Stories by Mike Masterson

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Holiday tradition Editor's note: Mike Masterson is taking the day off. The original version of this column was published Dec. 2, 2014.Years ago, I had a relative by marriage who could be painfully honest.For instan... November 29, 2022

Shining a light Children confined to our state's 13 psychiatric residential treatment facilities endure hundreds of instances of abuse, neglect, over-medication and other forms of mistreatment that create an unsa... November 27, 2022

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Day by day Many across our state have sent messages of caring and support since my final of 35 radiation and seven chemotherapy treatments for squamous cell cancer mercifully ended on Sept. 6.I've appreciate... November 26, 2022

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Out of nowhere The mating season for white-tailed deer has rolled around again. With it come the memories of the same time of year a decade past.Back when I thought colliding with a deer during the mating season is ... November 22, 2022

In the Zone Valued readers know of my interest in sharing accounts of mysterious happenings, some of which I've labeled GodNods. Others, like the following event, are about the inexplicable events that occur ... November 20, 2022

MASTERSON ONLINE: Deserved gratitude Very near the top of my list of gratitudes this Thanksgiving is Walter Hussman Jr. and all he's brought to my life and career.We were both 26 when we first met over lunch at the Arlington Hotel in... November 19, 2022

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: An inverted U We took an afternoon not long ago to visit three relatives in their mid-80s. Two are in nursing homes while the other remains in her home where caregivers visit daily.Realizing I'm but a decade aw... November 15, 2022

A way of life Editor's note: Mike Masterson is taking the day off. The original version of this column was published Aug. 5, 2007.I recognize my tendency to write repeatedly about the issues that seem the most ... November 13, 2022

MASTERSON ONLINE: Brought into the light The Arkansas Transparency in Government group (ArkTIGG), working in association with a member investigator, has released a report showing the 10 public school superintendents who received the largest ... November 12, 2022

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Answers in us Editor's note: Mike Masterson is taking the day off. The original version of this column was published Sept. 29, 2013.Spending time in New Mexico has refreshed a lot of memories for this Ozarks bo... November 8, 2022

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Three steps The older I get, the more difficult I'm finding it to remember the names of those I meet. Perhaps you share that problem. I know it's cost me some embarrassment over the years. And I suspect i... November 6, 2022

MASTERSON ONLINE: Warning a federal case I've become intrigued by the civil case involving Little Rock resident Marion Andrew Humphrey Jr. who has accused Arkansas State Trooper Steven Payton of violating his civil rights by handcuffing ... November 5, 2022

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Vote or no vote? Let's say you are certain you can prove your school board broke the law when it failed to publicly vote on extending the contract and compensation for its superintendent.You send your local prosec... November 1, 2022

Benji on the case Please don't bother trying to convince me dogs don't understand what's going on within their human families, not after what happened with Benji the other evening.Our neighbor knocked on th... October 30, 2022

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Redemption behind bars In 2015, after Eric Higgins retired from a 30-year career with the Little Rock Police Department, he volunteered with an organization called The Exodus Project: Out for Life.That program provided clas... October 29, 2022

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Time flies Editor's note: Mike Masterson is taking the day off. The original version of this column was published Oct. 6, 2012.If you sometimes feel as if your life is bouncing like a gleaming pinball from t... October 25, 2022

In order to live Anyone who's lived long enough has heard about feeding tubes and the less-than-pleasant image the name conveys for many of us. It sounds anything but natural.Yet, as with so much else in life, I c... October 23, 2022

Readers speak up on dogs My advocacy for a stronger state law and municipal ordinances to hold negligent large-dog owners legally responsible for their pets who harm, maul or kill innocent people and their pets because they f... October 22, 2022

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: In the crosshairs Bulldog Fort Smith attorney Joey McCutchen and his law partners Stephen Napurano and Chip Sexton aimed their sights eastward to Cabot last week as they filed another Freedom of Information Act lawsuit... October 18, 2022

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Children killed Many of you likely caught the story out of Millington, Tenn., about a mother whose 2-year-old daughter and 5-month-old son were mauled and killed by two family pit bulls that also badly injured her.In... October 16, 2022

MASTERSON ONLINE: Our lives in chapters In reflecting over the past seven-plus decades, I can't help but see them as chapters in my book of life.With every change of life's seasons and move to a new environment I was constantly and ... October 15, 2022

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Drawn in As careful as we have been to avoid the worldwide army of online scammers, we can still get swept up in the moment of a bargain for a needed item that seems just too good to be true.In our case, a few... October 11, 2022

Tearful moment There hasn't been a lot that's happened in recent years to bring tears to these aging eyes.Then came an evening last week when son Brandon, of Fayetteville, and daughter Anna, of Bartlett, Ten... October 9, 2022

MASTERSON ONLINE: A need for kindness "You can only understand people if you feel them in yourself."--John SteinbeckI watched a man in Fayetteville pumping gas one row over from me. He was close to filling the tank on his newer-... October 8, 2022

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: It begins with me Editor's note: Mike Masterson is taking the day off. The original version of this column was published Sept. 17, 2013.Lately I've been paying more attention to how others react to what I say a... October 4, 2022

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Charges filed File these developments under better late than never.Some 19 months after a school investigation began into Huntsville junior high basketball players being sexually abused by older teammates in the lo... October 2, 2022

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Laws need teeth Those who thought I'd quietly fade away after Jeanetta and our little dog Benji were savagely mauled by an unrestrained dog during a morning walk along a Harrison public street haven't been re... October 1, 2022

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Conflict continues Readers likely recall the very public conflict and charges of discrimination between UALR law professor Rob Steinbuch and Theresa Beiner, dean of the university's Bowen Law School.Well, the infigh... September 27, 2022

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Power of prayer A majority of the many appreciated messages I've received since launching my battle with the beast known as squamous cell cancer have offered prayers for my healing and recovery.They mean so much ... September 25, 2022

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: No bell for recovery It took 35 days of radiation and chemotherapy to be able to ring the bell marking a successful end to the treatments.While worthy of rejoicing as a merciful end to that process, the sound of that bell... September 24, 2022

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: For the whiners Editor's note: Mike Masterson is taking the day off. The original version of this column was published Oct. 9, 2011.You've undoubtedly known your share of whiners who continuously find ways to... September 20, 2022

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Our work ethic I never knew during the summer of my 15th year whether the crawlspace I was about to enter to attach ventilation ducts would contain more centipedes or spiders.But like it or not, the $1.75 an hour th... September 18, 2022

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Anonymous kindness There are many reasons I chose to return to my hometown of Harrison in 2015, the most significant of which is the genuine and caring nature of its people.There really is no other place like this commu... September 17, 2022

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Dog attack This is a column best described as a nightmare followed by a GodNod.One of little Benji's favorite things to do is walk with Jeanetta. He hops around each morning in anticipation of where they wil... September 13, 2022

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Tiny caregiver I occasionally share exploits with our 12-pound pound pup Benji, and how he has enriched our lives beyond measure. I do that in tribute to him and all members of his canine clan and the many ways they... September 11, 2022

OPINION | MASTERSON ONLINE: Ringing the bell A month that seemed more like six finally ended by ringing a bell that said that day was at hand, a morning I'd believed would never arrive.Some 50 well-wishers were on hand last Tuesday as I comp... September 10, 2022

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Catching hearts Editor's note: Mike Masterson is taking the day off. The original version of this column was published July 28, 2009.Jerry Dudley of Fayetteville was in the middle of catching a boatload of trout ... September 6, 2022

Back on the floor I really, truly didn't want to write this story as a sequel. But I promised you honesty.If you're anything like me and do something foolish, you swear you'll never let something like &quot... September 4, 2022

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Valued voices pour in I continue to be overwhelmed by messages and letters and cards of support in my increasingly difficult, weeks-long battle against squamous cell cancer in my neck.I'm truly humbled by each one. The... September 3, 2022

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Roads we travel Editor's note: Mike Masterson is taking the day off. The original version of this column was published Oct. 9, 2007.Literature abounds with references to the roads we choose to follow in a lifetim... August 30, 2022

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Needless tragedy It's hard for me to imagine a more searing torture to a parent's soul than forgetting their toddler in the back seat of the family car on a scalding hot day to discover they'd succumbed to... August 28, 2022

MASTERSON ONLINE: Care closer to home When word got around that I had contracted squamous cell cancer in my neck, several well-meaning cancer survivors reached out and advised me to immediately head for MD Anderson in Houston, one of the ... August 27, 2022

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Help, I’ve fallen We've seen the TV ads depicting ailing patients who've fallen and can't get up. When I was younger (well, not all that younger) I used to smile and dismiss those as the Life Alert folk jus... August 23, 2022

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Saving vets Thankfully, there are many beneficial programs and organizations scattered across every state dedicated to assisting our veterans' emotional and physical needs.Many strive to help ease their chall... August 21, 2022

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: GodNods aplenty A lot of unforeseen things happen to someone when in the throes of radiation and chemotherapy to hopefully cure a squamous cell cancer attached to their neck.In my ongoing attempt to candidly inform r... August 20, 2022

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Local history We climbed the steep mountain out of Jasper along Scenic Arkansas 7 heading toward Hot Springs recently.I hadn't wound along that hilly stretch of highway for more than two years. But I never forg... August 16, 2022

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: The path to bliss During the late 1960s in my pre-ripened early 20s, I tried my hand at several jobs: Selling shoes for Sears, a manager trainee for a drugstore chain, and collecting past-due accounts on vehicles for C... August 14, 2022

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Halfway home By the time you read this, I'll hopefully have completed 19 of the 35 prescribed radiation treatments for my squamous cell cancer in my neck.And believe me when I assure you: It offers me no pleas... August 13, 2022

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: All-American Editor's note: Mike Masterson is taking the day off. The original version of this column was published Nov. 24, 2007.Long before returning in 1995 to my native northwest Arkansas, I'd discover... August 9, 2022

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Who I am "An unexamined life is not worth living."--Socrates.Warning: I am far from a psychologist, but I've had time on my hands of late to better examine my life. Accordingly, I've spent mo... August 7, 2022