The rapid awarding of the next phase of the U.S. 82 project in Columbia County is good news. The 5.77-mile stretch that was awarded this week means that in Columbia and Union counties, about 11 total miles of U.S. 82 widening will be under way during the next three years. ArDOT is scheduled …

We found ourselves in a waiting area on Tuesday and picked up a magazine. It was the latest issue of People. We seldom watch television and don’t follow much recent popular music of any kind, so it should come as no surprise that we’d never heard of many of the people in People. Fame is a fi…

Students have returned to Southern Arkansas University for the start of spring semester classes on Wednesday. Almost every time we drive through the SAU campus, we imagine what Magnolia would be like without it. It’s a fate almost too horrible to contemplate. With all due respect to those pl…

Our official position is that Magnolia and South Arkansas welcomes everyone to live here. Refugee, immigrant or native-born. Black, white, Hispanic, Latino or any other racial description. Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Hindi or no religious affiliation. Straight or gay. Democrat, Republican, in…

We welcome as a temporary advertiser today the South Arkansas Symphony, which is promoting its Saturday, January 25 concert at First United Methodist Church in Magnolia. The concert will feature classical guitarist Gionanni de Chiaro, backed by Kermit Poling and the symphony. People who clic…

There’s news about La Bella Vita of Magnolia, which is the project of Gina Blann and Pam Goodman to convert the old Columbia County Jail at Calhoun and Jefferson into a boutique hotel. Early last year, they went public with their purchase of the building and invited the media to take a look.…

We welcome back today as a seasonal advertiser the Magnolia CPA firm of Wood and Wood. It’s tax season again as we hurtle toward the April 15 filing deadline. People who click on the ad will be forwarded to the firm’s website, where they can learn about its accounting and web services, tax p…

Comments we’ve received about the Dolores Hinson case include one point of view we respect for its sentiment: It’s hard to believe that this type of thing happens in Magnolia. Those of us who live in small towns like to romanticize that our communities are more like Mayberry than Amityville.…

Kevin Barker said a couple of months ago that he planned to sell the Magnolia Square’s popular year-old nightspot, The Central Hub. The Hub is now closed but Barker tells us it will reopen on February 2 with “a lot of changes.” So sit tight, Magnolia. Barker has done a magnificent job with t…

Los Maguelles Mexican Grill, 117 E. Main, has temporarily closed. The sign on the door says that the restaurant is awaiting the installation of new HVAC and kitchen equipment. It promises a “grand reopening” at a later date. We’ve noticed the work happening in the back alley relating to the …

Our friend Rex Nelson, in his regular Sunday column for a Little Rock newspaper, made a list of things he hopes gets more attention during 2020. He noted the recently-concluded deal that will see the state purchase a hog farm to prevent potential contamination of an Arkansas treasure, the Bu…

We decided a few months ago that we wanted to punch up the look of our outbound invoices. After consulting the United States Postal Service website, we began ordering a variety of the great-looking stamps that are produced. Our advertising clients have already received a couple of rounds of …

Mule Kick, the new restaurant on North Jackson Street near Southern Arkansas University, has become the latest Magnolia business to become a magnoliareporter.com advertiser. Mule Kick has become known for many things, such as its selection of fine Arkansas craft beverages, Loblolly ice cream…

Columbia County was created by an act of the Arkansas Legislature on December 17, 1852, which means that on Tuesday, our county turns 167 years old. Columbia County was the 56th of Arkansas’ current 75 counties to be created, borrowing from portions of Hempstead, Lafayette, Ouachita and Unio…

Beard Investments is now working on the second phase of home construction at 2105 N. Washington St. It built four 900-square-foot houses earlier this year, and has started construction of four more. The site was a former mobile home park that was an embarrassing eyesore. Now, the company is …

Magnolians witnessed a few snowflakes and sleet on Tuesday. Snow in Arkansas on Tuesday was limited to the southeast corner of the state. The Monticello area received an inch of snow with Hampton, Warren and McGehee receiving a half-inch. Camden and El Dorado officially recorded traces. Our …

Rex Nelson, who knows as much about Arkansas as any living person, spoke on Thursday to the Rotary Club of Magnolia. He had timely remarks about the upcoming federal census. Nelson is well versed in Arkansas’ demographic trends. His bottom line was that while Arkansas as a whole will gain po…

We welcome back today an old advertising client, Southern Title & Closing on North Washington Street. Robert McDonald wants everyone to know that Southern Title & Closing is Columbia County's only locally owned and operated title company. People who click on the company’s ad will be …

Joining magnoliareporter.com as our newest advertising client today is one of Magnolia’s oldest Christian congregations, First Presbyterian Church on North Jackson Street. The church wants the public to know about its worship schedule and the many activities it has for young people, as well …

Part of last night’s dinner was the last of a package of locally-sourced, frozen purple hull peas that we bought last year at the Farmer’s Market on the Magnolia Square (they were STILL good a year and a half later – it was a large package). We topped off the peas with family-sourced pepper …

We welcome Heritage House Gifts as the latest Magnolia retailer to join magnoliareporter.com as an advertiser. Carla Machen and Laurie Burks own the gift shop, across North Jackson Street from Magnolia Regional Medical Center. They want everyone to know that Heritage House Gifts is the local…

A reader noted our recent objections about billboards and other annoying business signage. He suggests that we initiate a poll on this topic as a way to get Magnolia residents thinking about the issue, perhaps including a moratorium on new installations until there’s been a discussion. Some …

We published a wedding report on Monday. We don’t get many requests to publish engagement announcements and wedding reports, so this is a good time to mention that we do publish them -- and without charge. We have online forms for both events, but brides and grooms need not feel restricted t…

Magnolia High School had its first home basketball games of the season on Friday night. The last basketball games played at Panther Arena last March were the semi-finals of the Arkansas Class 4A Basketball Tournament, which saw the Panthers advance against Jonesboro Westside for the followin…

B&S Memorials is opening a sales location at the former Something Special florist and gift shop on North Jackson Street. It specializes in tombstones and other types of monuments. New technology has made a big difference in what can be done with monuments at a reasonable price. B&S i…

Southern Arkansas University has been selected to play in the Heritage Bowl on Saturday, December 7 in Corsicana, TX. It is a tribute to SAU’s 8-3 season and an honor for the Great American Conference to have two NCAA Division II playoff teams, Ouachita Baptist and Harding, and two bowl team…

R.A. Wilson Enterprises of Hot Springs has announced that it is buying several former Fred’s locations, including 16 corporate-owned stores in Arkansas. R.A. Wilson Enterprises in a major developer of Tractor Supply Company stores. This is not likely to affect Magnolia, as the Magnolia locat…

Street lights in Magnolia are a step above useless. Always have been. This isn’t a reflection on recent city administrations because, as we’ve said, our street lighting has always been poor. Perhaps this is weighing more heavily on our thoughts since the reversion to standard time but, yeah,…

We’ve read in recent days information in the press about Albemarle Corporation and its lithium business. Albemarle’s primary business used to be bromine production from its Texas coast and South Arkansas brine fields. Bromine is still an important Albemarle focus but it has been overtaken in…

We’ve been reminded that Monday marked the 100th anniversary of the culmination of two of the most infamous crimes in Columbia County history. The first happened when Sheriff B.E. Greer and two deputies went to a house west of Magnolia to arrest a black man, Jordan Jameson, on a warrant for …

People have a tendency to live in the here and now. They ignore the fact that everything has a past, and that future events can’t be predicted. When the Columbia Shopping Center opened in the mid 1960s, it was a big deal in Magnolia. No one born in the 1970s or later would realize it, but or…

magnoliareporter.com welcomes today a new short-term advertiser, ESS. ESS is a company that specializes in finding and placing people into K-12 school district positions on daily, long-term or permanent basis. It wants people to know about a three-hour training session that will be held from…

AllCare Pharmacy, located at the corner of North and Jackson streets across from City Hall, is the newest advertising partner of magnoliareporter.com . The pharmacy invites clients of another pharmacy in Magnolia that closed this week to transfer its prescriptions to AllCare, where pharmacis…

There’s always great sadness when a local business mainstay closes. That was certainly true of the announcement this weekend by Miller’s Pharmacy. The pharmacy on the square closed on Monday. CLICK HERE to see our story. It’s tough for small, independent pharmacies to exist in this era of In…

We’ve just returned from our three-day annual summit with members of LION – the Local Independent Online News Publishers Association -- held in Nashville. It’s a gathering where people who run online news websites similar to magnoliareporter.com meet to talk about news reporting, techniques …

Yeah, we know that Henderson State University and Arkansas State University aren’t calling it that, but we can’t help but think about the pending friendly takeover of Henderson by ASU that way. If not in name, Henderson State will become a branch of Arkansas State if all parties agree. One i…

RocketFast! Car Wash on East Main Street is the latest Magnolia business to join our list of advertising supporters. RocketFast owner Don Robertson, an SAU graduate who lives in North Louisiana, is throwing an open house at the car wash today. The ad promotes the $19.95 plan to provide its c…

Some things they don’t tell you about applying for that all important if totally useless internal travel document you’ll need if you want to fly anywhere after next October. We made the trip to El Dorado on Tuesday to obtain our new driver’s license. Since we do envision air travel in the co…

Nothing like an online poll involving alcohol to make people go crazy. Our current online poll has been up less than two days but has already received almost 300 votes. We are asking, “Should the City of Magnolia create an entertainment district where the outdoor consumption of alcoholic bev…

Columbia County Judge Larry Atkinson has moved his office into the former County Clerk office on the first floor of the Courthouse. The judge's office has up to this point been a rather oddly-configured suite. The County Clerk office recently moved to the new County Annex on Boundary Street.…

Anyone who felt left out during the inaugural Second Thursday Market last well, well, this comes around once on month. Businesses are invited to set up booths at the next market on November 14. Also welcome are vendors of handmade products, including art, décor, vintage and collectables, sta…

It’s been two years since Magnolia voters rejected – by a 7-3 margin -- plans to construct $16 million in recreational facilities. If they’d been approved, we’d be opening a new aquatic and recreation center, and six baseball and softball fields, right about now. We bring this up because on …

Former college football coach Tommy Tuberville, who graduated from Southern Arkansas University in 1976, formally filed this week to seek the Republican Party’s U.S. Senate nomination in the State of Alabama. Six Republicans are seeking the nomination to oppose Sen. Doug Jones, a Democrat, w…

We often publish information because it is important news of which readers need to be aware. But we may also think the idea or need for something is totally bogus. Such is the case with today’s story about REAL ID, the federal government’s initiative to require special identification for any…

We were invited to Monday night’s preview opening of the rebuilt McDonalds restaurant, which opened at 5 a.m. today. Staff members took time to explain the operation of the order kiosk. We enjoyed a complete tour of the massive kitchen, the three drive-through windows, employee breakroom, st…

There’s a new, positive way to honor Magnolia High School graduates, or to remember MHS classmates, friends or family members that have passed away. The Magnolia Public Schools Foundation, which was created last year, can accept your gifts or memorial donations through its website. CLICK HER…

With the school year in full swing, and with many organizations planning special events ahead of or in conjunction with the holidays, this is an especially busy season for us. People often want to promote their events by sending us an email with a flyer or poster attachment. When we receive …

Walmart in Magnolia has announced its “grand reopening” following a major remodeling project that is designed to bring its Magnolia customers more fully into the online ordering and pick-up age. The event will be 10 a.m. Friday. This is a big change for both Walmart employees and customers. …