It was 3:20 a.m. on Oct. 13, 2015, when the Boone County deputy knocked on our door. He had come to tell us of our 24-year-old daughter’s death in Hill County, Texas. Jill’s mother and I got dressed, packed a few things and began the drive to Texas. And thus began a four-year journey into the abyss of the opioid epidemic in Arkansas. read more >
At a time when self-serving politicians are telling Americans that neither the bureaucratic “deep state” nor the journalistic “enemies of the people” can be trusted, we are persuaded that both forms of public service are as vital as ever. read more >
An Arkansas man who wore M.D. on his name tag and hung an unearned medical diploma in his office for years may be at it again five years after pleading guilty to practicing medicine without a license. read more >
Candlewood Suites in El Dorado is the city's top hotel by gross receipts, according to a list released by the El Dorado Advertising & Promotion Commission. read more >
The Arkansas State Medical Board suspended a Harrison doctor’s medical license last June, for the third time in four years, after multiple complaints that the doctor overprescribed opioids and had serious mental health issues, an examination of his file reveals. read more >
Financial incompetence is not a crime, but desperate people do desperate things. read more >
Private businesses routinely rely on consultants for their expertise, so why shouldn’t the state of Arkansas if it saves tax dollars? read more >
The 10th anniversary late last month of the disappearance of Little Rock construction executive John Glasgow prompted Whispers to make a Freedom of Information Act request for the Little Rock Police Department’s investigative file. read more >
UAMS, ostensibly accountable to the public, is selling its doctors’ services, and the taxpayers who employ those doctors aren’t allowed to know how much the buyer is paying. read more >
Lawmakers across the country — including in Arkansas — introduced and debated dozens of bills during this year's legislative sessions that would close or limit public access to a wide range of government records and meetings. read more >
Presentations to be made by the three final advertising firms vying for the state's parks and tourism account, which used to be open to the public, will be closed this time. read more >
Despite persistent chatter, no application for a new permit to serve alcohol by the drink in Searcy has been filed with the ABC. read more >
The recent downfall of former state Rep. Micah Neal provides us a good opportunity to make an appeal to his former colleagues in the Legislature to undo some of the damage he did. read more >
The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences has corrected a contract that for nearly eight years gave a private company the exclusive right to market UAMS’ intellectual property and resulted in no royalty payments for UAMS. read more >
This week we praise the joint effort — even if neither coordinated nor fully intentional — of local media outlets to shed light on a puzzling situation involving the award of a $159 million state contract to an Indiana company. read more >
The Arkansas Insurance Department may have its eye on a new office building. read more >
Arkansans have had the legal right to know more about what all levels of our government are saying and doing for longer than most other Americans, but legislators do keep chipping away at the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act — and refusing to adopt technology that could improve its service to taxpayers. read more >
State Auditor Andrea Lea agreed to pay inexperienced out-of-state attorneys a fee nearly twice as high as other states have committed to pay in a pursuit of unredeemed U.S. Treasury bonds. read more >
The issue of government officials using private email accounts has been much in the news, you may have noticed. read more >
The David’s Burgers location in Little Rock’s River Market District has run into some delays, but David “Alan” Bubbus Jr., owner of the burgeoning restaurant chain, is hoping it will be open by spring, maybe in April. read more >
