Opinion

One of the smartest managers I know sums up his management style this way: Hire good people, and get out of their way. The Eureka Springs City Advertising and Promotion Commission seems to have a different mindset: Come onto a public governing body, see some hard-working longtime employees and do everything you can to meddle, interfere, bully, intimidate, threaten and try to run them off...

I’ve always been fascinated by animals and their antics. Furred, feathered, finned or scaled — it doesn’t matter. If they’re doing something funny, unexpected or even just interesting, I’m watching. I’ve been this way since I was little kid, parked in front of the television, watching the adventures of Marlin Perkins and co-host Jim Fowler on Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom — “While Jim wrestles the deadly crocodile, let’s talk about life insurance.”...

O ne of my most prized possessions sits on a desk in my office. It’s a large book, measuring 8.5 by 11.5 inches and running for more than 500 pages. The title is “Loftis and the Descendants of Laban Loftis,” and the book traces my paternal family history back for eight generations. Laban Loftis is my great-great-great-great-great grandfather, the son of one of three Loftis brothers who came to America from England in the early 18th Century...

Last Friday, I called my boss about a project that would have been due at the end of this week. We came to a conclusion I’m sure many of you have come to understand since that big winter storm hit two weeks ago. We were behind, but so was everybody else...

I’m writing this column on Friday, in anticipation of Monday being a little different than it is most weeks. Monday is our “production day” here at the Carroll County News — the day we actually put the newspaper together and send the pages to the press in Harrison. ...

I read an interesting piece not too long ago regarding a recent study conducted by the Pew Research Center. An article written by Jeffrey Gottfried and Elizabeth Grieco analyzed the information collected by the study, which indicated that young people had an easier time telling the difference between factual statements and opinion...

Sometimes, as a sports fan and even as a sportswriter, it’s easy to get caught up in the hype and forget some basic truths about the games we’re watching. One of those truths is this: the quarterback gets all the glory, but it’s those big ugly guys up front who often mean the difference between winning and losing...

Last Thursday, my boss told me to expect an arctic blast this week. I grew up in Texas, so I didn’t know what that was at first. As I write on Monday morning from my home office, I’ve come to understand that an arctic blast brings freezing temperatures, slippery roads and the urge to stock up on milk and bread as soon as possible...

I spent an inordinate amount of time napping last weekend. It started Friday afternoon when I got home from the office. I was tired and a little worn out, so I decided to lay down for a bit. Four hours later, I woke up. A few hours later, it was bedtime...

I was deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Kevin Wright. We graduated together 40 years ago and while we were different personalities, we were good friends. I’d like this to be a brief tribute, and a nostalgic one.  Kevin was already working at the Star Progress when he recommended me for the same job: full-fledged reporter. ...

I’m writing this column a day early, because I’ve got a date with the dentist on Monday morning. He’ll do some X-rays and tell me what’s wrong, but I’m pretty sure I have cavities — a lot of them. That’s what I’ve been focusing on, at least. It’s much better than anticipating a root canal...

I ’ve never owned a “cool” car. Not for lack of wanting one. It’s just never been in the cards — or the wallet. Before I go too far down this road, be warned — I’m not a gearhead. All my opinions are based on appearance. I don’t feel too bad about that, because most folks don’t know a lot about engine size, cylinders, torque and the like...

I n a previous column, I promised to share some of my stories, and after last week’s more serious bent, I figured this week might be a good time to start. Have you ever had a visitor that dropped in unexpectedly, sowing chaos and disruption before disappearing, never to be seen again?...

My nana grew up with 13 brothers and sisters, so I had a bushel of great aunts and uncles. We’re not supposed to have a favorite, but I loved Aunt Susanna the most. She was funny, personable and inclusive. Anybody that grew up with a big extended family knows someone always gets left out. ...

I don’t have a lot of hobbies. I like to watch baseball, I like to fish with a cane pole and I enjoy watching a good movie — although I’m consistently amazed at the number of bad movies that get made. But the “hobby” I seem to spend the most time at, especially since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, is cooking...

I saw a meme once on the internet, and, like many of the best ones, while funny, it also had a note of truth to it. “Never in the history of calming down has anyone actually calmed down after being told to calm down.” Based on my personal experience with several excitable types — including my late wife — I can attest to the general truth of this statement. However, I feel compelled to give it one more shot...

On New Year’s Eve, Gideon and I celebrated making it through 2020 without contracting COVID-19. Perhaps we celebrated too soon. Last week, we both tested positive for the virus and have been on lockdown ever since. I’ve noticed that a lot of people seem ashamed of contracting the virus. ...

I’m taking a break from discussing politics this week and I’m going to devote this space to something really important: pro football. I love baseball, but I need to have a rooting interest to watch it on TV. I probably watch 100 or more Chicago Cubs games every season, but I have no interest in a random Rangers-Mariners game on a Tuesday night...

L ast week’s column in this space generated a fair amount of response, mostly on social media and mostly critical. For the record, I don’t mind. The purpose of an opinion column isn’t to please someone. In fact, writing an opinion piece with the goal of making someone happy is a fool’s errand. Express an opinion in public, or do anything to attract public attention, and you will be criticized, especially these days. It’s a fact of life and an occupational reality that I’ve long since accepted...

I don’t get writer’s block.  For me, writing is like talking, and if you’ve ever met me, you’ll know I’m hardly ever at a loss for words. I can’t guarantee those words will always have substance, but I don’t usually have trouble finding something to say, even if it isn’t especially profound...

O n Wednesday, Jan. 6, President Donald Trump spoke to his supporters at a rally near the White House while Congress met at Capitol Hill to certify Electoral College votes that would make Joe Biden the 46th president of the United States. Trump again reiterated the false claim that the election was stolen from him and encouraged his supporters to storm the Capitol building...

The Arkansas Legislature will convene Jan. 11 in Little Rock and our own state Sen. Bob Ballinger is likely to be among the more high-profile legislators. A couple of things about that statement — first, I say “our own” because the District 5 seat owned by the citizens of the district and currently occupied by Ballinger represents a large portion of Carroll County, although Ballinger is no longer a resident of the county. ...

From the looks of it, we were all excited to leave 2020 behind us last week.

I’m not a good mover. I hate it.

I was on my way to the dentist and realized my eyeglasses were very loose. I stopped by Berryville Eyecare Clinic to get them tightened. The person who did the tightening broke a part on my glasses. Since I wasn’t allowed to go inside because of the pandemic, she came out and apologized and said she would order the part at no cost to me. I did not buy my glasses there but that wasn’t a problem. It took about 10 days but I had an old pair of glasses so all was well...

I’m disappointed, but not terribly surprised, that skepticism about the deadly effects of COVID-19 continues to rage, both locally and nationwide. In March, I wrote about the potentially devastating numbers associated with the pandemic: If 10 percent of Americans contract the COVID-19 virus and 1 percent of those people die, that equals 330,000 American deaths. That’s substantially more than the 291,000 American combat deaths in World War II, for a frame of reference...

In his collection of Lake Woebegone stories, Leaving Home, Garrison Keillor shared an impression about the holiday season, one that has stuck with me through the years.  “A lovely thing about Christmas is that it’s compulsory, like a thunderstorm, and we all go through it together.” ...

Dear readers, Perhaps nothing that has ever been published in any newspaper is as well-known as the piece I’d like to share with you today. Although it was written more than 120 years ago, its message is timeless and perhaps even more important today than it has ever been...

With Christmas coming up so soon, many of us are spending this week wrapping presents, writing grocery lists and decking the halls with holiday decorations. These are normal activities in the days leading up to Christmas, but this holiday season has been anything but normal because of the COVID-19 pandemic...

There’s an old saying that very much applied to my dad: If he can’t fix it, it ain’t broke. Dad made his living fixing things that didn’t work. He spent more than 25 years as a service technician for Sears Roebuck and Company, long before the company ran into financial trouble and declared bankruptcy. He drove a service van all over central and south Arkansas, sometimes even into northern Louisiana...

Growing up in Texas, I didn’t have very many snow days. My school dismissed us if there was even a small chance of flurries — that’s how woefully unprepared we were for winter storms. When I moved to Northwest Arkansas in 2014, I was elated at the prospect of an actual snowfall...

It would be an understatement to say 2020 has been a strange year. Many of us have spent months in isolation, and some still are. Gideon and I worked from home together for about three months this year, a stark contrast from past years when I worked days and he worked nights...

It’s been a few years since I had a pet. At least, it had been a few years up until about six weeks ago. Now it seems as if I’m starting a menagerie. After several years of living in an apartment, I recently bought a house in Berryville. And before I even moved in, I adopted a stray cat from the neighborhood. ...