Waste woes
As odd as it may seem to many, I've lately felt twinges of compassion for a town.
My heart goes out to the folks in beleaguered Bethel Heights, a friendly northwest Arkansas community bedeviled by se...
August 9, 2020
MASTERSON ONLINE: Harrison and the haters
Before I let fade the matter of Los Angeles professional video agitator Rob Bliss coming to my hometown of Harrison to intentionally smear the community as racist, allow me to share the city's many no...
August 8, 2020
MIKE MASTERSON: A 'hit job'
My hometown of Harrison has worked diligently for years through its Task Force on Race Relations, a proactive city government and thousands of caring residents to shed the unfair image of a community ...
August 4, 2020
MASTERSON ONLINE: Lost in time
Of the once-revered qualities such as honor, honesty, common sense and integrity that have steadily faded from our nation's culture, I put the related loss of loyalty near the top.
That's equally tru...
August 2, 2020
MASTERSON ONLINE: Worst-laid plans
Some stories involving human intellect (or glaring lack thereof) are bizarre enough to defy belief and reason.
Take the case of Joshua Rush and his wife Camille, who the other day gave new meaning to...
August 1, 2020
MIKE MASTERSON: Fauci not alone
Half the world by now has seen Dr. Anthony Fauci's attempt to throw out the ceremonial first pitch of that Washington Nationals game (and MLB season opener) the other day.
The smallish infectious-dis...
July 28, 2020
MIKE MASTERSON: Hard to beat
The Ozark Mountains ranging across northern Arkansas are peppered with reasonably priced restaurants where the food is as good as you'll find in any city.
From DeVito's Restaurant just north of Harri...
July 26, 2020
MASTERSON ONLINE: Big doings at Dogpatch
There's mighty big doings afoot on the wooded acres that once were home to the Dogpatch USA theme park along Scenic Arkansas 7 south of Harrison.
The still-unnamed buyer of the hilly property has bee...
July 25, 2020
MIKE MASTERSON: Shared wisdom
I regularly accumulate pieces of wisdom and observation that deserve to be heard well beyond my own eyes and ears. For instance:
An elderly woman stood at the hospital entrance facing a nurse who'd a...
July 21, 2020
MASTERSON ONLINE: Memories return
If you've ever lived in beautiful Hot Springs National Park or had occasion to examine the historic underbelly of that city, the impressions likely will endure across a lifetime.
That's been the case...
July 19, 2020
MASTERSON ONLINE: A columnist's resignation
I'm devoting my space today to the nationally publicized resignation letter of 36-year-old New York Times columnist/editor Bari Weiss earlier this week. Hers is a vitally important message I believe e...
July 18, 2020
MIKE MASTERSON: Intent, direction
In reviewing columns from the archives, I happened across one published 11 years ago that seems perhaps even more relevant today than it was back then.
I began by saying I'd reached the point of spon...
July 14, 2020
MASTERSON ONLINE: Many questions
I have more questions than ever bouncing through my hollow skull these days (which likely accounts for that ringing in my ears).
First off, I wonder in 2020 why any sane person with a love for life, ...
July 12, 2020
MASTERSON ONLINE: Emotion over reason
Defund the nation's already-thin blue line, eh? The same tenuous line that keeps anarchy and crime barely at bay?
The preamble to our Constitution describes what to expect in forming a more perfect u...
July 11, 2020
MIKE MASTERSON: One man's humor
I read an amusing essay worth sharing the other day. At my graying age, I could relate to much of its message aimed squarely at the nature of today's society. The unnamed, clearly frustrated author's ...
July 7, 2020