“A body of men holding themselves accountable to nobody ought not to be trusted by anybody,” Thomas Paine said. Friends I have tried to completely stay out of local government problems...I have really, really tried! This will be my twenty-fifth column since I have returned and not one...I repeat not one of them was about Blytheville City government...

“People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.” — Cardinals Hall of Famer Rogers Hornsby. “They give you a round bat and they throw you a round ball and they tell you to hit it square.” — Pirate Hall of Famer Willie Stargell...

"No child should die in the dawn of life," Danny Thomas, founder of St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, said.“All of us are born for a reason, but not all of us discover why success in life has nothing to do with what you gain in life or accomplish for yourself. It's what you do for others.”...

Well, “all good things must come to an end”, including my time at the Blytheville Courier. This will be my last column. Helen Keller once said that “when one open door closes, another door opens.” Life has certainly taught me that the distance between the two doors are always JUST far enough that you must let go of the first door of status quo and familiarity, allowing it to shut all the way, BEFORE you can step through the open door of opportunity before you. ...

“It is part of politics to make things look better than they really are,” Nigel Rees. Well its certainly election season again, so I caution everyone to really be alert from now until November. Politicians and their surrogates love to spin, spin, spin...

“Tom Henry of the Courier News. Seriously dude. Not everything is negative,” Clarissa Jones via Facebook. “It was like being in an argument reading the paper all the time. I agree that Blytheville needs to make many changes, but consistently complaining and bashing the leadership is not the way to bring about change,” Christi Travis via Facebook...

“Under our form of government, the source of authority is supposed to be ‘we the people’…our elected leaders are supposed to be pubic servants and not private masters,” James Dye. If any of you fine people heard a very loud groan and a few choice curse words Tuesday evening but couldn’t identify where they came from, let me apologize because it was probably me. ...

“Lawlessness is a self-perpetuating, ever-expanding habit,” Dorothy Thompson. “No man is above the law and no man is below it: nor do we ask any man’s permission when we ask him to obey it,” President Theodore Roosevelt. When one hears the word lawlessness, most think of drugs, murder, armed robberies or perhaps a young punk disrespecting their parents. But lawlessness goes much further than that and to me is far more egregious when it comes cloaked in respectability...

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,” George Santayana. “There are far better things ahead than any we leave behind,” C.S. Lewis. 2018! Wow, it seems like just yesterday that some were partying like it was 1999 and others worried if the computers around the world were going to crash with the year 2000. We blinked our eyes and…bam, 2018!...

“Where there is no vision, the people perish…” Proverbs 29:18 I love Blytheville and I love its people. I have a real burden for those in our community and my writings come from my heart’s desire to help cause changes in our community that will make life better for us all...

Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” We are meant to live blessed, happy, fruitful lives here in Blytheville, and I know without a doubt, if you and I and those around us learn the lessons of Christmas, we all will...

“Our greatest natural resource is in the minds of our children,” Walt Disney. We have all heard someone say, “I’ll believe it when I see it.” While I fully understand what they are trying to say, the fact of the matter is, they have it backwards. Here is how things really work - until you can believe it, you will never see it...

“A body of men holding themselves accountable to nobody ought not be trusted by anybody,” Thomas Paine On November 8, I wrote a column demanding answers to a substantial list of unresolved, serious issues before the city that affects all Blytheville residents. ...

The Oxford Dictionary defines racism as, “the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races.” I am extremely proud of County Judge Terri Brassfield and all of the community volunteers, school employees, district administration and donating businesses and organizations for the amazing acts of love they performed over Thanksgiving break right here in our hometown...

“Where we love is home – home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts,” Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. I love Thanksgiving because it’s a time to take stock of the blessings that God has given us. While it is true that some homes are much more wealthy than mine, I recognize that many of them do not have the real treasures my family enjoys – love, kindness and support...

“The basic purpose of FOIA is to ensure an informed citizenry, vital to the functioning of a democratic society, needed to check against corruption and to hold the governors accountable to the governed.” United States Supreme Court in NLRB v. Robbins Tire Co., 437 U.S. 214, 242 (1978)...

“The very word ‘secrecy’ is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths and to secret proceedings…and that is our obligation to inform and alert the American people--to make certain that they possess all the facts that they need…without debate, without criticism, no administration and no country can succeed--and no republic can survive,” President John F. ...

I have never felt safer nor more hopeful than I did late Tuesday afternoon as I walked up and down the streets of Blytheville (mainly Main Street and Broadway). I was protected by numerous strong and brave super heroes defending our town from every conceivable form of evil. ...

“Hi ho, Hi ho, its off to work we go!” from the movie “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”. “Another day another dollar,” by Wynn Stewart. “Its time to make the donuts,” Fred the Baker (played by actor Michael Vale) in commercials for Dunkin’ Donuts from 1981 to 1997...

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen,” Hebrews 11:1. A lot of people talk about “keeping the faith” but what is more important is “keeping the hope.” If there is no hope then faith just becomes wishing. We all get discouraged and tired and wish that things were different…that is just human nature. But I am here today to encourage you and remind you that hope is very much alive in this lovely city we live in...

“Learning to write is learning to think. You don’t know anything clearly unless you can state it in writing,” S.J. Hayakawa “Writing is an exploration. You start from nothing and learn as you go,” E.L. Doctorow Everyone has a way that they can “give back” or mentor others in their community. ...

“Do unto others as you’d have them do unto you.” The Golden Rule, Matthew 7:12. What has this world come to? If you have ever wondered why more “good people” don’t get involved in solving the world’s problems, well let me tell you. It is because there is a very high price to pay when you peek your head up and dare talk about, debate or help solve the problems that so desperately need solved...

“People have heard me refer to this as steel mill heaven. And the reason we are here is really because of the work ethic of Arkansans,” John Correnti, former CEO of Big River Steel. From time to time readers tell me that they really enjoy when I write a “positive” column. So here goes...

“To some this is just a picture of a line. To others…it is a family crest.” I saw this quote on a homemade painting depicting the law enforcement family by using a thin blue line running from side to side between the words. Thank God for the members of the thin blue line. Our law enforcement officers at times are all that stands between the helpless and real life monsters. They, and I mean ALL of them, are greatly appreciated! Thank you...

“It’s dangerous when people are willing to give up their privacy,” Noam Chomsky. “Big Brother is watching you,” George Orwell. Skycop has been paraded out by the Blytheville city administration in a manner suggesting that our salvation has arrived and by simply installing these remote cameras, all our crime problems will be vanquished (queue the epic hero music). ...

“As a man thinks…” Proverbs 23:7 Today as I look around at the changed view from our new office on Main Street, I am reminded of how important perspective is. Oftentimes a change in vantage point will either change our circumstances or at the very least, reveal our true condition...

“It was the best of times it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness…it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair,” part of the opening line from A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. How could Dickens have possibly envisioned Blytheville back in 1859 when he wrote his classic book?...

There once was a document that served as a beacon of life, liberty, hope and enlightenment for the world. The U.S. Constitution is the oldest WRITTEN CONSTITUTION still in use today in the entire world. The United Kingdom and San Marino have written governing documents that are older, but not as their supreme law (Constitution)...

“America isn't easy. America is advanced citizenship! You gotta want it bad, 'cause it's gonna put up a fight. It's gonna say "You want free speech? Let's see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who's standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours,” President Andrew Shepherd in the movie “The American President.”...

“Good journalism should challenge people, not just mindlessly amuse them,” Carl Bernstein. “99 percent of the failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses,” George Washington Carver. This week I have learned a lot about myself. I had four teeth pulled the other day and despite being medicated, I attempted to retype and post my Wednesday column online on Thursday. ...

“Remember, beneath every cynic there lies a romantic, and probably an injured one,” Glenn Beck Believe it or not I used to believe that all problems could be solved and that time would correct all things – right would always prevails and love, education and hard work really was enough. Wow! How times have changed...

“To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity,” Nelson Mandela once said. “It is said that no one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails. A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but its lowest ones.”...

“We judge ourselves by our intentions, and others by their actions,” Stephen R. Covey. Would you employ a surgeon that had the absolute best attitude and terrific intentions - a surgeon that cares far more about the health and well being of his patient than his own personal wealth? What if that same doctor also had a heart for providing medical care to ALL that are ill regardless of their ability to pay – BUT, in the past, when operating on your cousin, cut off the wrong leg? Of course you wouldn’t.. ...

“Justice is justly represented blind, because she sees no difference in the parties concerned. She has but one scale and weight, for rich and poor, great and small,” William Penn. "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke...

“Read my lips: no new taxes,” Presidential Candidate George H.W. Bush said in 1988. Unlike Bush, I actually mean it. Enough is enough. So everyone got what they wanted and the table has been cleared. Now stop asking for more new taxes – we can’t afford anymore! Also, it has been proven time and time again that requests for new taxes have typically been used to cover for poor management and corruption...

“I care more about the people in books than the people I see every day,” Jo Walton Why is that? When we read a good book, it is rarely the plot that drives us on. It is the characters that we meet and fall in love with along the way. The plots of most books are as predictable as the times and seasons, but it is the characters that blow us away...

By TOM HENRY Blytheville Courier News “Never try to teach a pig to sing. You waste your time and you annoy the pig,” Mark Twain Well, unfortunately I will not take Twain’s advice today. This column is aimed at the Athletic Director of the University of Arkansas, but I have chosen to allow everyone to “listen in.”...

Yogi Berra quipped, “It’s like déjà vu all over again.” Once again County Judge Randy Carney is using county equipment to do work on private property at no charge. These actions allegedly include demolition work on houses in Manila and Leachville, the former Shawnee School in Joiner and a barrack owned by Westminster Village. Other work includes the former Osceola City Jail (owned by the county and resulting in an ADEQ fine because no asbestos abatement plan was filed) and maybe more...

“One cannot and must not try to erase the past merely because it does not fit the present,” former Prime Minister of Israel Golda Meir. “We are not makers of history, we are made by history,” Martin Luther King, Jr. Do you learn more from your successes or from your failures? Failures of course!...

"High performers and those who are set up for success love accountability." - Dan Rockwell. "Accountability is the glue that ties commitment to results." –Anonymous It is entirely unfair to expect a baseball player to knock a grand slam homerun if he isn't given a bat. ...

"The propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained," President George Washington said during his first inaugural address in 1789. Wednesday, the president issued an executive order that does a number of things, but this column will only address one: that of allowing churches to exercise free speech when it comes to campaigns and political activity. ...

I surrender! My hands are up in the air and I quit. Checkmate! No más! You'll find my wallet on the ground. When you get all you can out of there, the only thing I have left is my arm, my leg and ...well I suppose I can sell my blood. Maybe we can get blood out of a turnip. That is simply the cost of living in Blytheville, Mississippi County, Arkansas...

Life is just so very fragile. It truly is here one minute and entirely and forever gone the next. The thing about death that shocks us, is that it isn’t always predictable – it just BAM! ... appears. I write this column today with an extremely heavy heart. I am purposely going to be vague in the details of what makes my heart bleed today, but there certainly is a message that has to be told. It is never THAT bad...

"...Whatever a man sows, that he will also reap," - Galatians 6:7 "And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe," Exodus 21:23-25...

"History is not just something that happened long ago and far away. History happens to all of us all the time. Local history brings history home, it touches your life, the life of your family, your neighborhood, your community," by Thomas J. Noel, Denver author and historian...

“History has to be rewritten in every generation, because although the past does not change, the present does; each generation asks new questions of the past and finds new areas of sympathy as it re-lives different aspects of the experiences of its predecessors,” renowned English historian John Edward Christopher said...

"If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, we have at least to consider the possibility that we have a small aquatic bird of the family anatidae on our hands," Douglas Adams in Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency. The problem is, Republican ducks and Democrat ducks all waddle and they all quack. ...

By the way, I hate to break the news but grant money is not “free money”. Santa Claus didn’t just one day decide to leaves bags and bags of money somewhere so that fans of big government, that are very clever at thinking up things that the government has no business getting involved in and that love’s spending other people’s money can have a free shopping spree...

Let me try this again. There once was a sweet, refined, lady that before getting married had a pretty good existence. She was well thought of and quite accomplished. She had her own way of doing things and was pretty successful at whatever she put her mind to. Then one day she married a younger husband...

"By uniting we stand, by dividing we fall!" Founding Father John Dickinson in his pre-Revolutionary War song "The Liberty Song" (1768). The Arkansas Supreme Court handed down its opinion Thursday in the Blytheville Courthouse matter. I am quite concerned about the ripple effects in our county...

"It all begins with forgiveness, because to heal the world, we first have to heal ourselves. And to heal the kids, we first have to heal the child within, each and every one of us," Michael Jackson I know it may surprise some of you to see me write a column that is "touchy feely" or emotional, but I am human and I bleed. So here goes...

Savoyard writer, diplomat and lawyer Joseph de Maistre is credited with saying in 1811, "Toute nation a le gouvernement qu'elle mérite (Every nation gets the government it deserves)." I'm entirely convinced that it is not only limited to just nations, but also to states, counties, cities, school boards and even civic clubs. ...

"I hear people talkin' bad about the way we have to live here in this country...when they're runnin' down my country, man, they're walkin' on the fightin' side of me," - Merle Haggard. I have had enough and you should have as well. I am sick (and tired obviously) of seeing people run our country down. ...

"That which has been is what will be, That which is done is what will be done, And there is nothing new under the sun," Ecclesiastes 1:9 Lügenpress is a German word used by Hitler's Nazi's to attack the press and weaken their influence with the German people. The word literally means, "lying press"...

Mr. Trump, you are my president. However, many, many of us voted for you not because you were our first choice, but because you were the only choice we could live with. So, your mandate is shaky but your task is not. You were elected because you were the only candidate that recognized our fierce anger. Biased and now disappointed television pundits forecasted wrong because they were blind to just how angry we are...

"When someone shows you who they are believe them; the first time." Maya Angelou Reporters can't please everyone and "blowback" is inevitable. That's simply part of the job. Being an effective taxpayer watchdog requires a price to be paid. Freedom is not free and that is fine. Sometimes I do make mistakes, so I am open to correction and constructive criticism - mostly...

"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." John 15:13 "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country," Patriot Nathan Hale What we historicize tells a great deal about ourselves. The marks we leave in the form of dedications, memorials, written histories, statues, etcetera and leave behind for those to view that come after we are long gone tells a great deal about who and what we are now...

"Why does a junior grade with six months experience and a track record for plea bargaining get assigned a murder case? Would it be so that it never sees the inside of a courtroom?" Lt. Daniel Kaffee, from the movie "A Few Good Men". This quote comes as Lt. ...

Author and journalist Hal Borland once said, "Year's end is neither an end nor a beginning -- but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us." Life at times seems to merely creep on, with excruciating monotony and routine. At times milestones, change and accomplishment seem to visit but only a few times in our life. ...

"The mob rushes in where individuals fear to tread," B.F. Skinner wrote in his Utopian novel, Walden Two. Mobs bully and attack based solely on passion and emotion, but never on intellect. I once read a quote that said that the combined IQ of a mob is the square root of the number in the mob. That's still not very smart. So, I am deciding to overcome the fear and tread on a very important topic that the citizens of this county need to address, fully aware of the probable consequences...

Benjamin Franklin is credited with once saying, "In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes." He should have also added that politicians will always seek to implement "mission creep" at all levels of government in order to buy votes and expand their domain...

Some people never change, yet some redefine themselves every day. Cities can be the same way...nothing ever changes. Why? Quite simply, change doesn't occur until the status quo is too unbearable and uncomfortable for us. Why do so many people just seem to be angry, mush-brained shells of humanity, walking to and fro like the metaphorical zombie, but absolutely not unique or contributing toward making this world a better place? It is because they do not realize that the purpose of life is to live a life of purpose.. ...

Contrast is powerful and beautiful. Day and Night are as different as can be. So too was the Historic Greyhound Bus Station Thursday night from its former life decades ago. Those of us that have been around for a long time can easily remember how chaotic and loud the old bus station could be as air force personnel and their families boarded or de-boarded the large buses. ...

Blytheville Courier News On Thanksgiving I saw a Facebook meme that quoted President Abraham Lincoln as saying, "The problem with quotes found on the Internet is that often they are not true," The same applies to news, just because it is on the Internet and "looks legitimate" doesn't mean that it is. ...

"Trolls are slow in the uptake, and mighty suspicious about anything new," J.R.R. Tolkien Perhaps some of you have spent a great deal of your life looking for gold at the end of your rainbow, leprechauns, unicorns and other mythical things. You probably haven't actually found them, but good luck. ...

Veterans Day has made me reflective. During that time of reflection I pondered the growing disrespect that I see toward our nation. What began as, I believe, a mere publicity stunt by a struggling San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, has now turned into a national embarrassment that grieves my soul to the point of fury...

I want to thank the City of Blytheville for hearing the plea I made in my column entitled "North Sawba is a complete travesty." I am proud to announce that Friday it was mowed in a joint partnership between the Parks and Recreation Department and the Public Works Department. This was done after the city's Parks and Recreation Committee ordered it done during their Thursday evening meeting...

Try to image what it would be like to look down upon your own tombstone years after you have passed on. Or perhaps you should think about what kind of respect you'd like shown to your loved ones, such as your mother and father or sons and daughters. ...

The earliest usage that I've been able to find for the phrase, "Throw the bums out" is from a 1926 edition of That Saturday Evening Post, but clearly the sentiment is timeless. I am happy to say that I now have renewed faith in the democratic process of American elections. ...

Abraham Maslow, the American psychologist that created "Maslow's hierarchy of needs" once said, "In any given moment we have two options: to step forward into growth or to step back into safety." The words of that quote rang especially true Thursday evening as we at the CN attempted to once again bring more innovative content to our valuable readers, but this time LIVE. ...

Founding father John Dickinson, in The Liberty Song (1768) wrote, "Then join hand in hand, brave Americans all, by uniting we stand, by dividing we fall; in so righteous a cause let us hope to succeed, for heaven approves of each generous deed." Not too long again, during "pax Americana", an attack on one American was an attack on all. ...

Hall of Fame football coach Lou Holtz teaches, "Life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you respond to it." "Life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you respond to it." That begs the question of what our response has been...

"Congress shall make no law... abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press...." First Amendment, United States Constitution. "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be... [But] where the press is free, and every man able to read, all is safe," Thomas Jefferson wrote in a letter to Colonel Charles Yancey on January 6, 1816...

Samuel Adams once said, "If ever time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in Government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin." Perception is reality. It might not be fact, but it IS reality. ...

Infrastructure maintenance is to a city what vitamins and cholesterol medicine is to a body. It costs money and there is typically no visible sign of their benefit unless something goes wrong! The arteries of a city must flow just as surely as the arteries of a man's body. Just like a person with 90 percent blockage in his/her coronary arteries, when sewer pipes leak under a street, eventually the road will come down and the city's health, commerce, traffic and life can come to a stop...

Oh, what has happened to my eyes? This week I had the privilege of visiting the Wiley Center and watching the preschoolers participate in an event that celebrates Arkansas Children's Week. The last time I walked through that building was probably 20 years ago or more and it was called Franklin Elementary at the time. The place has changed a lot, but I still heard many echoes of the past as I walked on the campus and through the building. That visit affected me more than I could have expected...

I have to admit that there was a day when I moved away from Blytheville and deliberately stopped on the side of the road and swept the dirt off my feet, praying to never return. I'm glad that God's plans rule over my own. Had I not moved back I never would have discovered how truly wonderful Blytheville is and my life would have been very incomplete. ...

Ahhh, spring! Can't you just smell the fresh air? Can't you just feel the warmth of sun upon your skin? Doesn't it just lift your spirits and give you renewed hope that your life will be better tomorrow than it has been in the past? Spring brings such great things each year, like March Madness, April showers and May flowers, the beginning of baseball and all the hope that a new season brings...

"The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism. ...

Benjamin Franklin once said, "Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote!" I realize that Franklin's quote was in the context of the necessity of guaranteeing citizens the right to bear arms; however his quote shouldn't be limited to just that. ...

After watching numerous Jerry Springeresque public meetings recently regarding both the golf course and the budget cuts (i.e. fire department and public works layoffs) and especially in light of the upcoming "public forum" to be held at 6 p.m. on Thursday, March 17 in the Blytheville High School Auditorium, I felt that it would be in order for me to explain a little about how public discourse can arrive at maximum benefit while protecting the town hall character...

Wonder of wonders and miracle of miracles, how terrific it is to live in the "Land of the Free!" This very column proves that in America there still exists, though less than at other times in our nation's history, the right of free speech. Many of my news articles each month prove that freedom of the press still exists. Now, you and I voting on or before March 1 will prove that we still possess the right to choose our democratically elected representative government leaders...

"You either have to be part of the solution, or you're going to be part of the problem." -- Eldridge Cleaver The recent argumentum ad captandum (argument designed to please the crowd) between myself and a columnist in the Jonesboro Sun where I defended Blytheville and where the other columnist defended his statements that "Blytheville has imploded" and that "all criminals are moving over here because there's nothing left in Blytheville to steal" has devolved into an argumentum ad odium (argument to spite) and is in danger of becoming an argument ad nauseam (argument to the point of disgust).. ...

"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the majority discovers it can vote itself largess out of the public treasure. After that the majority always votes for the candidate promising the most benefits with the result the democracy collapses because of the loose fiscal policy ensuing, always to be followed by a dictatorship..." is a quote attributed to the Scottish Lord Alexander Fraser Tytler. ...

Sometimes a person's quick wit isn't funny at all, in fact, sometimes it is down right proof of ignorance and quite offensive. Mr. Blant Hurt, a "businessman and resident of Jonesboro" and respected writer opined an opinion piece in the Feb. 2 edition of the Jonesboro Sun entitled "Our Sun King Mayor."...

"Laws are like sausages, it is better not to see them being made," Otto von Bismarck. I unreservedly advise any person desirous of public office, particularly a position on the city council, to first sit through all budget hearings before deciding to run. Your eyes WILL be opened!...

Recent circumstances have forced me to better recognize what is truly important in my life. Believe it or not, those things that ARE truly important have nothing to do with what I wear, what I drive or if my favorite ball teams are winning or losing. They don't even have to do with politics! Yeah I know...that's just crazy isn't it?...

Frederick Douglass once said, "Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe."...

Someone once told me "The only time you should ever look back, is to see how far you've come." While I don't agree with the quote technically, after all I am a historian and I'm all about learning the lessons of the past, in principle it is 100-percent correct. That is especially important for a collective people, community, city or even nation to live by...

PBS's Antiques Roadshow describes itself as "part adventure, part history lesson, and part treasure hunt." Another familiar quote sums up the premise of the show, "one man's trash is another man's treasure." The earliest example of that quote can be found in Hector Urquhart's introduction to the 1862 book by J.F. ...

Wow! Christmas is a lot of things and honestly, they are not all good. Christmas is busy, expensive and nerve-racking. But, Christmas is also nostalgic and spiritual. Christmas is peaceful (at times) and love-soaked, while at the same time it is painful and sorrowful. Frankly, Christmas is life compacted, pressed down, concentrated and amplified. I think Christmas is the sum of all human existence. Let me explain...

The Arkansas State Red Wolves Football team will be playing in their 13th all-time bowl game appearance and fifth consecutive bowl game, when on December 19 they face Conference USA member and former stAte nemesis Louisiana Tech in the 15th Annual R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl at the Superdome and on ESPN...

The late New York Governor and democratic presidential candidate Mario Cuomo once said, "You campaign in poetry, but you govern in prose." Perhaps never has a quote been so truthful and accurate. We all know how ear-tickling poetry can be. It not only can make romantic girls swoon, but it can make gullible voters faint, blush and do things they normally wouldn't do. ...

Each and every one of us do a daily job of walking a fine tightrope between being a presumptuous, lazy dreamer and a hopeless, excuse-filled, bitter quitter. Both ends of the spectrum are folly and can cause us to crash in life. Both ends bring a harvest of nothing but broken hearts and worthless excuses for never amounting to much of anything...

Have you notice that young people are spoiled, ungrateful and feel entitled to all they want? There are people that seem to simply walk through the rain and never get wet. Those that have never known what it is like to "do without." People that have never had to work for what they have, yet still get more than you do. ...

"The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything," Albert Einstein The time has come to completely and utterly destroy ISIS. This is not simply a response to what happened in Paris. It is long overdue and it must be done very soon or this world will surely plunge into World War III...

I start by applauding the Mayor's office for including more people in the budgeting process than was originally anticipated. This includes input from the City Council and, if rumor holds true, by some groups in the business community. Sometimes more heads really are better than just one...

I start by applauding the Mayor's office for including more people in the budgeting process than was originally anticipated. This includes input from the City Council, and if rumor holds true, by some groups in the business community. Sometimes more heads really are better than just one...

This week I talked with a sweet, beautiful, mature young lady, just out of high school, and after hearing her story, I felt such compassion (and indignation). I write in hopes that others will not feel so alone if they have to go through what she went through. Please note that none of this happened in Arkansas...

Blytheville's city government has a public relations problem. Blytheville citizens simply do not trust their city government. The Mayor and City Council need to make a massive effort at rebuilding trust by becoming a lot more open and forthright. This column is for all to read, but it is addressed particularly to the Mayor and Blytheville City Council...

You can do it! Each of you were created to win in life, but to win in life you must not only plan to win and prepare to win, but more importantly you must expect to win. If you can believe it, then you can see it. It is a proven fact that you will live out what you believe. If you believe you will fail, you surely will, but if you can only believe you'll succeed.....

Politics change like the wind, but sound principles never do. Are we in Blytheville "tax and spend" creatures or are we hard working, thrifty people that want our government to only do what we can't do for ourselves? Famed British statesman Edmund Burke said, "Government is a contrivance of human wisdom to provide for human wants". ...

Groupthink is a phenomenon within the field of psychology, which all leaders must continually be at war with. It occurs when a group of people (usually subconsciously) desires harmony and conformity even more than true leadership and wise solutions. ...

This week has had a share of heartbreaking events for me, but one has been particularly transformative. I don't know exactly why this event has impacted me so profoundly, but it truly has. The first lesson learned is to not judge people too harshly, you never know what has brought them to their low state in life. The other lesson is "there, but by the grace of God, go I"...

There is nothing sadder than having to look far back into the past for "glory days" because the current is so pitiful. For a number of years, stAte fans have pointed back to the mid 1980s, or even further back to the 1968-1970 seasons to console their souls. ...

Have you heard the story about the Chickasaw Chief, an eccentric Blytheville Doctor with a beard that touched the ground, and a few hundred German Prisoners of War? History can be fascinating, but it can also be lost. When it is lost, it is FOREVER lost...

Words do indeed have power. I remember hearing former County Judge Steve McGuire say many times, "It's a great day to be in Mississippi County." His words were equally powerful. The Bible tells us that the power of life and death are in the tongue. I also know that "you can't see it until you believe it", "misery loves company" and "birds of a feather flock together."...

I am not calling the hogs, I am calling the hogs out for continuing to peddle former Arkansas Athletic Director Frank Broyles' "Kool-aide" of squealing, crying and running away from an annual game with the Arkansas State Red Wolves Football team. Its loudest argument has been that Arkansas is too small to support two successful big time programs and therefore all support and resources should be directed to "Hog Heaven" in Fayetteville. Not true...

With such a buzz going around town regarding the City Council sending a new 1 cent Sales and Use Tax to voters Tuesday evening, I feel it impossible to not weigh in. It needs to be said that I honestly like every member of the Council as well as the Mayor, personally. While I have absolutely nothing to gain from taking a position regarding the tax, as a member of the fourth estate I believe it is my responsibility to protect the citizens and explain (when I can) their leaders...

Greek philosopher Aristotle taught that "Nature abhors a vacuum". That is not only true in the physical world, but it is particularly true when it comes to power, trade and communities. Imagine, for example, what happens at your place of employment when the manager gets fired. ...

Mark Twain said, "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness." But, how can one travel when one is poor? How can one travel widely when one has to work all the time just to make ends meet? One may easily travel extensively through books! One can actually time travel, if they desire, every time they pick up a book. ...

Patriot Patrick Henry once said, "The liberties of a people never were, nor ever will be, secure, when the transactions of their rulers may be concealed from them." Thomas Paine also added, "It is the duty of the patriot to protect his country from its government." Those wise words have never been more true that they are today...

Are you mad because of high crime? Are you angry at the prospect of higher taxes? Do you feel that government has too many assistants and are not doing their job? Do you think your government is wasting taxpayer money on projects that only benefit the few? Do you think the area is going to the dogs?...

There are numerous events being planned this year, in conjunction with the 2008 National Defense Authorization Act, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War. More accurately, these events do not celebrate the war, but rather the veterans that answered their nation's call to fight in it. One such event is planned for 2 p.m. this Sunday at the Blytheville Courthouse...

Let's discuss an impressive, stately Blytheville "home" that has been a local landmark for about a hundred years. This "home" has been extremely significant to our parents, our siblings, our children, our friends, ourselves and hopefully will be for our grandchildren. This "home" has been loved for its beautiful architecture, its one of a kind charm, and its unique ability to seemingly transport visitors back in time. This "home of culture" is the Ritz (Theater) Civic Center...

Getting ready for work this morning I was confronted by the words of the great American country music philosopher Aaron Tippin: "You've got to stand for something or you'll fall for anything". His words challenge us to consider the virtue of taking a stand for what is right, even at a cost. Missing the big picture holds true for individuals, companies, communities and nations as well...

Current political climate and public behavior teaches that he/she who shouts loudest will eventually win. The art of compromise and community is an antiquated concept, only found in high-brow fiction and fairy tales of days gone by. We as a society have become so polarized that there seems to be no middle ground. But it really is alright to disagree and to challenge each other in the marketplace of ideas...

Monday, Gov. Asa Hutchinson and Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin announced, in essence, that Arkansas schools will follow the recommendation of his Council on Common Core Review by dropping PARCC assessments and switching to ACT Aspire. Both tests assess students regarding mastery of Common Core State Standards. ...

SEC Arkansas, SEC Primary TOM HENRY Last Friday, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson-R signed SB-8, sponsored by Sen. Gary Stubblefield, R-Brach, which moves primary and nonpartisan judicial selections from May 20 to March 1 next year. This allows Arkansas to join a bloc of southern states in what is being called the "SEC Primary". This moniker, of course, alludes to the Southeastern Conference...