Arkansas Publisher Weekly: December 23, 2021

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Guest Column:

In Fort Smith, fighting for FOIA

By Mike Masterson

Arkansas Press Association

Publisher Weekly Vol. 15 | No. 50 | Thursday, December 23, 2020 | Serving Press and State Since 1873

2021 brought change and more of the same to Arkansas newspapers A volatile legislative session and the uncertainties of navigating the second year of a global pandemic lead to an interesting year in the Arkansas newspaper industry. Here’s a look at some of the top Arkansas Publisher Weekly stories from 2021.

January Wesley Brown, publisher of the Daily Record in Little Rock, was appointed to the Arkansas FOI Taskforce by the Arkansas Press Association Board of Directors.

Brown has been publisher of the Daily Record since November 2019. Before that, he covered business and the Capitol beat for Talk Business & Politics and for Stephens Media. He also has extensive experience in corporate public relations.

He replaced Ellen Kreth, publisher of the Madison County Record and vice president of APA. Mark Keith launched the Ashdownbased Little River Journal filling the void left when the Little River Post suspended operations early in the pandemic. The Post had replaced the longstanding Little River News, which had previously ceased operations. Dale Gathright, a grocery store owner who lives in the Saratoga community, became the Journal’s new editor. Terry Snead became the new paper’s advertising salesperson.

Zach Killian was named editor at the

Eagle Democrat in Warren after years working in multiple roles at Hampton’s South Arkansas Sun, owned by his family.

He went to school in Warren and has lived there most of his life, so was a natural fit when the role came open. He said he plans to emphasize community news, plus write more features, business profiles and perhaps add entertaining elements like comics and puzzle pages.

Journalism students at Henderson State University took over operation of the local newspaper, the Arkadelphia Dispatch.

They renamed the publication Oracle: Community Edition after the HSU student newspaper, the Oracle, which covers university news. The university decided to take over the publication after the Arkadelphia Dispatch published its last edition the previous week. HSU already had connections to the Dispatch; Student Media Adviser and Lecturer Steve Listopad and HSU graduate student Pete Tubbs had been operating the newspaper since summer 2020, and students from HSU and neighboring Ouachita Baptist

Donovan Lee (left), sports editor for the Oracle and Oracle: Community Edition. Pete Tubbs (center), editor in chief of Arkadelphia Dispatch and Oracle: Community Edition Haley Whisenhunt (right), student general manager of Reddie Media Group business operations and ad sales.

University had been contributing reporting work as well as advertising sales.

February Jackie Brooks, a columnist and copy editor for the Herald-Leader in Siloam Springs retired after 27 years at the paper.

She wrote her popular “Looking Back” column, which focused on local history since 2000. She was also a copy editor for the Washington County EnterpriseLeader, the Weekly Vista in Bella Vista, the Pea Ridge Times, the McDonald County

Press in Missouri and the Fayetteville Free Weekly.

Student Press Freedom Day was observed Feb. 26 across the nation. The theme was “Journalism Against the Odds” to acknowledge the phenomenal news coverage student journalists produced over the past year despite the incredible

challenges they faced.

Journalists Gisele Hudson and Helaine Williams discussed in the Arkansas Publisher Weekly the challenges of inclusion for Black people in journalism and publishing. Hudson is a Little Rock-based freelance reporter who has reported for the Los Angeles Times and Philadelphia

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February

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Inquirer. Williams is Sunday style editor at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. They each have decades of experience as Black journalists in Arkansas, and see much need for expanded opportunities for Black people who want to work in the industry, and for workforces that better reflect the people living in the communities the newspapers serve. Hudson, who attended a diversity in journalism boot camp in the 1980s, said there is still a “dire need” to diversify newsrooms. “Allowing students to come in would help, and reaching out to journalism programs would help,” she said. Williams suggested that newspapers try to create content or publications designed for diverse audiences if they want to diversify their workforces.

Catherine Martin, who worked in advertising sales for the Banner-News in Magnolia for 42 years, retired. She won

many awards for the Columbia County newspaper from the Arkansas Press Association during her long and admirable career.

Former Hot Springs Village Voice publisher Jennifer Allen became its new owner after purchasing it from Gannett. She has 33 years experience in the newspaper industry. After being laid off in 2020 when Gannett eliminated her publisher position, she began negotiating the sale of the paper to her, as the media giant had begun selling off some of its smaller papers. The purchase was a win for local ownership of community newspapers. Allen said, “Everyone is just so excited about having a locally-owned newspaper where all their business can be done locally and not with people out of town and state. There are huge advantages to having a locallyowned newspaper. Our main focus is

Jennifer Allen

community news. We’re going to get back to that.”

March Four Arkansas newspaper industry veterans added their voices to an expansive COVID-19 oral history project

by Poynter chronicling the effect of the pandemic on Middle America, particularly “the challenges and opportunities faced by rural newspapers in the early days of the pandemic. The study interviewed experienced people from the newspaper industries of five states. Interviewed were Ashley Wimberley, executive director of APA; Wesley Brown, publisher of the Daily Record in Little Rock; Lori Freeze, editor of the Stone County Leader in Mountain View; and Jeannie Roberts, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reporter.

In Poynter’s summary of the project, it noted 2020 was a year of layoffs and

Ashley Wimberley

Arkansas Publisher Weekly

Lori Freeze

newspaper closings as the pandemic and economic conditions took a heavy toll on the industry, yet “in the middle of the country, some newspapers serving small communities held on. They had to. They reported on school closures, the spread of the coronavirus and the dead. While print advertising shriveled and other local businesses around them closed, these newspapers covered a global health story that literally meant life or death where they lived.” The oral history interviews can be found at poynter.org/the-essentialworkers/ The annual APA Advertising Conference was held virtually on March 12. Shannon Kinney of Dream Local Digital was the featured speaker, instructing participants

Wesley Brown

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how to generate more money with digital advertising and construct effective digital campaigns. The conference was held in conjunction with the APA Better Newspaper Advertising Awards, with dozens of newspapers taking home honors. The Arkansas DemocratGazette, the Saline Courier in Benton and the Advance-Monticellonian in Monticello won the Sweepstakes Awards for their size categories. Best in Show went to Brian Huntley of the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for a “thank you” advertisement from the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank.

The Nashville News-Leader moved its offices back to its original building, relocating from 119 N. Main St. to 418 N. Main St. in Nashville.

Jeannie Roberts

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April APA board member Eliza Gaines, the first female managing editor of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and a fourthgeneration member of one of the most influential newspaper families in the country, was named by Editor & Publisher magazine as one of the industry’s rising stars, making the national publication’s “25 under 35” list. Her great-grandfather founded the business in Texarkana in 1909, and her father, Walter E. Hussman, Jr., is publisher of the Arkansas Democrat-

Gazette. Those featured by E&P were chosen in part for their resiliency during the pandemic.

Destiny Martin was delivering newspapers for the Saline Courier in Benton when a blue Jeep repeatedly rammed her white Chevy Cavalier, then along with a gray Dodge Ram, pursued her. The vehicles blocked, then rammed her vehicle, spinning it off the road. Two men were later arrested for the attack, telling authorities they thought Martin was stopping at mailboxes to steal from them.

Jonesboro Sun publisher Reece Terry told readers the paper was replacing its Sunday edition with an expanded “Weekend Edition,” published on Saturday, and dropping its Monday edition. The Sun also announced that it was switching from home newspaper delivery to USPS delivery. The Sun is the last Paxton Media-owned newspaper to drop its Sunday edition for a Weekend Edition and to switch to USPS delivery.

The paper moved from a daily publication to a 5-days-a-week newspaper.

Gwen Moritz

her role. Though no longer editor, Moritz remains on staff at the statewide business publication.

Gwen Moritz, editor of Arkansas Business for 21 years, stepped down from

El Latino editor Michel Leidermann announced the Central Arkansas publication was increasing its efforts to help its Spanish-speaking readers find employment during the pandemic and have accurate, accessible health information about the virus and the need for COVID-19 vaccinations in its readers’ communities.

Arkansas’s journalists scored key FOIA wins, but also some setbacks, at the 93rd Arkansas General Assembly.

● Passage of SB194 by Sullivan, making clear that FOIA requestors may photograph public records.

of the notice, and for how much. The APA took a neutral position on the government transparency bill.

Wins:

Losses:

● Defeat of HB1280 by Rep. Delia Haak, R-Centerton, that would have gutted Arkansas’ open meeting provision.

● Passage of HB1027 by Rep. Frances Cavanaugh, R-Walnut Ridge, which eliminated the newspaper public notice of sale required for personal property in selfstorage units. Storage unit owners can now place the notice on a national website or in a community paper.

University of Arkansas at Little Rock journalism student Alexandria Brown of England, Arkansas, was awarded a $1,000 scholarship from the Arkansas Press Women.

Eliza Gaines

May

● Defeat of SB567 by Sen. Cecile Bledsoe, R-Rogers, that would have shielded from FOIA a significant portion of coroners’ reports. ● Change to HB1811 by Rep. Craig Christiansen, R-Bald Knob. The original bill would have eliminated a key newspaper public notice requirement. After the APA reached out to the lawmaker, he returned the newspaper requirement to a state public notice website about the towing of abandoned vehicles. ● Passage of SB196 by Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Jonesboro. Judges now have the authority to grant attorneys fees to plaintiffs in FOIA cases, even if it is settled before the judge decides.

Arkansas Publisher Weekly

● Passage of SB355 by Sen. Larry Teague, D-Nashville, making lottery winners of $500,000 or more exempt from FOIA for three years. ● Passage of SB305 by Sen. Ron Caldwell and SB456 by Sen. Gary Stubblefield, which raised the threshold for cities, counties and school districts to solicit competitive bids for purchases.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson signed Act 954 into law. Sponsored by Sen. Scott Flippo, R-Bull Shoals, the act requires certain legal notices by cities and counties to state what entity paid for the publication

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Brenda Blagg

Brenda Blagg was inducted into the inaugural class of the Great Plains Journalism Hall of Fame. Blagg is a Continued om Page 4

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May

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journalist, columnist, author, mentor, APA Golden 50 recipient and a two-time APA Freedom of Information award winner. Her more-than-five-decade career has been based primarily in Northwest Arkansas, including the Springdale Morning News, the Morning News of Northwest Arkansas and the Northwest Arkansas DemocratGazette. Her column, “Between the Lines,” is published in papers across the state. Rusty Turner, editor of Northwest

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and president of the APA, nominated Blagg for the honor.

The Times Record in Fort Smith hired Benton native and John Brown University in Siloam Springs honors graduate Catherine Nolte to report on food insecurity in the area as part of a new position 50% funded by the Report for America program.

Mark Elliott was named group publisher of six Paxton Media Group Arkansas papers: the Log Cabin Democrat in Conway, the Courier in Russellville, the Daily Citizen in Searcy, the Sun-Times in Heber Springs, the Batesville Daily Guard and the Van Buren County Democrat in Clinton. He replaces Frank Leto, who also stepped down from his position on the APA board of directors.

June The 1961 downtown building housing the Helena World at 417 York St. in HelenaWest Helena was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Cherry Road Technologies, a New Jersey Technology Company, purchased the Mountaineer Echo in Flippin, the Marshall Mountain Wave, the Pocahontas StarHerald and the Clay County Courier in Corning.

Helaine Williams, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s Sunday Style section editor and columnist, was named to the Arkansas Writers’ Hall of Fame. She started working at the paper in 1981, and has authored her “Let’s Talk” column for 32 years. Williams is a graduate of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock with a degree in journalism.

Pete Tubbs was named editor of the Malvern Daily Record. The Hamburg native is a graduate of Henderson State University and worked for the school newspaper, the Oracle and was editorin-chief of the new Oracle: Community Edition launched in the spring. Gerren Smith was named sports editor of the Malvern Daily Record. Smith was a sports reporter for the Hope Star for 11 years before that newspaper’s closure, and has a degree in mass communications from Ouachita Baptist University.

The Times-Dispatch in Walnut Ridge moved to new offices at 208 W. Main St.

Helaine Williams

The Baxter Bulletin in Mountain Home hired Christopher Fulton as a news reporter. Fulton is a U.S. Navy veteran and a graduate of the University of Memphis,

and was managing editor of the student newspaper, the Daily Helmsman.

Lance Turner

Lance Turner was named editor of Arkansas Business, the position vacated

by Gwen Moritz earlier in the year, Arkansas Business Group President Mitch Bettis announced. Turner has been ABPG’s online editor for more than two decades, joining the team in 1999 after graduating from Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, where he edited the Herald student newspaper.

July Sheila Rouse, a regional publisher for Rust Communications’ Arkansas newspapers, retired after working with the company since 1993. Mike Smith, who has been general manager of Rust papers in Missouri, Tennessee and Arkansas since 2017, was named as her replacement.

Karl Richter, associate and online editor of the Texarkana Gazette, launched a weekly podcast for the newspaper, called “On the Line: Texarkana News and Views,” for which he serves as host. The

Arkansas Publisher Weekly

podcast is funded by a $7,500 grant from the Google News Initiative Journalism Emergency Relief Fund and will reach subscribers and non-subscribers with local news and feature content.

Stephen Simpson, a reporter for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, was one of 24 journalists awarded a national fellowship to the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism. Simpson’s project will be to focus on Arkansas’ health disparities, particularly in the Delta region.

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The APA convention was held virtually for the second year in a row, due to the ongoing pandemic. Covering two full days of programming and events, the convention featured speakers Ryan Dohrn, Doug Phares and Val Hoeppner

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July

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as well as the annual Better Newspaper Editorial Contest awards, emceed by Roby Brock of Talk Business & Politics.

General Excellence winners were The Daily Citizen in Searcy, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, the Spring River Chronicle in Hardy, Carroll County News in Berryville, and The Leader in Jacksonville.

Rick Kron of The Leader won the I.F. Stone Award. Also during the convention, former APA president and publisher of the Carroll County News Bob Moore was presented with the Distinguished Service Award, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette projects reporter Ginny Monk received the Freedom of Information Award and Henderson State University journalism professor Steve Listopad was named Journalism Educator of the Year. Ellen Kreth of the Madison County Record in Huntsville was inducted as the new APA president.

A Northwest Arkansas DemocratGazette photojournalist saw a nurse’s empathy through his lens and captured a photograph that, in essence, honors health care heroes and illustrates the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Charlie Kaijo’s shot of a healthcare worker embracing a 4-year-old boy just after a painful COVID-19 test serves as a visual example of a trying year, and for its clarity and emotion, it was selected as the Arkansas Press Association’s Photo of the Year.

APA 2021 Photo of the Year by Charlie Kaijo of the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Merry Christmas FROM THE APA STAFF

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August

August Sara Greene received a promotion from general assignment reporter to editor of the Batesville Daily Guard and the SunTimes in Heber Springs. The papers’ former general manager, Bruce Guthrie, relocated to Georgia.

Frank Lockwood was named the religion editor of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, a position he also held from 2006 to 2012.

He was supervisor of the newspaper’s state Capitol reporters, and since 2015, he had been the paper’s Washington, D.C.,

correspondent. He is an Oregon native and a graduate of Harvard University. He also has a law degree from the University of Idaho.

Niketa Reed, a journalism professor at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and executive director of Arkansas Soul Media, Inc., was named to Northwest Arkansas Business Journal’s “40 under 40” list. Her digital platform is geared towards Black, Indigenous and people of color, and was created as a platform where young journalists can “pitch ideas and catapult careers.”

Bigelow High School journalism teacher and yearbook advisor Meghan Clarke Walton resigned in protest after two years at the rural Perry County school, after school administrators ripped two pages featuring a 2020-21 timeline of events that included the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, police killings and President Trump’s claims of a rigged election, from hundreds of yearbooks. She said she did not regret taking a stand against censorship, even if it hurts her career.

Gannett Media sold the Baxter Bulletin in Mountain Home to Harrison-based Phillips

Niketa Reed

Media, which also owns the Harrison Daily Times and the Newton County Times in Jasper. Jim Perry, who is a member of the APA board of directors, was annoucnced as publisher for all three publications,.

Perry later retired on Nov. 1.

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette started blocking comments on online news articles because the often negative or inflammatory comments had become a distraction from the news articles themselves, according to Managing Editor Eliza Gaines.

The Courier-Index in Marianna celebrated its 150th anniversary, having served Lee County and surrounding areas since July, 1872. Argent Arkansas Media has owned the newspaper since 2016.

September Arkansas Times publisher Alan Leveritt was named to Editor & Publisher magazine’s “15 over 50” list. He has published the Arkansas Times since the mid-1970s.

Bennet Horne was named managing editor of the Weekly Vista in Bella Vista. Horne was previously a staff reporter for the Los Alamos Monitor in Los Alamos, New Mexico, and editor of the Press Argus-Courier in Van Buren, as well as a sports editor at the Harrison Daily Times. He started his print journalism career at the Northwest Arkansas Times after working as a radio broadcaster.

The Jonesboro Sun sold its downtown Carson Street offices to St. Bernards Healthcare. It then relocated to smaller offices at 1300 Stone St. in Jonesboro.

Paxton Media named Martin Couch to lead its sports coverage at the Batesville Daily Guard and the Sun-Times in Heber Springs. He has had an extensive career in sports reporting and editing at Arkansas papers.

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October Scott Loftis, managing editor of Carroll County News, was named its new general manager. The promotion followed the Oct. 1 retirement of publisher Bob Moore who retired after more than four decades in the industry, the last 21 at Carroll County News.

Loftis joined the paper in 2014 with 23 years of experience as a journalist. He continued as editor while serving in the new position.

Nat Lea, president and CEO of WEHCO Media in Little Rock, was elected president of the national newspaper advocacy organization, America’s Newspapers. Lea was the president of APA in 2016, and he served on the APA board of directors for nine years.

Virginia Pitts was hired as a reporter for the Malvern Daily News. The first-time journalist and UALR honors graduate said that being hired as a reporter was a decades-long dream come true for her after spending years out of the workforce raising four kids.

La Prensa Libra, a Spanish-language free weekly serving Washington and Benton counties, applied for APA membership. Brent Powers is the publication’s general manager, and Breybinda Alvarez is its editor.

Nat Lea

November The Clay County Courier and the Pocahontas Star Herald celebrated their new locations under new ownership, CherryRoad Media, Inc., with ribboncuttings Nov. 5 and 6. The Clay County Courier’s new offices are at 433 S.W. Second St. in downtown Corning. The Star Herald’s offices moved to 2479 N. Thomasville Ave. in Pocahontas. Publisher Jeremy Gulban and Deputy Publisher Jennifer Fischer were in Arkansas for the events from their CherryRoad Media offices in Parsippany, New Jersey.

was published Nov. 18, 1921 as the Aggie Herald, when the school went by its original name, the First District Agricultural School.

The first issue of The Herald of Arkansas State University was published Jan. 18, 1967, as a special edition featuring one of the biggest stories in the institution’s history, breaking the news of the Arkansas General Assembly decision to grant university status for then-Arkansas State College and Gov. Winthrop Rockefeller’s signing of the bill. Editor Roy Ockert and other Herald representatives at the State Capitol journeyed back to Jonesboro in a snowstorm, writing articles en route and finalizing the edition that night.

Arkansas State University celebrated the centennial of its newspaper, The Herald.

The first iteration of the student newspaper

December Forrest City’s Star-Herald employees Teresa McCrary, Dusty McCollum and Alice McCollum were featured in the Arkansas Publisher Weekly for their work as the only known all-female team of printing press operators. The three women share the responsibility of maintaining and operating the newspaper’s approximately 60-year-old Goss web press machine.

They produce the Star-Herald, Marianna’s Courier-Index and a TMC advertiser. Their editor and publisher is Tamara Johnson.

(From left) Alice McCollum, Dusty McCollum and Teresa McCrary in the pressroom at the Times-Herald in Forrest City.

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The Bella Vista Historical Museum created a temporary exhibit on the popular and award-winning religion columns of Jan Burgess, former columnist for the Weekly Vista. Burgess wrote her “Simple Faith” column from 2009 through her retirement in 2017.

December 23, 2021

Guest Column: In Fort Smith, fighting for FOIA

By Mike Masterson, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Valued readers know I regularly devote considerable space to promoting the free flow of information and lawsuits that arise when institutions and agencies are accused of violating Arkansas’s transparency law.

decision to be ‘bandied about,’ suggesting directors consider three options: First, to place both proposals on the agenda, secondly to place one of the proposals on the agenda then amend it, and finally, table both options for further discussion.”

Call me a dinosaur (I’ve heard worse), but without a vigilant press and attorneys and prosecutors willing to hold Freedom of Information Act violators accountable, these infractions will continue and grow.

In response, City Director Lavon Morton contacted City Clerk Sherri Gard and requested that the proposal to supplement the parks department be removed from the agenda altogether.

School boards, city councils and agencies who spend tax dollars must do the public’s business in a fully transparent manner. After all, it is the duty of elected and appointed “public servants” to be accountable and responsible in office.

“Gard then contacted and polled all of the Board of Directors by phone. The majority of the board voted in favor of removing (4B-1) from the agenda while retaining (4A-1).

That said, prominent FOIA attorney Joey McCutchen of Fort Smith and fellow attorneys Chip Sexton and Stephen Napurano are taking on the Fort Smith City Council for allegedly violating the FOIA over an unannounced meeting.

The suit claims an important decision was reached via telephone, rather than in an announced public forum as FOIA requires.

The backstory described in the suit contends an illegal meeting by the Fort Smith Board of Directors was held to decide whether to remove one proposal from the Board’s agenda and retain another. Those proposals related to how to best distribute tax revenues collected by the city’s 0.75% sales and use tax.

“One proposal labeled (4B-1) sought to give a portion of those tax monies to the parks department. The other called (4A1) omitted the parks department, instead using those funds to support a city consent decree,” said attorney Napurano.

He said City Administrator Carl Geffken sent the Board of Directors the two proposals, placing both on the agenda.

“Before doing that, Geffken reached out to individual members indicating there were different opinions over how to allocate the money.

“He then suggested he didn’t want the Arkansas Publisher Weekly

“This constitutes a secret meeting and an illegal vote,” said Napurano.

The board then held a regular meeting on Nov.16 and approved (4A-1) after several amendments. Director Kevin Settle remained in favor of (4B-1), previously removed by the board, and sought to still dedicate a portion of the tax money to the parks department.

“However, Director Settle realized such a proposal was fruitless since the majority of his fellow board members voted against it. And that’s why Settle publicly stated: ‘I know that proposal was pulled, and I’m not going to try to put it back in or amend it because I know the board doesn’t wish that.’”

During the meeting, Director Andre Good also said not allocating money to the parks department was “a hard decision.”

“This confirms that the board’s vote with Gard was not merely a vote to remove an item from the agenda, but was nothing more than a disguised vote on the disposition of those two options,” said Napurano.

The city has an ordinance that allows the Board of Directors to remove items from the agenda. “But that’s not what the board did in this instance,” the attorney said. The board “instead illegally voted in a secret meeting on which proposal to support and 8

which to reject. The winning proposal was left on the agenda. This is political cherrypicking and is no different from a Board of Directors voting for or against a proposal by secret ballot.”

Napurano emphasized that the Arkansas Supreme Court has held that decisionmaking by private polling without the process being open to the public violates the open-meetings provision of FOIA. “It’s also well-settled law that a city employee like Sherry Gard who polled the directors in private by phone cannot be used as a straw man to get around the open-meeting requirements of FOIA.” Meanwhile, the McCutchen firm is involved in yet another FOIA lawsuit against the Jonesboro Public Library for violating the open meetings provision.

University of Arkansas at Little Rock law professor Robert Steinbuch, also a staunch defender of transparency and our FOIA, likely will join both suits. “It’s sad,” he said, “that public officials continue to try to operate outside the purview of the great citizens of this state.

“In Fort Smith they’re trying to do so as part of an effort to raise taxes for a generation of Arkansans. I applaud attorneys like McCutchen and Sexton, and jurists like District Judge Gunner DeLay, who are committed to transparency and democracy.

“Shame on those bureaucrats who continue to believe that the people of Arkansas work for them, not the other way around,” Steinbuch added.

Mike Masterson is a longtime Arkansas journalist, was editor of three Arkansas dailies and headed the master’s journalism program at Ohio State University. Email him at mmasterson@arkansasonline. com. This column was reprinted with permission.

December 23, 2021