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“We shape our buildings, and thereafter they shape us,” were the thoughts of Winston Churchill on the importance of architecture in a community. One architect’s imagination can shape a community. Architect Eugene Stern enjoyed a career that created many familiar sites across the state. In the process, one immigrant’s vision transformed the architectural landscape of Arkansas, creating some of the most iconic buildings standing in many communities across the state.

Eugene John Stern was born in October 1884 in Budapest in what was then Austria-Hungary. In late August 1888, the family undertook the long trek to America. His family was one of millions of Europeans leaving behind everything they knew for the promise of a better life in the United States.

Though coming from a modest Jewish background, the Sterns soon found success in their new country. Their father, Jacob, became an insurance agent and was able to provide private tutors for his six children.

Eugene Stern attended the Mechanics Institute in New York from 1900 to 1904 studying architecture. He formed a brief partnership with another architect in New York, which lasted from 1907 to 1908. Stern married in 1908, and his son, Howard, later became a noted physician and photographer in Little Rock.

His younger brother, Sydney Stern, became a noted commercial artist and advertising executive for Nabisco in New York City. In fact, he was responsible for the packaging design for Nabisco’s Barnum’s Animal Crackers in 1923 and the name and logo for Ritz Crackers in 1934.

In 1908, Stern moved to North Carolina where he became a partner in a noted firm with Oliver Wheeler. Wheeler, himself an immigrant, had developed a respected name for his work designing classical-style courthouses throughout the Carolinas. The two reportedly had a very amiable partnership, and Wheeler’s experience helped Stern grow as an architect. The firm of Wheeler and Stern operated through 1913 until Stern left for Arkansas.

Stern formed a partnership with George Mann, the architect for the Arkansas State Capitol. The partnership produced many impressive structures across Arkansas as well as hotels in Texas and Louisiana. Two early structures the firm designed included the Arkansas Bank and Trust Building in Newport in 1913 and the Riceland Hotel in Stuttgart in 1919. The firm also designed the spacious Arlington Hotel in Hot Springs in 1924, which was rebuilt and expanded after a fire. The hotel became a favorite for celebrities who vacationed in the city for many years.

The South Arkansas Oil Boom generated a great deal of wealth for El Dorado, and civic leaders looked to Mann and Stern to design new buildings for the new image of the growing city. In 1926, the firm designed what became known as the Exchange Bank building. The nine-story limestone building is the tallest in the city with colorful, decorative designs lining the top and an exterior limestone staircase that acts as a fire escape. For years, the building was the headquarters of Lion Oil and now houses First Financial Bank. The firm also designed a new county courthouse, which was completed in 1927 in El Dorado’s downtown square. A new city hall was completed at a cost of $125,000 (or about $2.1 million in 2022 dollars). All three limestone structures are within just a couple blocks of one another.

In 1927, Mann and Stern was awarded the ambitious project of designing the new Little Rock High School. It was to become the largest high school in the state. At $1.5 million (or $25.4 million in 2022 dollars), it was the most expensive school building ever built in Arkansas. The sprawling, Gothic Revival-style building was four stories high and immediately became a landmark. Community leaders envisioned the ornate high school as a symbol of the progress Arkansas had made and its vision for industrialization and technological development for the state in post-World War I America. When it was dedicated, some 20,000 people attended. It became known as Little Rock Central High School in 1953 and most notoriously gained national attention as the epicenter of the desegregation crisis in 1957 as nine African-American students attempted to attend. Today, the building still functions as a high school and guided tours are offered by the National Parks Service during school hours.

In spite of their many successes, by 1928, Stern’s partnership with Mann had unraveled. Stern, however, continued to develop projects across the state, including the YMCA building in downtown Little Rock in 1928. In 1929, Stern designed the Albert Pike Hotel in Little Rock. His practice expanded to include an office in Kansas City, Missouri, by the 1930s.

By 1951, Stern had largely retired from his work as an architect. He remarried following the divorce from his first wife and spent several years living in Mexico, doing the occasional architectural work.

Stern died in Little Rock in August 1961 at age 76. In the decades that followed, more than a dozen buildings he and his partners designed across Arkansas were placed on the National Register of Historic Places, forever enshrining their statuses as landmarks.

There is probably no better place in Arkansas to understand the practical realities of economic competition than Texarkana. Stand on State Line Avenue and the challenge is right in front of you. On one side is Texarkana, Arkansas. On the other is Texarkana, Texas.

The two cities share a name, a workforce and a regional economy. Our residents shop and work on both sides of the line. Our businesses serve many of the same customers, and our families benefit when the entire region succeeds.

In many respects, the two cities already function as one community. They are connected by the same regional highway network, including Interstate 30 and the interstate and federal routes serving the metropolitan area. The Texarkana Regional Airport is physically located on the Arkansas side but is governed by a regional authority with representatives from both Arkansas and Texas.

Students on both sides also benefit from crossborder tuition arrangements, although eligibility depends on the institution and applicable residency requirements. Even the difference in state income taxes is smaller than outsiders might assume. Texas does not impose a state individual income tax, and residents living within the city limits of Texarkana, Arkansas, qualify for Arkansas’s special border-city income-tax exemption These shared assets make Texarkana one regional community. But when a business decides where to invest within that community, location is only part of the equation. The tools available to local governments matter, too.

Texarkana, Texas, has developed a substantial economic-development toolbox. Its local leaders may consider tax abatements, infrastructure participation, fee waivers, enterprise-zone programs, tax exemptions, Chapter 380 agreements and tax increment reinvestment zones. Texas also allows cities to establish economicdevelopment corporations funded through voterapproved local sales taxes, providing another mechanism for financing certain development projects.

The history of those tools provides an important point of comparison. Texas enacted Chapter 380 of its Local Government Code in 1989, authorizing municipalities to establish programs involving loans and grants to promote state or local economic development. Texas’s broader Development Corporation Act dates to 1979.

Compare aerial images of Texarkana from 1989 and today, and the difference is striking. The images show substantial growth across the region, but they also reveal visibly different development patterns on the two sides of the state line.

Aerial photographs alone cannot prove what caused those differences. Infrastructure, geography, private-market decisions and other public policies all influence where development occurs. But the images illustrate why residents should examine whether the economic-development tools available to each city also affected investment during those three decades.

Those tools are not merely theoretical. Texarkana, Texas, has documented active recruitment and development efforts. In 2025, the city reported 42 business-development activities involving prospective investments totaling as much as $220 million and potentially 700 jobs at full capacity.

That does not mean every business chooses Texas, or that every incentive produces a successful project. It does demonstrate that economic competition is real and that communities use different tools to compete.

Arkansas communities currently have no local options for this kind of development. The University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service’s neutral explanation of Issue 3 notes that Arkansas is among the states that do not have certain local sales-tax rebates or abatements commonly used elsewhere to encourage private investment.

For Texarkana, that difference is impossible to ignore. We are not competing with a distant city that has a different workforce, transportation network or market. We are competing with the community immediately across the street.

Issue 3 would establish a constitutional framework for the General Assembly to authorize cities to create economic development districts within cities, counties or cooperative areas. It would authorize financing mechanisms for qualifying projects, subject to local approval the law would require.

The question is not whether every project deserves an incentive. It does not. The question is whether Arkansas communities should have the ability to make targeted decisions about investments they believe will strengthen their own economies. We do.

That matters because economic development is not only about landing a large company. It can mean improving infrastructure, supporting entrepreneurs, strengthening commercial districts and making existing neighborhoods more attractive for investment. Ultimately, it is about workers seeking good opportunities, families building their lives here and communities working to grow and thrive.

Texarkana, Arkansas, does not need to become Texarkana, Texas. But our side of the state line should be able to compete when the right opportunity comes along. Giving Arkansas communities additional tools would not guarantee that every project locates here. It would give local leaders another option to consider based on local priorities and circumstances.

The practical discussion for Texarkana is simple: What tools do we have today? What tools does the other side of State Line Avenue have? What additional options might Arkansas communities need to compete?

Those are not Republican questions or Democratic questions. They are Arkansas questions.

We may approach many public issues from different perspectives, but we share a commitment to the future of Miller County. For a community sitting directly across the state line from a city that already has these options, the ability to compete deserves serious consideration. We believe Issue 3 gives Arkansas voters an opportunity to provide that ability.

Ingredients: If you have homemade sauces, use them.

1 lb. ground beef 1/2 lb. ground sausage 1 large or 2 small cans of diced tomatoes 3 fresh carrots, sliced 1 onion, diced 1 bell pepper, diced 3 potatoes, diced 2 cans tomato sauce 1 can green beans 1 can whole kernel corn Beef broth Salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder to taste Start by browning your ground meats in a large stock pot or boiler with the onion and bell pepper. Drain the grease. Add everything but the green beans and corn. After adding the sauce, fill with beef broth until it covers the soup. Bring to a boil, boil for 10 minutes, lower the heat to simmer. Cover with a lid and simmer for an additional 20 minutes. Add the beans and corn to it. Cover again and simmer for at least 30 minutes. I like to let mine simmer for over an hour and move to the warmer until ready to serve.

Pair this cozy soup with cornbread. This soup is easy and customizable. Make it your own! I have many more recipes for beef vegetable soup but this one is classic.

ENJOY!

Deuteronomy 11:14 "then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine, and olive oil"

Fall Break Fragments

FYI: It’s fall break for me and my brain is recharging, not producing.

It’s been a tough year for the football Bulldogs, but keep supporting the players. So often we hear talk about how athletics help build character, life skills like team work, perseverance, courage, etc., but abandon the team if they are not winning. That abandonment only teaches that all those other aspect do not matter, just the winning. Sometimes in life, we go through a time we aren’t winning and we learn how strong we really are and recover.

I also know the team that won last Friday against the Bulldogs has been there — and lost to Hampton last year! Keep your heads up, Bulldogs! Don’t tuck tail and run under the porch!

——— And the Hampton School District had to put this out on Facebook: Correction regarding recent news reports: If you have seen a news story claiming that a Calhoun County School District bus caught on fire in Calhoun County, Arkansas, please be assured that this report is incorrect.

There was no school bus fire in Calhoun County, Arkansas. The incident actually occurred in Mississippi. We have already contacted the news stations involved, and they are working to remove or correct the inaccurate information shortly.

Somehow someone read some news but forgot to read all the words. Big clue —it’s Hampton School District, not Calhoun County School District. Had the reporter, or whoever, had called to verify and ask more details they would have found out where it really happened. Or maybe AI wrote it for them. Not professional journalism at all.

——— Did you get your personal property taxes got paid by October 15! Nobody likes taxes, but imagine your community without them. Still, it’s the American way to keep tabs on how those revenues are spent. Hmm, I better log on before midnight… ——— Hope you got registered to vote by the deadline. If you don’t vote, you don’t get to complain about anything. It’s your license to gripe. As with any licensed people, some commit malpractice through total lack of proof and prolific use of logical fallacies.

——— I like summer, but this last one was ridiculously hot, and this little dip in temperatures for Fake Fall certainly will be a relief. The temperature extremes reminds me of a childhood trip to Oklahoma one summer in a non-air conditioned car. It was so hot, even with the windows down and we were cooking. I think the temperature by the time we got to Ponca City I think it was 106. That night it dropped into the 50s or 60s! Momma didn’t pack for two seasons! ’Twas a chilly morning for us.

Then when we got in the car to head home a few days later, we realized that somehow the car heater lever had been ON the whole trip out!

——— I’m notorious in all my social circles for being cold when it dips below 73 degrees. Grown Child showed me an article discussing discovery that “people of Celtic descent often have a higher density of cold-sensitive nerve receptors, and a vascular system that responds more dramatically to temperature drops. “

Now, all y’all quit making fun of me in my fleece!

Even though our Calhoun County Tomlinson story starts long before in Ireland, we’ll start this story in Iredell County, North Carolina. Perry Tomlinson was born to John Tomlinson, Jr. and Sarah “Sallie” Lovelace Tomlinson on May 7, 1824. He was their second child. He grew up in a small community much like Calhoun County’s communities. Everyone knew each other and was “kin” to most.

John, the seventh child of “Jackie” and Tabitha Tomlinson, was born September 12, 1798, in Iredell County, North Carolina. Sallie was born in August of 1802, the daughter of Eramus “Ras” and Lydia Lovelace and the granddaughter of Charles and Catherine Beall Lovelace. By tradition Sallie married John at 13 years old. He and Sallie settled and reared their family south of the Clarksburg Methodist Church and east of the Ben Albea Place, three miles east of Harmony, North Carolina. They were the parents of Humphrey in 1820, Perry in 1824, Wilson L. 1826, Wade Franklin 1828, Robert, Adolphus R. 1844, Drucella, and Tabitha. John died July 1, 1855, and Sallie died on February 6, 1864. They are both buried in the Mt. Bethel Methodist Church Cemetery.

Perry married his first cousin Elizabeth Emmaline Gaither on July 29, 1847, in Iredale County. She was born on October 21, 1823, in Iredale County, the daughter of Enos Gaither and Elizabeth Tomlinson Gaither (married October 9, 1817). Enos Gaither was the son of Jeremiah (c.1762-1815) and Eleanor Lovelace Gaither (d. C. 1800) and the grandson of Captain John Gaither (1713 – 1784). Elizabeth Tomlinson was the daughter of John "Jackie” Tomlinson (1768 – 1848) and Tabitha Summer Tomlinson (1770 – 1858). Perry’s father John Tomlinson and Emmaline’s mother Elizabeth Tomlinson Gaither were brother and sister making Perry and Emmaline first cousins. After they were married, they headed to Chambers County, Alabama, with Perry’s younger brother, Wade Franklin. They lived there for seven years and moved on to Calhoun County, Arkansas, in 1854, stopping to make their home in Chambersville.

Perry was a farmer and tanner, and once in Calhoun County, he developed a leather tanning business near Acruman’s Woolen Mill and Doctor Atkinson’s. During the War Between the States, he sewed shoes and leather for the confederate Army and had a contract with them for hides. He was also appointed to the Home Guard for Moro Township on October 31, 1861, and also appointed to the Patrol for Moro Township on March 17, 1862, for four months.

Perry died of typhoid fever on December 29, 1881, at his home in Calhoun County. Emmaline died September 16, 1898. Both are buried at Means Union Church Cemetery in Calhoun County, Arkansas.

Source: ancestry; South Arkansas Sun, August 21, from article “Tomlinson Family of Calhoun County Arkansas” by William Tomlinson “Tommy” Carter; Family History by Kathryn Nistendirk; findagrave; hand drawn map of Chambersville; Rowan County and Iredell County, North Carolina and Calhoun County records and wills; Tomlinson family Bibles; research data from various personal research

• Truth to Power: A Luke Cage Marvel Crime Novel by S.A. Cosby 

• Off the Reservation by Stephen Graham Jones

• Partita by Barbara Kingsolver 

• The Witch by Freida McFadden 

Devotional Fiction

• Nothing But Air (Summer Rangers, vol. 3) by Susan May Warren and Tari Faris 

• Return to the Shack by William Paul Young 

Graphic Novels

• Something is Killing the Children, vol. 2 by James Tynion IV 

• Worldtr33, vol. 3 by James Tynion IV

Garrett Clontz Ni'marah Cross

October 16

Stormy Rinehart

October 17 Nathan Cook

October 18

Demetris White

October 19 Brock Harris Elizabeth Miller

October 20

Autumn Gorman Zoie Partain

—IMPORTANT NOTE— Its very likely a name has changed or person has deceased, PLEASE let us know of changes and forgive any errors.

(870)798-3786 or email at CalhounCountyNews@gmail.com

Take a look at their main website (liheapch.acf.gov) and look up the specifics for your state. Click on "State Snapshots" to find information on the minimum and maximum available per person, the total funding for your state and more. While the application process can be cumbersome (lots of paperwork and numbers to provide), it can be worth it.

Have you applied for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for help with buying groceries? At this writing, the work requirements are changing. It used to be that those under age 54 must do some amount of work each month, approximately 20 hours per week. Now it's changing and the cutoff is age 64 -- below that age, you must work or volunteer. It's worth checking into because even one person, depending on income, can get approximately $300 per month.

As is typical with any program, applying can be complicated. Start with the SNAP directory (www.fna. usda.gov/snap/state-directory) to find your state's information. You'll likely need documents such as utility bills, proof of identity and more.

Call churches in your area to ask if they have a food bank. (It doesn't matter if you don't attend a particular church they probably won't ask.)

Take advantage of the loyalty programs at your local grocery stores. Watch the sales flyers to help you decide where to shop each week and keep a small notebook with a list of the prices you usually pay. Find out if your stores have senior hours where groceries can be as much as 10% off.

Saving money can mean a bit of work, but it's worth it!

(c) 2026 King Features Synd., Inc.

Check On Your Buddies Grab your calendar, including the new one for 2027, and on the 22nd of every month through the year, make a note for that day: Buddy Check.

The reason: veteran suicides.

The VA has taken major steps to address veteran suicides. Last year alone they fielded 1.3 million chats, texts and calls to the Veterans Crisis Line. They've launched Risk ID, a program that evaluates veterans and spots the red flags for at-risk veterans. They've spent millions on grants for suicide prevention programs.

But they can't do everything.

Buddy Check 22 was started years ago as a reminder that the rate of veteran suicides was shockingly high -- the latest report indicates that we're still losing 17 veterans per day to suicide — but we can do something about it. And that includes you.

The note on your calendar will be your reminder to reach out to another veteran and check in. It's not hard. You can give them a call and ask how they're doing. You can send a text message saying you're thinking about them. You can invite them out for coffee or lunch. You can stop by and take a tray of coffee and donuts to snack on while you get caught up.

Pull in your friends, too. Enlist their help in expanding the list of veterans that are contacted every month.

If something doesn't sound (or feel) right when you check on a fellow veteran, you can provide resources for help.

To learn more about Buddy Check 22, see www. militaryveteranproject.org/ buddycheck22.

Take a look at the American Legion's Buddy Check information (www.legion.org/ advocacy/be-the-one/buddycheck). Learn how to spot the danger signs and what to do about it.

Keep this information below in your wallet for when you need to support another veteran: VA Crisis Line number: Dial 800-273-8255, then press 1. (Or dial 988.) Open 24/7.

Veteranscrisisline.net: Chat online or send a text to 838255.

As a reminder, you don't need to be enrolled in VA healthcare to get help there.

(c) 2026 King Features Synd., Inc.

I went to a meeting about Issue 3 in Malvern ready to oppose it. I left seeing a possibility for our community that I had not considered. As a firefighter, I have heard stories from colleagues in other states about incentives that brought a company to town, only for that company to leave when the incentives ran out. When the jobs and revenue disappeared, the community was left with a hole in its budget. Cuts to services, staffing or employee benefits could follow. I did not want to invite that risk into the city I serve.

I listened closely at the meeting, waiting to hear the proposal that would confirm my concerns. Instead, the presenters described an approach in which a developer would have to open and operate a project before receiving support tied to the new tax revenue it generated. That was different from the deals I had worried about. It made me think about what another economic development tool might mean for Malvern.

Our community knows what it is like to lose a major employer. When Reynolds Metals’ Jones Mill operation closed, it left a lasting gap in the local economy. Since then, I have heard people say that Malvern and Hot Spring County have what we need to grow. We have invested in infrastructure. We have rail access, Interstate 30, major highways and land available for development. Access to the Ouachita River and nearby attractions also supports a growing tourism economy. Yet attracting the right projects remains a challenge.

After the meeting, I did more research. Other states use versions of this kind of economic development tool, and I found examples of Texas communities much like ours pursuing projects with it. Those examples do not guarantee that a project will come to Malvern. They did persuade me that we should consider giving our communities the option.

What matters most to me is local control and a clear agreement. Local leaders should decide whether a proposed project fits their community, ask hard questions and set terms that protect the public interest. Residents should have a meaningful opportunity to weigh in. In my view, any incentive should depend on the new revenue a project actually produces, so a community does not have to take money from its existing budget to make a speculative promise.

Why does a fire chief care so much about economic development? Because when a city grows, the demand for public safety grows with it. The Malvern Fire Department takes pride in doing a great deal with limited resources. I want us to be ready to serve a stronger, growing city. Thoughtful development could help expand the resources available for public services over time, without asking residents to fund every improvement on their own or relying solely on competitive grants.

A yes vote on Issue 3 would not choose a project for Malvern or any other Arkansas community. It would give local governments and economic development leaders another option to consider, with the responsibility to use it wisely. I began this conversation as a hard no. After listening, asking questions and looking into it for myself, I am voting yes.

Created under Act 264 of 1949, the council was designed to gather information for future laws and to keep the machinery of state government running between legislative sessions. Today, it functions as the legislature’s organizing and oversight hub. It manages studies, monitors executive actions, and guides the work of dozens of interim committees.

The council is composed of 36 regular members, 20 from the House and 16 from the Senate, along with 24 ex-officio voting members and five non-voting ex-officio members. These ex-officio positions include some of the Legislature’s top leaders, such as the Speaker of the House and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, as well as past Committee co-chairmen and leaders of the Legislative Council. Their involvement helps the broader legislative body stay connected to the committee's work and allows the committee to utilize the ex-officio members' particular areas of expertise. Experienced leaders can be a part of critical debates.

In recent meetings, the ALC considered the following items, among others: Reviewed a report that called for the state to consolidate its workforce and welfare programs into the oversight of one state agency.

Approved a request to bolster the state’s Medicaid by $200 million in one-time state funds. This patched a deficit in Medicaid following a sudden $400 million spike in insurance claims. The legislature is coordinating with Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ administration to secure a two-year extension for alternative healthcare structuring under what is now the ARHOME Medicaid program. The state recently received information from the federal government that the program will be rejected under new stricter budget neutrality rules under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

Released $70 million in reserve funds for Educational Freedom Accounts.

Lawmakers had set aside the one-time funds in this year’s fiscal session.

Advanced a nearly $150 million, year-long extension to the Department of Correction’s contract with Wellpath LLC for inmate medical services Discussed surveillance procedures on private property with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.

Gave final approval to Medicaid reimbursements for doulas and lactation consultants Discussed data centers with representatives from Google and Entergy. Google is currently building a large data center in West Memphis and has purchased 384 acres for a potential second site at the Port of Little Rock. AVAIO, Serverfarm, and others have also announced data center projects in the state.

You can get more details of the above and watch the archived meetings at https:// arkleg. state, ar.us.

The ALC will continue to meet this fall. The ALC Joint Budget Committee meets this month to review state agency budget requests ahead of the next legislative session, which begins January 11, 2027.

* On Oct. 20, 1910, the cork-centered baseball, invented and patented by Benjamin F. Shibe, executive director and part owner of the Philadelphia Athletics, made its debut in the World Series between the Athletics and the Chicago Cubs.

* On Oct. 21, 1867, the Medicine Lodge Treaty was signed. Consisting of three treaties following talks attended by more than 5,000 prominent chiefs and warriors near Medicine Lodge, Kansas, its aim was to bring peace by relocating Native Americans to reservations in Indian Territory.

* On Oct. 22, 2018, actress Selma Blair revealed that she’d been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. In her book “Mean Baby: A Memoir of Growing Up,” Blair recounted how the announcement by doctors, after years of incorrectly attributed symptoms, “felt like giving birth” and gave her an overwhelming sense of relief.

* On Oct. 23, 1947, Gerty and Carl Cori became the first spouses to win a joint Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, for their discovery of how the body breaks down, builds up and stores glycogen as an energy source.

* On Oct. 24, 1901, her 63rd birthday, widowed American schoolteacher Annie Edson Taylor became the first person to survive a plunge over Niagara Falls in a barrel, accompanied by her lucky heart-shaped pillow. Sadly, while she wrote a memoir and briefly earned money talking about her experience, she ended up dying penniless and in poor health at age 82.

* On Oct. 25, 1920, Greece’s King Alexander died at age 27 from wounds he received after a Barbary macaque attacked and bit him several times a few weeks earlier, as he walked on the grounds outside the castle with his dog. The monkey had first gone after the dog, and the king had stepped in to separate the animals.

(c) 2026 King Features Synd., Inc.

When I look at eternity, all these things on earth will one day pass away. Jesus is the only one that really matters because our eternity lies in His hands. If we choose to live for Him, our eternity will be in Heaven where there is joy and happiness, no more troubles, sickness nothing but everlasting peace with the Father. If we choose to live the life of the world, our eternity will be in Hell, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, eternal torment and pain that won’t go away.

So, what really matters? In Luke Chapter 16: 19-23 is the story of the rich man and Lazarus. There was a rich man clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. There was also a poor beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. The dogs came and licked his sores. The beggar died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried and in torment in Hades he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom. You see; this rich man had an abundance of money and could have paid for the poor beggar to be cared for. He could have given him a place to stay and had his own servants care for him every day but he was so consumed with himself that he would not help Lazarus. He ignored him every day walking right by him and never helping him at all. What mattered most to this rich man? His money and prestige in the community was his life. If he would have helped the Lazarus, no telling what God would have blessed him with even more.

One day, the rich man woke up in Hades/Hell, tormented by the flames begging God to send Lazarus to talk to his brothers so they would not come to this place. Now, what mattered the most to the rich man. Now it was too late to get his priorities in the right place. Maybe we need to take an inventory of ourselves and see what really matters most to us.

Nehemiah faced a moment when he had to respond quickly. For months, he had prayed about Jerusalem’s broken walls and asked God to give him favor with the king. Then the opportunity came. King Artaxerxes noticed Nehemiah’s sadness and asked what he wanted.

Nehemiah 2:4 says, “Then the king said to me, ‘What are you requesting?’ So I prayed to the God of heaven.” Nehemiah didn’t have time to leave the room, kneel, or spend an hour in prayer. He only had a few seconds between the king’s question and his answer, but that was enough time to turn to God. Nehemiah’s short prayer wasn’t a last-minute effort to reach out to a distant God. Prayer was already a regular part of his life. That habit did not remove the pressure, but it shaped how he faced it. When the pressure came, turning to God was his first response.

Sometimes this kind of prayer is called an “arrow prayer.” It’s a quick prayer sent to God right in the middle of whatever is happening. It could be as simple as, “Lord, give me wisdom,” “Help me control my anger,” or “Show me what to say.” Taking a moment to ask God for help can save us from a lot of regret later.

We can pray this way during a tense conversation, before answering an upsetting message, or when someone asks an unexpected question. That moment of prayer gives us time to surrender our emotions and remember whom our words should honor. We may still need to give a difficult answer, but we can give it with wisdom, truth, and self-control.

Prayer didn’t stop Nehemiah from speaking to the king. After he prayed, he answered clearly and directly. Prayer wasn’t a way to avoid the conversation or put off doing what was right. Instead, it helped Nehemiah respond with courage and wisdom. Before we answer, we should ask God to guide our words.

I know I won’t always get this right. My mouth will probably get ahead of my brain again. But I’m learning that the pause between hearing something and responding isn’t empty space. It is an opportunity to pray, surrender my emotions, and ask God for wisdom.

Nehemiah’s prayer may have lasted only a few seconds, but it prepared him for an important moment. The next time you feel pressured to respond immediately, remember that you don’t have to let your emotions speak first. Before the words leave your mouth or your finger hits send, pause long enough to pray. A few seconds with God may save you from words you cannot take back.

Perhaps these biblical thoughts may help you live to be 117: "Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: 'It is mine to avenge; I will repay,' says the Lord."

— (Romans 12:17–19) Think on these thoughts, and maybe you will live to be 117!

The Cotton Belt Lumber Company Mill at Best, Arkansas, near Bearden, was erected in 1885 and was served by the St. Louis Southwestern Railway Company. The tracks and equipment which the lumber company constructed and acquired for hauling logs to its mill were changed over to a railroad corporation which was chartered with the state in June of 1904. It was named the Bearden & Ouachita River Railroad Company. The new corporation was formed by the Cotton Belt Lumber Company for financial reasons and its capital stock of $28,000 was divided among the stockholders of the lumber company. The directors at the time of the charter were J. B. Bachelor, Valley Falls, Kansas; L. A. Best, Kansas City; J. H. Beland; H. C. Homeyer; and A. F. Hooch of Bearden, Arkansas.

The tracks of the line went from the mill at Best in Ouachita County straight south for a distance of about 14 miles to a point known as Caney in Calhoun County. From Caney, logging spurs extended into the woods in different directions. The equipment of the Company was one box car, fifty logging cars, and three locomotives, two of which were used by the lumber company for the movement of carloads of logs over the unincorporated spurs to Caney. From that point the logs were hauled by the railroad to the mill. More than 95% of the freight was logs for the lumber company. The Bearden & Ouachita River Railroad made a small charge to the lumber company to cover the use of the locomotives and logging cars on the spurs in the woods and for unloading the logs at the mill. Other merchandise hauled, such as cotton, fertilizer, feed or supplies, paid a local rate. There was one train daily in each direction on which passengers were permitted to ride without charge. The employees consisted of one train crew and one gang of track men. The woods foreman of the lumber company acted as agent for the station at Caney.

There was a plan for the track to go farther and connect with the Ouachita Valley Railway, and later to go on to the Ouachita River. At least part of the roadbed for the extended track was finished but there is no record of tracks ever being laid past Caney.

The Cotton Belt Lumber Company cut all the timber on the land that they owned and sold out to Stout Lumber Company in 1912. Stout formally took over the mill at Best on June 1 of that year. In May of 1912, the property where the mill at Caney was located was transferred to the stockholders of the Cotton Belt Lumber Company with the Lumber Company retaining the right to logging roads, trams and railroads. The property was sold in 1917 with Stout Lumber Company retaining the same rights. The Bearden & Ouachita River Railway Company remained in service until the 1920s.

The Museum has two bottles found on the property where the logging mill was probably located. There have also been railroad spikes, parts of the track, what appeared to have been a place where coal was unloaded, pieces of broken dishes and some old coins. The picture is of some of the bottles and coins found at the location.

Source: ttarchive.com (Texas Transportation Archive) abstracted from “Tap Line Case”, published in Decisions of the Interstate Commerce Commission, and in Decisions of the United States Supreme Court; Arkansas Democrat, Fri. Jun. 3, 1904, pg. 8; Pine Bluff Daily Graphic, May 16, 1912, Thurs. Pg. 6; Abstract for Land

The regional auction drew 97 registered bidders, who purchased 93 of 140 available parcels for $366,206.68. Results were as follows: Union County: 103 parcels offered; 63parcels sold; $144,317.97 total; $42,392.12 taxes collected Calhoun County: 11 parcels offered; 9 parcels sold; $16,093.74 total; $5,314.57 taxes collected Columbia County: 26 parcels offered; 21parcels sold; $175,794.97 total; $14,534.31 taxes collected The auctions offered real estate parcels with taxes delinquent since 2021.

“Most owners redeem their property by paying the delinquent taxes; we only auction a fraction of the parcels certified for delinquent taxes,” Commissioner Tommy Land said. “Of course, we hope property is redeemed if the owners want to keep it, but it is vital that the parcels return to the county’s active tax rolls.”

The COSL office disburses taxes and interest to the county, whether that money is collected through redemption or sale.

“Last year, the Commissioner of State Lands Office sent more than $24 million to school districts and county governments,” Land said. “Of that, $528,498.02 went to these three counties, helping fund everything from roads to schools.”

Those turnback amounts were: Union County: $382,576.09 Calhoun County: $19,639.61 ColumbiaCounty: $126,282.32 Auction sales are final. Unsold parcels may be redeemed online at www. cosl.org, using a credit or debit card, or owners can call 501-324-9422 to request a Petition to Redeem. Redemption does not grant ownership; it simply makes the taxes current.

Parcels that did not sell at the public auction will be available after 30 days and can be purchased through an online auction by viewing the Post-Auction Sales List at www.cosl.org.

LITTLE ROCK – Attorney General Tim Griffin issued the following statement announcing that a federal district court has terminated the consent decrees that had restricted some students from transferring based on the color of their skin: “For decades, federal district court judges have maintained and expanded consent decrees that ban white Camden-Fairview students from transferring to Harmony Grove without special permission, while allowing Camden-Fairview students of every other skin color to do so and allowing all students in other districts to do so. We asked the court to terminate the consent decrees, arguing that the white-student transfer ban interferes with the State’s chosen policy of education freedom, exceeds the court’s authority, and violates the Constitution by denying a group of schoolchildren educational opportunities solely because of the color of their skin. This week, the district court granted our motion and terminated the consent decrees.

“I applaud this decision, which will further empower parents to make the education-freedom decision that’s best for their family regardless of skin color. For example, the intervenors will be able to send their daughter to the public school that is best for their family, which is the public school where both her grandmothers work.”

Every couple years there are poll after poll after poll. Each poll gives a different outcome. Just keep looking and you'll find one you like and agree with.

The voters generally don't care about the polls, unless it's their candidate winning. The candidates like to know in advance if they are going to win or not. I suppose there is some algorithms that help candidates what to say to get elected. If you ask the question right you can get the answer you want to here... that the other side is losing.

If I have time, I will answer a poll, local ones primarily. It's fun to help them ask the question right instead of giving them what they want.

Bottom line, everyone should vote whether or not you side is winning or not. I would like to see polling stop a few days before the election and let everyone go vote and see how it really comes out.

M INUTE

The twentieth century in the United States was marked by incredible progress in science, transforming a nation of farmers spending their lives working with their animals and the strength in their hands into a technological powerhouse where electricity, computers, instantaneous communications, and high-tech machinery are indispensable to every facet of life. These achievements were due to the work of men and women in numerous fields. It was also in the last century that women were able to make significant contributions to science in large numbers for the first time. One of those pioneers in scientific research and leadership was chemist Mary L. Good.

Her story began in Grapevine, Texas, then a tiny farming community just northeast of Fort Worth. She was born Mary Lowe in 1931, one of four children to a husband-and-wife team of educators. Since education was the family business, its importance was never lost on her as her parents encouraged her to study and eventually go to college. In 1942, at the age of 11, her father, John Lowe, accepted a job as a school principal in Kirby, a small community west of Arkadelphia. After a few years, the family moved again to Willisville in neighboring Nevada County. As a youngster, she set up her own photo development lab in her home, with no experience and no one to teach her. “I’ve never been afraid to do new things,” she said in an interview.

After she graduated high school in Willisville, she enrolled at Arkansas State Teacher’s College in Conway (the modern University of Central Arkansas) with hopes of becoming a teacher like her parents. She soon discovered chemistry, a subject her poor, rural high school did not have the resources to offer and quickly changed her major. She graduated with a degree in chemistry at the age of 19 in 1950. She then enrolled in graduate school at the University of Arkansas where she married fellow graduate student and lab partner Billy Good in 1952. She earned a masters degree in 1953. At the time, she began researching the use of radioactive iodine in the use of treating thyroid conditions.

While completing her doctorate at the University of Arkansas, she accepted a position as a chemistry professor and director of the radiochemistry lab, working with radioactive substances, at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. She received her doctorate in 1955. In 1958, she and her husband were both offered positions as chemistry professors at LSUNew Orleans. She published dozens of academic articles and became a respected authority on spectroscopy, the study of chemicals, their composition, and their interactions by analyzing their light patterns.

In 1972, Good became the first woman appointed to the respected American Chemical Society. The university honored her by naming her the Boyd Professor of Chemistry in 1974, the highest honor the university had to offer and the first woman to receive the honor.

She steadily gained attention outside the university. In 1980, President Jimmy Carter named her as the first woman to head the National Science Foundation. In 1981, she accepted a position as vicepresident of technology at Signal Research Center where she and her team researched the potential consumer applications of the newly emerging Global Positioning System. By 1987, her fellow chemists named her president of the American Chemical Society. And in 1991, she was named to the presidential Council of Advisors on Science and Technology by President George H. W. Bush.

With yet another change in administration, she was still in high demand. President Bill Clinton named Good as Undersecretary of Commerce for Technology in 1993. While in the Clinton administration, she encouraged more cooperation between colleges, business, and government for pursuing new technology. She was also part of the initiative encouraging the development of hybrid fuel technology for automobiles to reduce reliance on oil.

At the age of 66 in 1997, she returned to Arkansas and accepted a new position as a chemistry professor at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. She was soon named Founding Dean of the George W. Donaghey College of Engineering and Information Technology, helping to oversee construction of a new $35 million research and classroom building on the UALR campus.

Good received the Priestley Medal in 1997 from the American Chemical Society, the first woman so honored. She was also elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1999, and she also received the Vannevar Bush Award from the National Science Foundation in 2004 in recognition of her work and leadership. Good retired in 2011. She continued to receive many honors in her retirement as one of the first twelve women inducted in the Arkansas Women’s Hall of Fame in Little Rock in 2015. Shecontinuestostay active and advises, “Do the best you can with what’s available… be willing to take a chance.”

She died quietly at her home in Little Rock in 2019 at age 88.

* On Oct. 13, 1925, groundbreaking stand-up comedian Lenny Bruce, whose freewheeling and profanity-laced routines on taboo topics notably attacked societal conventions and occasionally resulted in arrests, was born in Mineola, New York.

* On Oct. 14, 1892, “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes” by Arthur Conan Doyle was published. The book was the first collection of Holmes stories, which had been published in magazines since 1887. Its titular detective was partly inspired by Dr. Joseph Bell, whom Conan Doyle had met at the University of Edinburgh when he studied medicine there.

* On Oct. 15, 2024, researchers announced seven new species of tree frogs in Madagascar whose high-pitched whistling calls were reminiscent of sound effects from the sci-fi series “Star Trek,” prompting the monikers Kirk, Picard, Sisko, Janeway, Archer, Burnham and Pike.

* On Oct. 16, 1906, German shoemaker Wilhelm Voight, who already had a long criminal record, embarrassed the German army by impersonating an officer and leading an entire squad of soldiers to the town of Kopenik, where they helped him steal 4,000 marks from the mayor’s office.

* On Oct. 17, 1974, President Gerald Ford explained to Congress that he had chosen to pardon Richard Nixon, rather than allow Congress to pursue legal action against him, claiming that a long, drawn-out trial would have further polarized the public -- a decision that was condemned by many and may have helped cost Ford a victory in the presidential election of 1976.

* On Oct. 18, 1963, Félicette, a Parisian stray cat, had the honor of becoming the first (and to date the only) cat to visit outer space. The black-andwhite feline’s journey lasted 98 miles and a grand total of 13 minutes before her capsule safely parachuted back to Earth.

(c) 2026 King Features Synd., Inc.

I have spent much of my career working to help Hot Springs and Garland County do exactly that. We have worked to attract new businesses, help existing businesses grow, revitalize downtown, develop our workforce and diversify our economy.

And through that work, I have learned an important lesson: having a good community is not always enough. You also need the tools to compete.

Today, Arkansas communities are competing for jobs and investment against communities in 49 other states.

When a company considers where to expand or locate, it looks at everything. Workforce. Infrastructure. Transportation. Quality of life. Available sites. And, increasingly, what a community can do to help make a project possible.

That puts Arkansas communities in a difficult position when our competitors have economic-development tools that we do not. All to often, when talking with business prospects from out of state, the conversation stops when they learn we don’t have local incentives to offer. Business are used to receiving tax breaks for significant investment and development and all of our neighboring states happily accommodate that. Investment goes where it gets its best return.

We should not expect Arkansas communities to compete with one arm tied behind their back.

Arkansans understand the importance of adapting to changing economic conditions. Our communities have reinvented themselves before, and we continue to do so today.

In Hot Springs, economic development has meant more than recruiting a large manufacturer. It has meant supporting entrepreneurs, bringing new businesses downtown, developing workforce partnerships and creating an environment where businesses can grow. The Hot Springs Metro Partnership's mission is to retain, expand and attract higher-paying jobs while diversifying the regional economy and increasing investment.

That work requires local leaders to have options.

That is why Issue 3 deserves consideration.

Issue 3 would amend the Arkansas Constitution to give the General Assembly authority to establish economicdevelopment districts within cities, counties or cooperative areas and to create economicdevelopment programs.

Importantly, Issue 3 does not select which businesses receive assistance. It does not tell Hot Springs what projects to pursue. And it does not automatically create an economic-development district anywhere in Arkansas.

Instead, it would provide the constitutional authority for the Legislature to establish a framework that could give communities additional tools to compete.

We're not asking the state to pick winners. We're asking Arkansas communities to have the ability to compete.

That distinction matters. Economic development works best when decisions are made by people who understand the community.

Local leaders know where infrastructure needs to be improved. They know which areas are ready for investment. They know what businesses are already operating in their communities and what kinds of jobs their workforce is prepared to support.

Those decisions should not be one-size-fits-all.

Of course, additional tools should come with appropriate accountability. Any future e c onomi c - d e v e lopment district program should have clear rules, transparency and safeguards. Communities should be able to explain the public purpose of a project and demonstrate why an investment makes sense.

We can have accountability and competitiveness at the same time.

In fact, we need both. The reality is that economic opportunities do not wait for us.

When an employer is considering two states for a new facility, the community that can provide the infrastructure or development framework necessary to make the project work has the advantage.

We should not make Arkansas communities start the conversation by explaining what they cannot do.

We should be able to explain what we can do.

Arkansas has the assets to compete. We have hardworking people, strong businesses, natural resources, transportation infrastructure and communities that are committed to their future.

But economic development is a team sport. It takes businesses, local governments, chambers, educators and community leaders working together—and it takes the tools necessary to turn good opportunities into real projects.

Issue 3 would give the Legislature the opportunity to build that framework.

It would not dictate what every community must do. It would not guarantee that every project succeeds. It would simply give Arkansas the ability to provide communities with another tool in the economicdevelopment toolbox.

That's an opportunity worth having.

We are not asking Little Rock to decide which communities should grow or which businesses should succeed.

We're asking Arkansas communities to have the ability to compete.

Arkansas has never been afraid of a challenge. We should not be afraid to give our communities the tools to meet it.

We are competing with 49 other states. Arkansas communities should not have to do it with one arm tied behind their back.

We are all living full lives and our schedules are full but we must not let ourself get so busy that we leave God out. He is the best friend you and I will ever have. He sees us and knows everything about us. His love for you and I is beyond our comprehension. Heaven is going to be so awesome. We can’t imagine what it is going to be like, but if God created this wonderful earth with all its beauty for us, what has he prepared to us in Heaven. Imagine living in complete peace for eternity. No more sickness, pain or death. No more troubles of any kind because sin is not going to be there. Sin is what caused all the problems/ sicknesses that you and I deal with. That will all be over with.

When we get to Heaven, there won’t be any looking back and remembering the good old days because the good old days won’t end in Heaven. We will have time to visit our neighbors. Things won’t change up there. People won’t die and others take their place. We will live forever, living in the presence of God. What an awesome atmosphere that will be. We can thank Jesus for what we have waiting on us because it was Him who went to the cross and suffered so that we can have this hope of eternal life.

If you haven’t made Jesus your Savior, today is the day. Make your preparations to meet Him.

The same thing can happen with the needs around us. We get used to brokenness and start to think it is normal. We notice struggling families, neglected children, lonely neighbors, addiction, poverty, and people living without Christ. Even though we know these problems are real, they can slowly blend into the background of our lives.

Something like this happened to Nehemiah. He was living in Susa when some men came from Judah. Nehemiah asked them about the Jews who had returned from exile and about Jerusalem. They answered, “The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire” (Nehemiah 1:3).

Jerusalem’s broken condition was not new, but something changed in Nehemiah when he heard the report. He could no longer think of it as someone else’s problem in a faraway place. Nehemiah 1:4 says, “As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days.” The brokenness was not new. The burden was.

A burden is not the same as a complaint. Nehemiah didn’t react by criticizing the people in Jerusalem or blaming anyone for not rebuilding the wall. Instead, he wept, fasted, prayed, and confessed his sin and the sins of his people. Critics notice what is broken and wonder why others haven’t fixed it. Someone with a burden asks, “God, what do You want me to do?”

Nehemiah couldn’t rebuild Jerusalem’s walls from Susa, but he could bring the need to God in prayer. Prayer wasn’t a way to avoid responsibility. It was where God started preparing him to take it on. Before Nehemiah made a plan, spoke to the king, or asked for help, he spent time seeking God. The work that eventually became visible in Jerusalem began with the private work God did in Nehemiah’s heart.

God might be doing something like this in your life, too. Is there a person, problem, or need that keeps coming to mind? Maybe it’s a struggling family, a lonely neighbor, a child who needs encouragement, or someone who doesn’t know Christ. What you keep noticing might be more than just an irritation. It could be God inviting you to pray, help, give, speak, or get involved.

We can’t meet every need or fix every broken situation. God doesn’t expect us to do everything, but He does ask us to obey Him in what He puts in front of us. A burden matters most when it moves us from just feeling concerned to taking prayerful, faithful action. If it doesn’t, it’s just a passing feeling.

Once you finally notice what’s been there all along, turning away won’t make it go away. Nehemiah let what he heard break his heart, bring him to God, and move him to act. We should be willing to do the same. Notice the needs God keeps showing you. What you cannot stop seeing may be the very place where God is calling you to begin.