G. Scott Thomas, a number-crunching Poindexter at The Business Journals, has been digging into the Bureau of Labor Statistics data sets so you don’t have to. His mission: To determine the rate of growth in government employment in the states over these last few sad recessionary years. And where does dear old Arkansas check in in [...]

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Members of the Southside High School Drama Department staged “The Crucible” on Thursday night.

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The state Higher Education Department today reported an increase of more than 5 percent in the number of new high school graduates enrolling in Arkansas colleges with grades and test score necessary to win an Academic Challenge Scholarship. The number was 11,960, up 643 from the previous year. Overall scholarships, including non-traditional students and “current achievers,” [...]

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School “reform” wonks, this article is for you. It’s an assessment of the New Orleans school makeover “miracle,” in which a handful of schools with unimaginable financial and other support from the Billionaire Boys Club ($50 weekly good behavior rewards for students!) and sometimes cherry-picked students overshadow the familiar story of the difficulty of replicating [...]

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U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford takes a lick from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee for good reason. He’s in line for hypocrite of the week for putting out a newsletter touting a $400,000 handout for a Jonesboro convention center from an agency, the Delta Regional Authority, that he’s on record in support of cutting. Sen. John [...]

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The leading poultry company in Mexico is buying Fort Smith-based OK Industries Inc., a private chicken firm that employs about 5,000 people.

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The Arkansas Realtors Association said September home sales were up 10 percent over the same month a year ago, but the average price declined 1 percent. For the quarter, sales were up 16 percent, but prices down 4 percent. More details at their website. [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

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Guess what happened yesterday (October 27, 2011) while you were not paying attention? Arkansas Act 1001—better known around these parts as the “Amazon Sales Tax”—went into effect. I guess this means that now the state will be swimming in new revenues, ensuring a higher level of services and a brighter outlook stretching unto the horizon. Farewell, [...]

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Local government and business leaders say they will work with Whirlpool Corp. to market the plant in Fort Smith in hopes of re-employing the 1,000 people who will lose their jobs when the plant closes

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The Whirlpool plant at 6400 Jenny Lind Road in Fort Smith has a long history in the city.

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