Opinion

On the first night of my family’s homelessness, it rained. It rained so hard that the roof of the old car we were sleeping in leaked. This was one of the best nights of my life because that was the night we found God. The concept of a new business was born. We decided that I needed to go to law school. I have since graduated law school, become a published author and am a motivational speaker. Life is good...

It’s that time of the year again. Dust off your tabletops and pull the oven out for a deep inspection ––spring cleaning is underway. I’m sure you’re all just as excited as I am. Now, spring cleaning can mean something different to all of us. For some, it’s clearing out closets and reorganizing shelves. ...

Tracing your family roots can be shockingly literal sometimes. Back in March, I drove down to Stone County to visit my family. Both sides of my family are from the area. My dad grew up in Fifty-Six, which has about as many people as the name implies. My mom grew up “in town” in Mountain View, the county seat...

I love to tell people about places that deliver on promises and Blair’s Auto is one of these places. This auto repair shop has been delivering on promises to customers and they are ecstatic about the work that is being done on their cars. I meet and talk with many locals and tourists to Eureka Springs and I am proud to recommend Blair’s Auto. We need to promote local businesses that are representing the great people of Eureka Springs. Keep up the great work...

It seems as if we’re ashamed to be happy. It’s almost a crime to be happy when so many people are sad. In a world full of confusion, this is one thing that I’m absolutely positive about — God wants me to be happy! But how can I show happiness when God gave up His only son, Jesus, for our sins. ...

I missed a phone call from my daughter-in-law, Christi, last Friday night. Or at least I thought it was Christi who had called. When I called back, my oldest grandson, Hayden, answered. “Thanks for the new bat, Pops,” he said. “You’re welcome,” I responded, happy to hear that the Amazon elves had delivered the 29-inch, 19-ounce Easton-model instrument of baseball destruction on time...

Dear Editor: The letter to the Editor titled: Code enforcement is Haphazard, is the opinion of one B&B owner (maybe one other) and needs to be recognized as not representing the opinions of the majority of B&B owners in this community. Behind this letter was: (an attempt to call most B&B owners in town to not sign the affidavit and to meet on April 14, 2019 to protest). ...

The We’ve Got Talent Concert held on Sunday March 31st at the Eureka Springs Auditorium was a huge success and played to a large gathering of students, families and music lovers. Our most heartfelt appreciation goes to Artistic Directors Donesa and Rick Mann for their wonderful production of this year’s concert and to all our talented performers who created an incredible afternoon of entertainment...

I watch my grandchildren, who are 4 and 5 years old, and the love they have for everyone they meet is obvious in their smiles. Their love is not tainted by anything that seems to bias our emotions later in life. My granddaughter Emmilou was sitting on my lap a few weeks ago, when she looked up at me with the eyes of an angel and said, “Papa, I love you so much!” followed by “Papa, you’re fat.” I laughed, and thought, I’ll take those comments any day. ...

Regular readers of this column know I am a huge animal lover. I come by it honestly –– my nana is known to feed every stray in her path, and my mom raised me with at least three pets at a time. My first love was a black-and-white tabby cat named Baby. When Baby died in an accident in 2004, my mom let me pick out a new kitty...

Winter feels like the longest time of year to me. It’s not just because I hate the cold, although I do think bears are on to something with hibernation. Winter feels like an eternity because it’s when my depression hits me the hardest. I’ve had episodes in summer and fall before, but the lack of sunlight and freezing temps in winter roll out the welcome mat for my depression nearly every January. Relapses are common during this time of year...

I am writing this letter to shout a big thank you to the South Carroll County 911 Dispatch operator and to Mr. Rick Wheatley. Last week, I had a flat tire between Alpena and Osage — an area where cell phone coverage with my provider was weak or, most often, non-existent. Though I was able to change the tire, the spare was also flat as it had been unused for years and so I called my roadside assistance provider. Almost two hours later, the provider finally responded with information that they could find no one in the area to respond. By that time it was after 6 p.m. Aside from one car that stopped early on while I still expected eventual assistance from roadside service, no one else had offered help despite the fact that I was an older female, with a small grandchild, and apparent car trouble. ...

Dear Editor, This past week, much to my vexation and irritation, I, along with other B & B owners within the residential areas of the city, received a letter from Eureka Springs Planning Commission Chairman, Ann Tandy-Sallee. The letter (dated March 15, 2019) instructed us (the aforementioned owners) to complete an attached affidavit, certifying that we live on the properties of our respective B &Bs, that we have the affidavit notarized, and that it be returned to her attention by a specific date. ...

I was standing at the beach a few days ago, watching a magnificent sunset, and I could almost see God’s hand with a paintbrush in it reaching down from the heavens creating this artwork. I watched as the sun slowly lowered into the Gulf of Mexico and was mesmerized by the profusion of colors. ...

This past weekend was a big deal in Eureka Springs, with the super-popular St. Patty’s Day Parade rolling through downtown. I heard it was the busiest weekend we’ve had in a while. People filled Basin Spring Park, the sidewalk and all the balconies that line Spring Street. It was surely a sight to behold...

Dear Editor, The Learning Center of North Arkansas would like to send out a Special Thank You to the communities in North Arkansas who have supported our adult athletes. Friday March 8, 2019 was our 9th Annual Red and Purple Basketball Tournament. We were blessed with the support of a multitude of people in the surrounding communities...

God doesn’t promise us that we will not go through difficult times and that if you follow Him, your life will be perfect, problem-free, and every day will be a bed of roses. So many people were critical of my choices after I lost everything and it could be argued rightfully so...

Earlier this week, I stumbled across a post on social media that astounded me. A former Bachelor contestant turned Instagram influencer shared a story saying her daughter’s pediatrician supports all parenting decisions, whether that’s to vaccinate, selectively vaccinate or not vaccinate at all. She said her daughter would only receive “absolutely necessary” vaccinations...

Author Terri Guillemets wrote, “Chase down your passion like it’s the last bus of the night.” What a powerful statement! My passion was simple as a young adult, and that was to make money. I even pictured myself running down a dimly lit street chasing that last bus. That bus was full of money...

“There is no cheering in the press box.” That’s a long-standing rule for sportswriters, and it’s one I repeatedly broke over the weekend at the Class 4A state basketball tournament in Magnolia. I tried not to. I really did. But what the Berryville Lady Bobcats accomplished in three games was too worthy of celebrating to worry about some silly old rule...

Winter weather has threatened us for quite a while now. The meteorologist says we’re going to get sleet and snow all weekend, and then Saturday comes and it’s sunny as can be outside. That’s what I expected this past weekend, when the weather forecast said we’d be getting freezing rain and snow showers Saturday and Sunday. To my surprise, we finally got that snow –– a light dusting, that is...

I speak for a lot of people who were upset at the Candlelight Vigil this past Wednesday. The Candlelight Vigil was organized by a student who knew and was close to the boys that were killed. She volunteered to have a STUDENT-led Candlelight service and had given the principal the itinerary of what the program was to be about and who was to speak; which was approved the day before the Vigil. The Vigil was NOT student-led...

Most of you who know me know that, other than being a police officer, I have spent most of my adult life as my own supervisor at different business ventures. After losing everything we had back in the recession, I had to go to work for a company and it was perfect. After a couple of years, the business was sold to a large corporation and things seemed to fall apart overnight. I was fired for the first time in my life...

The state of Arkansas has 269 school districts. Some of those districts are large and some are small. Some are financially stable and some are not. Some have students who fare well on standardized testing and some do not. Those last two sentences often go hand in hand. ...

This weekend, my husband received a message no one ever wants to read. A fatal car accident took the lives of two local students. Four others were injured in the accident. The news hung over us, and our entire community, for the rest of the weekend. It’s still there this week and probably will be for a long time...

Sometimes God sends us gifts disguised as problems. A few months after living in our car and finally getting a roof back over our head, I gave in to my son’s cry for a dog. Not just any dog, a border collie. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the breed, they require constant interaction and must stay busy with jobs/duties or attention from the owner...

There’s never much of a slow time for high school sports — at least during the school year. But this is an especially busy, and important, time of the year for Carroll County teams. Three Carroll County teams will be competing in regional basketball tournaments this week, and the Berryville High School wrestling team will try to bring home a state championship this weekend in Little Rock...

A few months ago, I wrote a column about falling — specifically, how good I am at it. I’ve fallen downstairs, upstairs, off moving vehicles, into ditches and more. My repertoire is extensive. Despite all this falling, I had never broken a major bone before. ...

Who doesn’t like the song, “Amazing Grace?” If there is a person that doesn’t love a good rendition of this classical gospel tune, I have not found him yet. I travel a lot with my job, so my radio stays on about three different stations. Most of the time, I love my gospel tunes and I drive down the highway singing along, thinking that I sound just as good as Alan Jackson, so please don’t tell me anything different!...

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, as promised, on Monday revealed the details of a $300 million highway plan that would be funded through a variety of tax increases. The governor’s plan calls for permanently extending the state’s half-cent sales tax, increasing fuel taxes by three cents a gallon for gasoline and six cents a gallon on diesel, increasing registration fees on hybrid and electric vehicles and dedicating casino tax revenue to highways...

One early morning around 2 am, while parked in a rough area of town working as a police officer, I sat in the passenger seat nearly asleep. My training officer was at the wheel and I heard him yell loudly and jump from the car with his weapon drawn. ...

“Why’s everyone so down on the Super Bowl?” our associate editor Samantha Jones asked me on Monday. “Was it bad?” Well, no, it wasn’t bad. It’s the Super Bowl. It can’t be bad. But it wasn’t great. In case you missed it, the New England Patriots beat the Los Angeles Ram 13-3 in the big game on Sunday. ...

What we long feared has finally occurred. Seasonal sickness has hit Carroll County News, and we’ve all been afflicted in some way. I spent the past weekend holed up at home with Gideon and the kitties, half-watching TV and half-sleeping. That’s actually how I prefer to spend most weekends, but not with a side of queasiness and moderate fever...

Editor’s Note: Ronnie McBrayer, author of the Keeping The Faith column, has signed an exclusive syndication contract and his columns will no longer appear in Carroll County News. We are introducing a new column today, I Can and I Will by Rick Stanfield. We hope you enjoy it...

Last November, Arkansas voters decided that our state’s lowest-paid workers deserve a raise. By a vote of more than two to one, voters approved an initiated act that would gradually increase the state’s minimum wage from $8.50 to $11 an hour by 2021...

It’s safe to say we’ve all screwed up at some point. Maybe you forgot to go to your best friend’s birthday party or selfishly insisted on watching Rock of Love even though your partner was sick and trying to sleep. I’ll plead guilty to one of these things; you guess which one. I’ll also plead guilty to needing to issue an apology every once in a while...

“Once upon a time there were a fisherman and his wife who lived in a hovel by the sea.” So begins a story by the Brothers Grimm, a story not as well known as “Cinderella” or “Hansel and Gretel,” or many of their other tales, but just as lasting in its own right. The fisherman, living in wretched poverty, sees his luck change when he nets a large, exquisite fish early one morning. This fish speaks to him...

As the Arkansas State Legislature continues its 92nd General Assembly in Little Rock, it’s a good idea for the state’s residents to pay attention. The 135 state legislators — 35 in the Senate and 100 in the House of Representatives — have been chosen by the people of Arkansas to represent their best interests in leading our state. Whether that actually happens is a matter of opinion, and of course the best opinion is always an informed one...

Growing up in Texas, snow days were rare. School let out early if there was even a chance of flurries, but that didn’t happen very often. My mom loves snow and would predict such precipitation when temperatures dipped below 30 degrees. At some point, I began to understand it was wishful thinking...