Stories by Mike Masterson

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Power of press Editor's note: The original version of this column was published Dec. 28, 2013.It's interesting in this craft of publishing facts and opinions how printed words carry so much power and potenti... May 30, 2023

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Not forgotten It may sound odd to those who haven't experienced the scenic tranquility of Harrison's historic Maplewood Cemetery that its annual fall review of flaming red and gold leaves is among this Ozar... May 28, 2023

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Bitten children A study of emergency department records at two Level 1 trauma medical institutions in Arkansas during 2018 found frequent dog bite injuries inflicted on children across our state, causing significant ... May 27, 2023

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Secret negotiation If "Project X" between the city of Fort Smith and an unnamed retailer goes through, I expect taxpayers there to file a lawsuit based on violating the state's constitution.I asked Fort Sm... May 23, 2023

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Tell-tale photo The years I spent between 1980 and 1995 producing investigative stories for the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Sun-Times, the Asbury Park Press and the Arizona Republic provided many unforgettable mom... May 21, 2023

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Doctor weighs in on pit bulls The following email arrived the other day from Wisconsin physician Dr. Laura E. Marusinec that I find definitely worth sharing with valued readers. (Bet you never knew the paper has that kind of reach... May 20, 2023

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Baby in the ditch Wayne Mays, a former colleague at the Hot Springs Sentinel-Record and the president of Arkansas Right to Life, recently sent a copy of my feature story about an infant found in a Little Rock drainage ... May 16, 2023

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Macabre for sale It sounds ghastly enough on its face, peddling human body parts from a crematorium for thousands of dollars to a collector of strange things in Pennsylvania.Come to think of it, I believe I recall tha... May 14, 2023

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Rush to judgment "Better that 10 guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer."--The Blackstone FormulaTwo "In the News" items on the front page last Saturday told of men in Kansas and Massa... May 13, 2023

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Readers speak My recent column about ongoing cattle mutilations under investigation in Texas struck a chord with a number of readers. Here are a couple, slightly edited, I felt worth sharing,From Mark Griffin: &quo... May 9, 2023

RIP, sweet Maple Maple, a gentle half-ton long-haired Highland cow belonging to Holly and Tyson Simon of Fort Smith, may have been as loved and spoiled a pet as you'll ever find.The Simons' two daughters regul... May 7, 2023

MASTERSON ONLINE: Grieving lost freedom A big part of recovering from any major illness, certainly including cancer, lies between the ears and the strength of one's will.That's certainly been my experience since I began telling valu... May 6, 2023

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Fire at the mine A surefire way to make sure you won't want to read today is to try explaining bitcoin mining.When even the person who's writing about it doesn't understand how it works, except that it&#39... May 2, 2023

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Scammed hearts The human animal craves the affection and attention that comes with being involved in a loving relationship. It's in our DNA.And like everything valuable to us, there are those who find ways to ex... April 30, 2023

MASTERSON ONLINE: Cattle mutilations are back A compelling account of new mysterious cattle mutilations is a story most everyone will stop to read or watch.The latest comes out of Texas where six cows in three counties near a highway not far from... April 29, 2023

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Flying and guns I felt considerable empathy for former state Senator Jason Rapert and others who were stopped by Transportation Security Administration agents the other day before they could board an airplane at the ... April 25, 2023

Farewell, Beast Atop the list of things that create anxiety is undoubtedly awaiting the results of a cancer scan. Do I have cancer? How much? Is the invader still inside me, or did the treatments kill it?Those days o... April 23, 2023

MASTERSON ONLINE: A failure of justice There's a significant criminal case of apparent misidentification underway in Bryant involving Joseph K. Black, a 44-year-old assistant manager of a Big Red convenience store there, and the city&#... April 22, 2023

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Yoda of the streets Editor's note: Mike Masterson is taking the day off. The original version of this column was published Sept. 28, 2013.It was all but impossible to stroll past Rev. Ray Masterson and his assistance... April 18, 2023

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Bud blowback I watched Alissa Heinerscheid, vice president of marketing for Anheuser-Busch, dither on cable news the other day to joyfully explain her revolutionary idea to partner in a campaign with transgender a... April 16, 2023

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Our waning nation At least 40 years ago I watched acclaimed historian Arnold Toynbee tell a late-night television host that once every great civilization and nation in history had started to lose its original spiritual... April 15, 2023

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Legislators’ attack In 1967 our state legislators serving with GOP Gov. Winthrop Rockefeller gave us a gift in what became known as the strongest Freedom of Information Act of any state.It was designed solely to protect ... April 11, 2023

On faith Happy Easter, everyone. There was a time not that long ago when this day was revered by many in Christianity as highly as Christmas.As a child and well into my own years as a father, this day meant dr... April 9, 2023

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Action at the Legislature Members of the Arkansas Senate Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs raised their collective voices for sunshine in the public interest last week when they defeated Rep. Mary Bentley&#3... April 8, 2023

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Secret meetings The Arkansas House of Representatives failed the good people of Arkansas last week by passing along to the Senate the most threatening attack ever on our vaunted Freedom of Information Act.Plainly put... April 4, 2023

Until they aren’t Readers know how I have often written lately about the increasing dangers to human well-being that large dogs can (and do) pose in Arkansas and across the nation.The Internet is filled with such accou... April 2, 2023

MASTERSON ONLINE: Not for sissies My initial thoughts after learning about the Discovery Channel's "Naked and Afraid" were along the lines of, "good grief, these desperate cable channels will scrape the floor."... April 1, 2023

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Life satisfaction How satisfied are you with where life has taken you? The subject came up in discussion with friends last week. Before that I'd never given it much thought.In reflection, I'd have to say my sat... March 28, 2023

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Killing FOIA The ongoing revision of Rep. Mary Bentley's once-defeated House Bill 1610, which caters to protecting special interests over the people's right to fully understand how their government functio... March 26, 2023

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Blessing or bane? "Precious memories, unseen angels, sent from somewhere to my soul ... in the stillness, of the midnight, precious sacred scenes unfold ... precious memories fill my soul."I sometimes feel pa... March 25, 2023

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Sale under fire The notoriously leaking North Arkansas Board of Regional Sanitation (NABORS) landfill, capped by the state nine years ago for serial violations and leaking leachate, is the focus of attention once aga... March 21, 2023

China visions I was on the back deck at home enjoying one of those rare warm afternoons in early March, listening to birds visiting and chimes dancing in the breeze.Soon I began imagining how Chinese government off... March 19, 2023

MASTERSON ONLINE: Even over sunlight? We've allowed ourselves to become so divided as a nation that we can't even agree on how much sunlight at what hour to allow into our days as the seasons change.This was on my mind as I roamed... March 18, 2023

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: No breed bans GOP House Bill 1519 with seven sponsors and co-sponsors would prohibit Arkansas municipalities from banning a breed or breeds of dogs a town's elected leaders believe are dangerous to public safet... March 14, 2023

In public interest Three important and necessary bills filed by Sen. Alan Clark of Lonsdale have been introduced in the Arkansas Senate. Each are needed to strengthen our Freedom of Information Act.They also symbolize g... March 12, 2023

MASTERSON ONLINE: Alliance versus Forest Service The Buffalo River Watershed Alliance is legally challenging the 2021 U.S. Forest Service finding that there would be no significant impact from its decision to approve the enormous Robert's Gap pr... March 11, 2023

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: All our fears What are your biggest fears? It appears from surveys our country has a slew of them.I fear the incompetence, extremism and corruption at the top of government, our failing school systems, media with p... March 7, 2023

Old man at bay Singer-songwriter Toby Keith once asked actor Clint Eastwood how he stayed so active and seemingly youthful at 88 years old. Eastwood's response: "I just get up every day and don't let th... March 5, 2023

MASTERSON ONLINE: Magazine cites hometown Our state thankfully has many vibrant and active small and midsized communities that serve their citizens and visitors well in many ways.Readers know how sold I am on my own hometown of Harrison becau... March 4, 2023

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Unrestrained dogs Unrestrained pit bulls belonging to San Antonio owners who were not held accountable for their dogs' previous biting attack did it again last week.Only this time, the animals used their sharp teet... February 28, 2023

Lacy and David Deborah Goff of Springdale wrote last week following my column about the choking death of David Cains after eating while under the control of staffers at the Booneville Human Development Center in 202... February 26, 2023

MASTERSON ONLINE: Cottages lifting families If your community is anything like mine in Harrison, there are many homeless mothers who can benefit enormously from receiving a leg up on regaining hope at a time when things appear bleakest.And you ... February 25, 2023

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Well-earned praise Those who follow this block of paragraphs in the newspaper three days a week know how taken Jeanetta and I have been with Dr. James Suen at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Ro... February 21, 2023

Brother’s keeper Christine McAuliffe loved her 42-year-old brother Davie Cains as much as a younger sister could adore a sibling, even though a severe intellectual disability had left him with the mentality of a young... February 19, 2023

MASTERSON ONLINE: Stuff of Hollywood James Dean Walker, a man whose controversial case occupied much of my reporting for the Arkansas Democrat during 1984-85, has died at age 82 following an illness in his hometown of Boise, Idaho, accor... February 18, 2023

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Welcome respite Dr. James Suen, the acclaimed ENT surgeon and author at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences who removed the squamous cell cancer from my neck seven weeks ago, arranged for Jeanetta and me ... February 14, 2023

Praise for Sarah I'm worried about you if you weren't as proud as I was to be an Arkansan after listening to Gov. Sarah Sanders deliver her rebuttal to President Joe Biden's predictable State of the Union ... February 12, 2023

MASTERSON ONLINE: About the balloon Several readers have written to ask my thoughts on the Communist Chinese "weather/spy" balloon that floated for days through the midsection of our homeland last week before finally being sho... February 11, 2023

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Having some fun What say we have some fun with a change of pace this morning (gosh knows I could surely use some after the year I've "enjoyed")?First, I challenge you to answer the following 25 true or ... February 7, 2023

One of the herd Mike Masterson is taking the day off. A version of this column was originally published Nov. 5, 2005.Ever notice how some among us quickly become uncomfortable with others who live their lives with in... February 5, 2023