“Smoking or non?” the restaurant owner asked two patrons who walked in as I waited for my carry-out order.“Non,” came the quick reply.When the owner returned after seating the couple, I offered the comment that he wouldn’t have to ask that question much longer, since legislators approved a workplace smoking ban, including restaurants, in the [...]

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It was about this time of year in 1986 when a lanky lawyer from Fort Smith sat across the editor’s desk from me to pitch his candidacy for the U.S. Senate. There’s a chance I may have been rude to him; at the very least I had little patience with anyone who thought he would [...]

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It has been a great ride, writing weekly commentary in the best daily newspapers in Arkansas about government, politics, and a lot of other things for almost 10 years. But, alas, all good things must come to an end. There’s also a bright beginning.As of Thursday, my responsibilities with Stephens Media Group changed as the [...]

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For those of us unable to catch up with Gov. Mike Huckabee on his recent trip to New Hampshire, we were able to follow along vicariously through the always-interesting C-SPAN series, Road to the White House.For the most part unedited, the series gives TV watchers the look and feel of events attended by potential presidential [...]

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So many heroes.Let’s put aside for the moment that the Federal Emergency Management Agency failed the people of the Gulf Coast, especially those in and around New Orleans, in the early going. There will be plenty of blame and shame to go around, going back to the decision to put FEMA under the Homeland Security [...]

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Some days it’s hard to tell it’s not an election year in Arkansas, unless, of course, you’re voting on electronic games of skill in Hot Springs or West Memphis. So, maybe it’s time to take a look at some of the political goings-on related to 2006 and 2008.—–Gov. Mike Huckabee, by all accounts, made a [...]

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Maybe I’m wrong about the public’s interest in politics.My pat response when somebody asks me about this race or that one is that it’s way too early. Most of the time, the questioners are somehow tied to politics – they are candidates, party loyalists, campaign staffers or political junkies.Now comes my good friend and former [...]

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The name should have been warning enough – the Chuckhole.That’s a cafe in downtown Grand Lake, Colo., where eatery selections are limited. If only I had been drawn by the sign in a courtyard on the way into town: “Hot Dog, soda and chips, $4.”Blame the moose.Nearly two-thirds of the way across Trail Ridge Road [...]

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Call me an old fogey, but I don?t put much stock in the newfangled Internet communication tools known as weblogs, or ?blogs.?That doesn?t mean there are not some excellent blogs out there, but it?s sometimes difficult to tell the good from the bad. Some blogs have provided tips for insightful news stories in the so-called [...]

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Sports and politics are so very similar, as I’ve told friends who question how I could spend a career writing about the very thing that some so deeply detest.Whether sports or politics, the comparison of up-and-comers to those who have cleared a path are inevitable.Sports color commentators tend to overdo.“Wow, Vern, John Doe sprinted past [...]

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