Mike Masterson
Stories by Mike
On Pensacola Beach
posted: 05/26/2012 2:22 a.m. Discuss
For those who love a beach getaway within a day’s drive, here is my annual vacation travelogue devoted to you.
Max in bloom
posted: 05/22/2012 2:20 a.m. Comments 2
It’s been a while since I’ve written about Max, the timid golden retriever who at 2 1/2 can no longer be considered a puppy. Yet in mind and heart, I suspect the boy will always remain youthful.
Familiar to Florida police
posted: 05/21/2012 3:45 a.m. Discuss
The man charged with leaving the scene of the accident that killed Lowell Police Chief Joe Landers has a long list of misdemeanor traffic violations and assorted other legal matters listed on the Bay County clerk’s website.
Endless rights abuses
posted: 05/19/2012 4:33 a.m. Discuss
My deeper awareness of the ongoing civil-rights abuses inflicted upon many of our most defenseless citizens began back in 1988.
Live life for today: Over in an instant
posted: 05/15/2012 3:45 a.m. Comment 1
If you’re searching for evidence of how unpredictable physical existence can be, look no further than Joseph Landers, the popular police chief for 15 years in Lowell before his death, following a motorcycle accident, nearly two weeks ago in Panama City, Florida.
(Don’t) park it there!
posted: 05/14/2012 4:17 a.m. Discuss
The fiasco known as the downtown parking project in Fayetteville continues to bewilder not only me, but others who wait in line scratching their heads at those solar-powered pay stations scattered throughout the Dickson Street area.
Nation’s most efficient home
posted: 05/12/2012 4:06 a.m. Discuss
There’s a 900-square-foot home perched atop Mount Sequoyah in Fayetteville that (from the outside anyway) seems fairly unimpressive, except for those exquisite hand-rubbed, interlocking cedar posts that greet visitors at the front door.
He’s the ringleader: A Bear holed up
posted: 05/08/2012 3:44 a.m. Discuss
Just where does a visitor to Santa Fe get his silver and turquoise ring cut down to size?
Degrees of separation
posted: 05/07/2012 3:38 a.m. Discuss
Interesting to note that the colorful judge hearing Democratic politician John Edwards’ case spent her childhood in eastern Arkansas, although the national media says she hails from Tennessee. There’s an even closer connection to Northwest Arkansas.
The gifts of Will Rogers
posted: 05/05/2012 2:39 a.m. Comments 4
The late humorist, philosopher, screen actor, newspaper columnist, radio commentator, roping cowboy, philanthropist, humanitarian and worldwide ambassador of good will from Oklahoma might well have become the most popular and revered American in the early 1930s before his untimely death at age 55.
Our fatally infected system
posted: 05/01/2012 3:54 a.m. Comment 1
Succumbing to a gangrenous bedsore infection trapped in a nursing home bed—where care supposedly is paramount—is amongst the most vile and unjust ways to depart this world.
After the cocoon
posted: 04/30/2012 3:27 a.m. Comment 1
I suspect most from the present generation have never heard of Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross. But many of us Baby Boomers recall her groundbreaking contributions to understanding the process of death and dying.
To pummel a good officer
posted: 04/28/2012 2:23 a.m. Comments 2
Man oh man, did State Police Capt. Lance King get publicly pummeled for being too close and cozy, in the eyes of some anyway, to the former Razorback head coach whose life he was specifically assigned to protect.
Another dubious distinction
posted: 04/24/2012 3:44 a.m. Discuss
Well, valued readers, our beloved state again has emerged almost atop another national survey we’d just as soon forego.
A certifiable mistake
posted: 04/23/2012 3:39 a.m. Discuss
In a moment of what I’d describe as a bureaucratic lapse into inexplicable, transient unconsciousness, the Arkansas Commission on Law Enforcement Standards and Training chose to allow former Bella Vista policeman Coleman “Duke” Brackney to remain certified as a police officer in Arkansas.
Disaster care for defenseless
posted: 04/21/2012 2:19 a.m. Discuss
If I were checking a loved one into a nursing home in disaster-prone Arkansas (or anywhere else) there’s one question I’d be sure to ask: “What plans are in place to protect residents during a natural disaster such as a flood or tornado?” Then I’d want to see evidence that what I’m being told is true. (I’d also insist upon seeing the last two state inspection reports and determine if the noted deficiencies have been properly resolved.)
Ever-costly higher education
posted: 04/17/2012 3:48 a.m. Discuss
The natives of Arkansas have been understandably restless of late over the continually rising tuition rates, fees and salary structures at the state’s four-year and junior colleges.
One deputy, six shootings
posted: 04/16/2012 3:40 a.m. Discuss
When a deputy has shot six people in 23 years, it’s naturally bound to raise the eyebrows of most thinking folks.
Bobby, we hardly knew ye
posted: 04/14/2012 2:58 a.m. Comments 3
Try to put yourself on former Razorback head football coach Bobby Petrino’s Harley seat a minute before the fateful accident that cost him a multimillion-dollar annual contract and so much respect at home, work and across the nation.
Across the state: Petrino’s ripples
posted: 04/10/2012 3:50 a.m. Comments 6
Most of us understand the perils that lie in judging each other’s actions. Yet it’s equally true that there are painful consequences to the bad choices we make—consequences that can and do spread into other people’s lives.
Filling the basket
posted: 04/09/2012 4:19 a.m. Comment 1
The original version of this column appeared March 31, 2002.
Small wages, big responsibility
posted: 04/07/2012 2:41 a.m. Discuss
The more I think about nursing home residents being neglected or abused, the warmer that skin beneath my collar becomes. Strange how that happens.
Memories in a dusty box
posted: 04/03/2012 3:45 a.m. Discuss
Rummaging in the garage last week, I opened a dusty box to discover a small framed item that had been published in Columbia Journalism Review about 15 years ago.
If the spirits move us . . .
posted: 04/02/2012 4:03 a.m. Comments 5
A Bella Vista couple has spent the past decade traveling the world and capturing on film what they feel certain is clear evidence of spiritual manifestations in the forms of orbs and mysterious light forms.
Drawn-out drama
posted: 03/31/2012 3:15 a.m. Discuss
The smoke finally has cleared in Fayetteville’s drawn-out saga of how Marilyn Heifner broke the Freedom of Information law and the law won.
Shocked by Ward case
posted: 03/27/2012 3:53 a.m. Discuss
Dave Sheldon has been a veteran private investigator and a deputy coroner in two Arkansas counties, which means he has helped investigate and attend many deaths.
Little car, big deal
posted: 03/26/2012 4:13 a.m. Comments 3
Something big is expected to appear on the world scene (and perhaps economy) come August.
Balancing profits and care
posted: 03/24/2012 4:31 a.m. Comment 1
Nursing homes must balance the desire to earn money with their moral and legal responsibility to properly care for the most defenseless among us.
Some deadly data
posted: 03/19/2012 4:31 a.m. Discuss
If you believe the news and statistics, our state is the worst place to foolishly drive a vehicle into moving water.
Victims of our expectations
posted: 03/17/2012 4:38 a.m. Discuss
Most problems and conflicts I’ve experienced over a lifetime stem from my own particular personality (and character) flaw.
What’s that up his sleeve?: A surprising night
posted: 03/13/2012 4:16 a.m. Discuss
There he was again in fashionably pointed black dress shoes and trailing tuxedo tails. Paul Haas, the acclaimed New York conductor and music director for the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas was back before a packed house at the Walton Arts Center with what’s become his trademark of surprises.
Back on the river (with Max)
posted: 03/12/2012 4:52 a.m. Discuss
There is something about being back amid the crystal-clear swirls of the White River that causes my heart to beat slower and what remains of my mind to steadily free itself from every hint of static, one concern at a time.
Another sign of the times
posted: 03/10/2012 3:23 a.m. Discuss
I’ve been back home in Northwest Arkansas long enough to remember the sign-ordinance brouhaha years ago that wound up costing Fayetteville a Cracker Barrel restaurant.
Singing a different song
posted: 03/06/2012 5:06 a.m. Discuss
I couldn’t agree more with an editorial published the other day in the Northwest Arkansas Times. I’m continually amazed how many of those who seek public office will say whatever it takes to get elected, then perform an about-face afterward and do the same things they had criticized their opponent during the campaign for doing. And it doesn’t really matter which community—or what office—you’re talking about. This sort of hypocrisy goes on from the national down to the local level.
Our most easily abused
posted: 03/05/2012 5:08 a.m. Comments 2
Most readers wouldn’t know of my concern for the defenseless elderly men and women in our licensed nursing homes and how that interest spans my career.
Doggie hospice dog
posted: 03/03/2012 3:16 a.m. Discuss
Max has become a volunteer for doggie hospice.
Why pay more for less care?
posted: 02/28/2012 4:22 a.m. Comments 10
It’s stunning to me that a private business operating to earn a profit, which also receives huge subsidies from federal taxes, can also be regularly reimbursed in even more public dollars to cover liability insurance should it harm its customers.
Ministering through a lens
posted: 02/27/2012 4:23 a.m. Discuss
At 71, Fayetteville’s much acclaimed portrait photographer Andrew Kilgore darned near defies my ability to describe another human being.
The need for some authority
posted: 02/25/2012 3 a.m. Discuss
What is going on with the Northwest Arkansas Conservation Authority and those who allegedly manage the place?
We shall overcome: Building strength
posted: 02/21/2012 4:01 a.m. Discuss
Dear Life: When I say things could not get any worse, it is not a challenge.
The vanishing of Greg Jones
posted: 02/18/2012 5:52 a.m. Discuss
Where oh where has Gregory D. Jones gone?
The great sneaky snake scam: A reptilian rumpus
posted: 02/14/2012 3:58 a.m. Comment 1
Ryan Cornelison says he’s guilty of concocting one of the most slithery schemes ever to grace law enforcement booking sheets in Northwest Arkansas.
PTAs of state, take heed
posted: 02/13/2012 4:05 a.m. Comment 1
Parent Teacher Associations across Arkansas, make sure you have checks and balances in place to ensure you aren’t scammed like elementary schools in Springdale and Bentonville have been over the past three years.
Sculpture with a saw
posted: 02/11/2012 4:43 a.m. Discuss
It was all but impossible to count the number of visitors meandering through the three enormous white tents that housed the nation’s finest carvers of heavy ice blocks.
America’s Cinderella fella
posted: 02/07/2012 4:14 a.m. Discuss
Slender, 37-year-old Kevin Skinner of Mayfield, Ky., and Susan Boyle of Scotland have never met. But they shared a lot in common during 2009.
No peace for prize
posted: 02/06/2012 4:27 a.m. Comments 2
I see where the Stockholm County Administrative Board finally is taking a hard look at the purpose and intent of the Nobel Peace Prize.
Better than a football victory
posted: 02/04/2012 3:50 a.m. Comment 1
All you bright high school students across our state, take heart, especially if you’re not athletes.
Free enterprise at work: New jobs, new life
posted: 01/31/2012 4:40 a.m. Discuss
Anyone else feeling as good as I am about those 60 new jobs being added by Tyson Foods at its Mexican Original plant in Fayetteville? It’s high time we all got some encouraging news here in the state’s economic engine.
Want a lot, waste a lot
posted: 01/30/2012 4:18 a.m. Comments 5
Have you examined the enormous piles of unwrapped garbage from most items you purchase? I have. And was I blown away by the sackful of paper, plastic and cardboard bound for the public landfill.
