Mike Masterson
Recent Stories by Mike Masterson
Ten years in Iraq
posted: 06/18/2013 3:46 a.m. Discuss
I read that more than 1,000 Iraqis were slain in Iraq during May, reportedly the most to die from violence there since 2008. Such carnage continues unabated since we declared victory and departed.
Dads matter
posted: 06/16/2013 3 a.m. Discuss
Another 24 hours designated for us fathers has rolled around. Yet another opportunity to evaluate our performance in the most significant purpose of our fragile existence.
In search of leadership
posted: 06/15/2013 4:34 a.m. Comment 1
With Mike Beebe’s spokesman saying if he’d had his “druthers,” the governor wouldn’t have permitted that controversial hog factory in the Buffalo National watershed in Newton County, I wondered about the druthers of Sen. John Boozman and Rep. Steve Womack over the waste from 6,500 swine deposited on karst-riddled land within reach of the river.
On that hog farm: Beebe’s druthers?
posted: 06/11/2013 3:28 a.m. Comments 3
I wondered how Gov. Mike Beebe feels about the risk that waste from the industrial hog farm at Mount Judea poses to the environment of the country’s first national river, a pristine tourism attraction and economic boon for decades.
A Quality proposal
posted: 06/09/2013 2:04 a.m. Discuss
The former federal geologist and geoscience professor at the University of Arkansas who earlier warned against operating that industrial hog farm atop the 630 karst-riddled acres in the Buffalo National River watershed is proposing a research program that could resolve the relevant questions left unanswered in that farm’s application and permit.
Pricey land and public protest
posted: 06/08/2013 4:54 a.m. Discuss
Lots of Northwest Arkansas natives are growing increasingly restless as they learn more about that enormous 345-kilovolt transmission line that SWEPCO proposes to stretch through Ozark forestland for some 48 miles across portions of Benton and Carroll Counties.
Protecting the outdoors: Pledge to preserve
posted: 06/04/2013 4:42 a.m. Comment 1
How reassuring it was to learn U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor planned a town-hall gathering for Arkansas sportsmen specifically to discuss his understanding of how much we Arkansans love our beautiful forests, streams and scenery.
Agency: Permit is fine
posted: 06/02/2013 2:29 a.m. Discuss
In his recent letter to Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality Director Teresa Marks, Little Rock attorney Hank Bates claimed the nutrient management plan for C&H Hog Farms of Mount Judea revealed the crucial document contained “omissions, errors and misrepresentations” that warranted revocation of the farm’s operating permit.
Mystical Memorial Day
posted: 06/01/2013 4:40 a.m. Discuss
My mother, the former Elaine Hammerschmidt Masterson of Harrison, died in 1998 at age 74. She was a light and breezy person who seemed to float through this life, reflecting a spirit of love and happiness.
Problems continue: Awaiting reforms
posted: 05/28/2013 3:39 a.m. Discuss
On this day after Memorial Day, count me among those waiting to see what reforms are implemented in the management of the Fayetteville Veterans Home in the wake of chronic scandals that have rocked that facility.






