Meredith Oakley
Stories by Meredith
So what’s next?
posted: 03/20/2011 1:49 a.m. Discuss
Where to begin? Odds and ends? Random thoughts? Wrapping up? Fond farewells ?
Not a good move
posted: 03/18/2011 3:23 a.m. Comment 1
Please make note of an inauspicious beginning in the fouryear term of Secretary of State Mark Martin.
Let there be light
posted: 03/16/2011 4:55 a.m. Discuss
It puzzled me at the time. Why was the Department of Correction so intent on keeping secret certain elements of its so-called protocol for lethal injections?
Blast from the past
posted: 03/13/2011 3:01 a.m. Comment 1
Out of the past comes a very welcome voice, that of Randy Tardy. Randy is one of this newspapers former business writers. Transportation was his specialty before retirement, and he brought to every task a storehouse of recollection, knowledge and context.
Thanks, Harry
posted: 03/11/2011 5:03 a.m. Comment 1
Now comes a clarification on the previous reference to Arkansas’ “failure” rate during World War II.
Older, wiser, sadder
posted: 03/09/2011 4:52 a.m. Comments 4
Some years ago, a headline on this very column hailed Lu Hardin as an “almost faultless Democrat.” Presumably, he hadn’t yet discovered the high-dollar slot machines of Tunica, Miss., which at the time was still mostly rural Delta scrub trying to establish itself as a gaming destination.
Home-front stories
posted: 03/06/2011 2:25 a.m. Discuss
Stories of the home front’s role in World War II continue to arrive in the wake of recent reflections published here.
Guv’s bad bill
posted: 03/04/2011 5:51 a.m. Comment 1
By the time you read this, Senate Bill 345 may well be on its way to passage by the state House of Representatives.
POWs in Arkansas
posted: 03/02/2011 5:16 a.m. Comment 1
Letters, we get letters, all of them prompted by recent references here to a program about Japanese Americans.
Financial setback(s)
posted: 02/27/2011 3:16 a.m. Discuss
Aweek or so back, I allowed as to how the nation looked to be in recovery because its Gross Domestic Product had expanded 3.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2010 over the previous quarter.
Recollections
posted: 02/25/2011 4:04 a.m. Discuss
My apologies to the good members of the Northwest Arkansas Genealogical Society, whose group was misidentified here Wednesday.
Light on dark
posted: 02/23/2011 4:29 a.m. Comment 1
I’m no expert, but I imagine all states have their historical dark sides. One of Arkansas’ involved the War Relocation Authority, created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in March 1942.
Consider the possibilities
posted: 02/20/2011 2:43 a.m. Discuss
Think for a minute: Does the name Sylvander Dewberry Martin mean anything to you? I’m not really expecting it to ring any bells. It’s just that of all the names in my genealogical logbook, his is my favorite. It’s distinctive, you know? Or rather, it would be if we could ever decide just exactly what the name was.
GDP vs. GNP
posted: 02/18/2011 4:10 a.m. Comment 1
Last week I wondered about the difference between Gross National Product, which we used to use to measure the U.S. economy, and Gross Domestic Product, which we use now.
And is doesn’t mean isn’t
posted: 02/16/2011 3:22 a.m. Discuss
Let me add my amen to the editorial comments about two bills before the Legislature. First comes House Bill 1018, which passed the House recently by a vote of 86-4. It’s aimed at preventing public employees from drawing state salaries and state retirement benefits at the same time.
Arkansas snow daze
posted: 02/13/2011 2:16 a.m. Discuss
My apologies for any grievous errors on these pages the last few days. The Computer Age is a great and marvelous thing, but being stuck for three days on an icy hill leading down to an icy, hilly cross street (and a ravine if I miss my turn) is no picnic when you’re trying to edit a newspaper.
Time continuum
posted: 02/11/2011 3:33 a.m. Discuss
As the snow began to accumulate, a very old memory came to the fore, so I found a deep bowl and set it outside.
Just wasting time
posted: 02/09/2011 1:49 a.m. Discuss
Two identical ethics bills passed their respective legislative houses this week. Now the House must pass the Senate bill or the Senate must pass the House bill, although from the looks of it, each chamber intends to pass the other’s bills.
The quest’s the thing
posted: 02/06/2011 3:06 a.m. Discuss
If family research has taught me anything, it’s that time is expensive. A person can spend a small fortune trying to save some.
We must do better
posted: 02/04/2011 4:11 a.m. Comments 7
Anew report by the state Department of Higher Education says that more than half of last semester’s entering freshmen were unprepared for college-level work.
Just passing through
posted: 02/02/2011 3:31 a.m. Discuss
One of these days, I’m going to take a slow trip to somewhere instead of only easing up for speed limit signs.
There oughta be review
posted: 01/30/2011 2:22 a.m. Discuss
Idon’t know which is more outrageous, apologizing to someone for having killed a loved one or not apologizing at all.
A corner to turn
posted: 01/28/2011 3:55 a.m. Discuss
It’s been something less than a stellar beginning for the Arkansas General Assembly.
Next time get a horse
posted: 01/26/2011 3:41 a.m. Comments 3
Let’s take a vote: Who thinks Article 5, Section 15, of the Arkansas Constitution is antiquated ?
Independence revisited
posted: 01/23/2011 2:50 a.m. Comments 3
Would you trust the Legislature to have total authority over the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery?
Seeking the past
posted: 01/21/2011 1:59 a.m. Discuss
Talk about telegraphing your thoughts. The question was on her face before it ever reached her lips: “Why live in the past?” I’m at an age at which I’m constantly reminding myself about something
92 and counting
posted: 01/19/2011 4:39 a.m. Comment 1
Last week, Army Sgt. Zainah Caye Creamer, 28, of Texarkana died when her unit was attacked in Afghanistan.
Never fear, Hall’s in charge
posted: 01/16/2011 2:24 a.m. Discuss
Little Rock public school officials once had the temerity—audacity, really—to ask a court to forbid me to exercise my First Amendment right to speak freely.
Advice for newbies
posted: 01/14/2011 3:35 a.m. Discuss
It doesn’t seem to matter how far back I delve into the history of the Legislature, the same issues keep popping up.
Let it snow, let it snow
posted: 01/12/2011 4:47 a.m. Discuss
I saw it somewhere. It’s just a matter of opening the right box. There are still a lot of boxes to unpack. Well, what else am I going to do while stuck at the top of an ice-covered hill? I can sit around wondering if the electricity—and the heating unit—will hold or I can do something educational.
What was the point?
posted: 01/09/2011 2:29 a.m. Discuss
What’s the point of reading the U.S. Constitution aloud in the House of Representatives if only part of the document is included and only a portion of the House membership hangs around to hear it?
Mysteries keep hope alive
posted: 01/07/2011 4:47 a.m. Discuss
Since 1949, some mysterious someone has remembered Edgar Allan Poe on the evening of his birthday by placing three roses and a partially filled bottle of cognac on his grave in Baltimore.
System isn’t perfect
posted: 01/02/2011 2:36 a.m. Discuss
Tucker Carlson got it all wrong. Abusers shouldn’t be killed, they should be hurt. A lot. Systematically over a long period of time.
Bah, humbug
posted: 12/31/2010 4:54 a.m. Discuss
After more than a week of good cheer, the Grinch is demanding equal time.
One more time
posted: 12/29/2010 4:11 a.m. Discuss
Who knew so many of you enjoy Christmas stories as much as I do? When I invited readers to share memories made during this festive season, I had no idea how popular the idea would prove to be.
Making memories
posted: 12/26/2010 2:45 a.m. Discuss
How was Christmas? I hope you made some good memories for the years to come. Here’s one that Cindy McClain of Little Rock will always treasure.
A family tradition
posted: 12/24/2010 4:48 a.m. Discuss
Today is Christmas Eve, so it’s fitting that we begin today’s installment of readers’ Yuletide memories with this.
A story for all seasons
posted: 12/22/2010 5:01 a.m. Discuss
The countdown to the big day is winding down, but our wonderful readers just keep those holiday memories coming.
A best-ever Christmas
posted: 12/19/2010 3:15 a.m. Comment 1
The big day is less than a week away. If you have a Christmas memory to share, send it soon, won’t you?
The real McCoy
posted: 12/17/2010 3:43 a.m. Discuss
Do you have memories of a good Christmas? If so, won’t you share them with the rest of us?
Spreading good cheer
posted: 12/15/2010 4:21 a.m. Discuss
We’re making the season of good cheer a little cheerier with your memories of good Christmases.
Joys of Christmas toys
posted: 12/12/2010 2:03 a.m. Discuss
The Christmas season is officially here, in this very space, for whoever wants to partake of it. Readers are sharing their Christmas memories with me and I’ll be sharing as many of them as possible with you during this holiday season. Address your e-mail to moakley@arkansasonline. com and regular letters to my attention at P.O. Box 2221, Little Rock AR, 72203.
The gift of love
posted: 12/10/2010 3:22 a.m. Comment 1
Do you have memories of a good Christmas? If so, won’t you share them with other readers?
A good Christmas
posted: 12/08/2010 4:10 a.m. Discuss
Joey was an exceptionally bright boy, and so it surprised no one when he went to the one package under the Christmas tree with his name on it.
Paperless society
posted: 12/05/2010 3:11 a.m. Discuss
The contretemps over shredding Pulaski County court records set me to thinking. What will genealogists and others who value original texts and the extraneous seals and notations they often carry do when we become a paperless society?
Vintage Lynch
posted: 12/03/2010 5:05 a.m. Comment 1
My friend Pat Lynch has been catching some flak for his column, “Screaming a screeners.” I don’t know which of us missed the point he was trying to make, but I didn’t read it the same way that his critics did.
On borrowed time
posted: 11/28/2010 2:34 a.m. Discuss
State lottery czar Ernie Passailaigue looks to be on his way out.
The greatest gift
posted: 11/26/2010 5:16 a.m. Discuss
What is it with parents that they never want anything for Christmas?
Family, frozen in time
posted: 11/24/2010 2:41 a.m. Discuss
After all this time, you’d think I’d get used to it, but looking for the first time at the faces of people who were photographed a century ago or more still unsettles me.
Apology tendered
posted: 11/21/2010 2:51 a.m. Comment 1
Craig Campbell has taken “full responsibility” for a recent effort to circumvent the state Freedom of Information Act.
