A news website has launched in a location that badly needs it. The Arkansas Delta Informer formally opened on Saturday to report news in the Pine Bluff area and Southeast Arkansas. We like The Delta Informer’s chances for success because it is owned by Michael McCray, a Pine Bluff native with a law degree from Georgetown. For the launch, he’s brought in Wesley Brown, whose newspaper career began at the Hope Star and eventually to the Stephens Media chain. Brown has developed a specialty in business news reporting. He promises a focus on “unbiased and upbeat stories about the region’s people, places, politics, and cultural peculiarities.” Both men eschew the “if it bleeds, it leads” approach – a focus on crime news that has for decades devastated the reputation of the Pine Bluff area in statewide media. We look forward to seeing what they do with Arkansas Delta Informer. CLICK HERE to see it.
Got our copy of the official Magnolia Blossom Festival Guild, available at the Magnolia-Columbia County Chamber of Commerce. It is a handy pocket companion to all things festival-related.
The word came to us late that there would be a second, $500 prize issued by the Magnolia Blossom Festival, after the initial $1,000 prize from Peoples Bank was found quickly on Monday. We’ll be publishing the clues until the new jackpot is found.
Watch for foul balls.
A year ago, we reported that Jimmy Walker had been hired to as assistant to Superintendent Ted Waller, and would replace Waller in the fall of 2022. CLICK HERE to see the story.
Our in-house political scientist makes an important observation. Most people wouldn’t know a “liberal” or “conservative” position if it jumped up and bit them. If you call yourself a conservative and like getting those Social Security checks, you are not conservative. If you call yourself a liberal and the idea of national service for all appeals to you, you are not liberal. Defining one’s political positions as “left” or “right,” or “liberal” or “conservative” is out of date because it fails to account for the fact that one’s views fall along a spectrum of philosophies. Where do you fit within the spectrum of political beliefs? The Advocates for Self-Government have a long-established test that helps people better define their views as authoritarian, conservative, libertarian, moderate or progressive. CLICK HERE to take the test.
Mike McNeill is publisher and editor of magnoliareporter.com. Any opinions expressed in his column are his own. The “StarTrek” franchise is better than “Star Wars.” Email him at news@magnoliareporter.com or call 870-904-3865.
