on Sunday, but I'm not angry at them about it. Some of you readers may recall that both of my sons are members of the Marine Corps Reserves. Their unit, based at Camp Robinson in North Little Rock, is currently on summer drill in Twentynine Palms, Calif. ...

When I became managing editor for Carroll County Newspapers two years ago, one of my biggest priorities was coverage of education. Samantha Jones, who has since become our associate editor, joined our staff about a month after I did. Although Sam covered a lot of beats during her time as a reporter in Berryville, the most important was education...

Each Friday morning, I share breakfast with a group of gentlemen at a local restaurant. The cast of characters isn't always the same; there might be as few as three of us present or as many as seven or eight, depending on the week. But the conversation is always entertaining and, although the food is always welcome, the meal is more about the fellowship...

Journalism isn't a thankless profession, but sometimes it can feel that way. I'm blessed to be here in Carroll County, and I never lose sight of that. Still, even here there are people who criticize journalists in general and this newspaper in particular. Sometimes that criticism is warranted. We aren't perfect, although perfection is our goal. Legitimate criticism can be very helpful and instructive, and I try to accept it as such...

Last week in this space, I wrote about the battle over expanding the federal Medicaid program in Arkansas. I'm in favor of doing so, and I'm well aware that many of you readers disagree with that position. This week, I want to discuss something of a far more serious nature, and I know that many of you disagree with me there as well...

Each week, this page features a column written by state Sen. Bryan King of Green Forest. Almost always, Sen. King's column focuses on some aspect of state government, and we appreciate his perspective. Although Sen. King and I don't speak frequently, we do have occasional contact and I've always found him to be a gentleman and very sincere in his beliefs...

Last week a colleague and former co-worker of mine who now works for a respected weekly business publication in central Arkansas contacted me and asked if I would be willing to discuss the state of the newspaper industry -- and particularly morale among journalists -- for a story in that publication...

There's an old adage that says: Father Time is undefeated. Mostly I hear it used in the context of athletic endeavors. Sooner or later, even the best and most talented athletes face the end of their careers, and we've all been witness to the sad occasions when those athletes don't recognize that it's time to retire...

A couple of weeks ago, my son and I traveled to central Arkansas to attend my uncle's funeral. My Uncle Sammie died on Feb. 6, five days after his 74th birthday. His health had been declining for several years and he had suffered a light stroke not long before his death...

As Americans head to the polls to cast their votes on Super Tuesday, I am deeply concerned about the future of our country. America's system of democracy is based on the idea that all people are entitled to certain freedoms: freedom of speech, freedom of religion, the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness...

Several years ago, I worked for a newspaper in Pine Bluff. We published a daily newspaper in that city as well as a weekly paper in White Hall, a small town a few miles away. At that time, I covered city government for the daily paper. It was -- and still is -- a busy beat. ...

Eleven years ago Tuesday, my world changed forever. On that cold January day back in 2005, my mother drew her final breath. It seems like a century ago, and it seems like just last week. To some people, my mother might have seemed like just an ordinary woman. To those who knew her even a little, it was clear that she was extraordinary. To me, she was my hero from the day I was born, although it took many years for me to realize just how brave she truly was...

It's time again for my annual declaration: I hate winter. OK, so lately it's more like a daily declaration, especially with last weekend's cold temperatures. As I write this, I'm actually mostly warm and comfortable in my office, except that my feet are freezing. And they've been freezing for approximately six weeks...

I never knew either of my grandmothers. Both of them died young, years before I was even born. I've seen one photograph of my paternal grandmother (more on that in a bit) and until this weekend I had seen one grainy photo of my maternal grandmother...

Last week in this space, I wrote about the impending birth of my first grandchild. This week, I can proudly report that William Edward "Liam" Loftis came screaming into the world at 4:02 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 2, at Baptist Health Medical Center in North Little Rock...

It seems like just yesterday that I became a father. But the reality is, tomorrow I will become a grandfather. William Edward "Liam" Loftis is scheduled to make his grand entrance into the world sometime Wednesday -- assuming that he doesn't surprise us all and arrive a little ahead of schedule...

A few weeks ago, I wrote about guns. That column generated a few comments from readers, most of whom disagreed with my point and some of whom didn't seem to completely understand it. I'll make an attempt to clarify it here. I believe that if we are to reverse or even significantly slow the tide of gun violence in America, we are going to have to take a long, meaningful, honest look at our culture and our laws. ...

"Back to the Future II" got it wrong, and so did I. The 1989 Michael Fox film about a time-traveling teenager includes a scene dated Oct. 21, 2015. On that day, the character Marty McFly sees a hologram news feed that congratulates the Chicago Cubs on winning the World Series. The news is confirmed in the next day's edition of "USA Today."...

SAN DIEGO -- Honor. Courage. Commitment. These are the core values of the United States Marine Corps, and they are embodied by the young men who undergo basic training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego. Forty-two times a year, the depot hosts graduation ceremonies for young men who have volunteered to serve our country in a time of war and turmoil, who have volunteered to be challenged mentally and physically, who have volunteered to risk their very lives to protect all of ours...

Years ago, I was a frequent flyer. My job as editor of a national newspaper that covered the for-hire trucking industry took me all over the country: Charleston, Boston, Atlanta, San Diego, Milwaukee, Louisville and many other cities. It seemed as if I was getting on a plane every other week. But that was all before Sept. 11, 2001...

Fifty-four hours. Forty-eight miles. Forty-five pounds of gear. Twenty-nine problem-solving exercises. Six to eight hours of sleep. Three MREs. Add all of those things up, and the sum is The Crucible. It's the final step that recruits take to become United States Marines at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego. It culminates with a 10-mile march up a large, steep hill that has become known in Marine Corps lore as "The Reaper."...

All of us have our guilty pleasures, and I'm no exception. Mine is music, and some of you readers might be surprised at some of my favorites. At the top of my list is the greatest band in the history of sound -- AC/DC. No one else even comes close to the Thunder From Down Under. I've had the good fortune to see them in concert twice, and although they are nearing the end of their 40-year run, I hope I get the chance to see them again...

What's going on with the Arkansas Razorbacks? Is this team about to suffer a season-long collapse and finish 3-8? Or will Bret Bielema turn things around quickly after Saturday's stunning loss to Toledo and guide the Hogs to an SEC West championship?...

Pick up a newspaper anywhere in Arkansas, and odds are decent that you will see part of the legacy of Dean Duncan. Pick up this newspaper, and I can guarantee it. Dean, a longtime journalism professor at the University of Central Arkansas, died Saturday. He was 90...

I didn't watch last week's GOP presidential debates, but I didn't need to watch them to tell you that Donald Trump is a self-important windbag who should never receive a single vote to become president of the United States. Unfortunately, Trump still is the leader in an NBC News Online poll conducted over the weekend after the debates...

Dear readers, I hope you'll forgive me this week for doting on a couple of important people in my life. First is my youngest son, Ryan, who at this exact moment is probably being screamed at by a man in a broad-brimmed hat and a very bad mood. Ryan is in his third week of boot camp at U.S. ...

OK ... so I know that back when we were freezing in February, I wished for 100-degree days. And while I don't think we've actually hit the century mark here in Carroll County yet this summer, I can now officially say I've had my fill of the heat. Yes, I'm the guy who's never satisfied with the weather. It's too cold or it's too hot, approximately 10 months out of the year...

I support same-sex marriage. I also support your right to fly the rebel flag. Those two positions might seem contrary to one another, but not to my way of thinking. As everyone likely knows by now, same-sex marriage became legal across the United States when the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a split decision last Friday. By a margin of 5-4, the court ruled that same-sex couples should have the legal right to marry, the same as their heterosexual counterparts...

"Cain killed Abel with a rock," says a popular Internet meme. "It's a heart problem, not a gun problem." A few weeks ago in my hometown, a 5-year-old boy died after being shot by a 2-year-old sibling. I'm not sure there's a meme for that. It's not the first time someone in my little town of about 1,200 residents has died because of an accidental shooting. ...

I suppose Father's Day means different things to different people, but to me it's an opportunity to reflect on how blessed I have been as a dad. I once said of my two young men, and it remains true: If I could have imagined the kind of sons I would like to have, my imagination would have fallen short of reality...

Returning from Russellville on Sunday, I came across the scene of a car-motorcycle accident on Highway 21 in northern Johnson County. The motorcycle (what remained of it, anyway) lay crumpled in a roadside dutch. The minivan that it struck was turned sideways in the road, with some damage to its front left side. Thankfully, no one was injured. The biker was actually directing traffic, while a woman who I assumed to be the driver of the minivan stood along the shoulder of the road, shaking...

Blame the media. It's a popular strategy for dealing with scandal, and it can sometimes be very effective. A married college football coach gets caught exchanging hundreds of possibly inappropriate text messages with a television news personality via a state-owned cell phone? Blame the media...

It's a parent's worst nightmare: that phone call in the wee hours to inform you that your child has been involved in an accident. Some Carroll County parents got that phone call Friday morning, just hours after their sons had graduated from Green Forest High School. Two of the four young men riding in a pickup truck were critically injured in a rollover accident at 4:40 a.m. The others suffered minor injuries...

I was born in September 1969, a little more than three months before my mother's 15th birthday. She wasn't married, was dirt-poor and from my understanding had little to no support from her own father. When I think about that now, it's difficult to imagine what it must have been like. I obviously have no recollection of any of it, but I can guess that it must have been beyond frightening. She was little more than a baby herself...

Before I came to Carroll County last June, I interviewed for an editor's position with a newspaper in a neighboring county. One of the questions the publisher of that newspaper asked me was: "When I look at your newspaper, I don't see the same kind of paper that I see when I look at ours. Why is that?"...

The 2016 presidential race began in earnest over the weekend, when former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton officially announced her candidacy. While I have some pretty entrenched thoughts about the 2016 race, I won't be getting into those today. Instead, I want to discuss the process by which we Americans elect our president, and the circus it has become in this era of ever-present cameras, social media and Internet "news" sites...

Looking over the calendar for April last week, it struck me: In six weeks, my youngest son will graduate from high school. It hardly seems possible. Why, just a couple of months ago he was eating Fruit Loops in his high chair. He fell asleep there and we got that cute picture. That wasn't that long ago, was it?...

Perhaps I shouldn't bring this up. After all, I've been here more than nine months now, and things seem to be going well. I've been accepted by my new neighbors in Carroll County, and maybe I shouldn't rock the boat. But I have a secret, and I need to get it off my chest...

I hate to piggyback on my colleague Samantha Jones, but today I would like to get away from politics or sports and write about something far more important in life. Of course, I'm talking about coffee. In a sense, I've been a coffee drinker almost all my life -- and my introduction to coffee still has a major impact on my coffee-drinking habits today...

The rest of the world, it appears, is becoming more acutely aware these days of what some Arkansans (albeit the vast minority, November's election results indicate) already know: Tom Cotton is not only annoying but also dangerous. Cotton, who ran a successful campaign against Barack Obama to earn a seat as one of Arkansas' two United States Senators, recently spearheaded an effort to undermine Obama's negotiations with Iran regarding a potential agreement on nuclear proliferation...

Before I came to Carroll County, I worked as managing editor of the Pine Bluff Commercial in Southeast Arkansas. There, I had the opportunity to work with some outstanding people, just as I have been blessed to do in Berryville. One of those good people passed away last week. Larry Fugate, longtime editor of the Jonesboro Sun who finished his career as editor of the Commercial before going into semi-retirement a few years ago, died Thursday of lung cancer. He was 69...

Much of my career has been spent working as a sports journalist, and so while I understand that there are far more important concerns than athletics, I hope you will indulge me every now and then if I turn to sports as a column topic. Today, I would like to discuss the Arkansas Razorbacks basketball team, which is coming off a 17-point loss on Saturday at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky...

Sometime this summer, when the temperature climbs above 100 degrees and the humidity is 94 percent, I'm probably going to complain and wish for colder weather. And then I'm going to remember this winter and I'm going to retract my wish and be thankful for the heat...

Friday night was an emotional night at Bobcat Arena, as Berryville High School celebrated Senior Night and honored its senior basketball players at their final home game. The same scene is playing out at schools across the state, as seniors look toward the future and their parents reflect on the past and wonder how the time went by so quickly...

Sometime this month (I'm embarrassed to admit that I'm not sure of the exact date) will mark the eighth anniversary of an important day in my life. On that day eight years ago, I met one of the best friends I have ever had -- a loyal, trusting, loving companion who I can always count on to be there when I need him...

My great-great-great grandfather lost an eye fighting the Yankees in the Civil War. One of his brothers died on the battlefield at Lookout Mountain, another in a Yankee prison camp. I am not a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, but I suppose that should I choose to apply, my credentials would be in order...

A photograph that appeared on the front page of the CCN's Midweek edition last Tuesday perfectly illustrated one of my greatest fears as a parent. The picture showed a car overturned on Highway 62 just west of Green Forest. The driver was a young lady from Oak Grove, just 18 years old. Thankfully, she was not injured...