Our suspicion is that it was just another driver who trusted GPS too much. About 2 a.m. today, we watched a tractor-trailer extricate itself from a jam on the square. For starters, the driver was heading the wrong way – south – on the Washington Street side. He ended up blocking traffic on t…

We grant that today’s story from our content partner, Arkansas Nonprofit News Network, about the Hernando DeSoto Bridge situation is longish, but it’s comprehensive. CLICK HERE to see the story. However, it’s worth it because it gives us another opportunity to egg the Arkansas Department of …

After Tuesday's column, if anyone believes us to be "soft on crime," we refer you to today's list of pardon and commutation recommendations and denials from the Arkansas Parole Board. The circumstance of the story once told by comedian Richard Pryor were not amusing, but his punchline, "Than…

The Lori Ann Callison case should serve as a local "poster child" for the many reasons why the nation should rethink its notions of criminality and mental health. We won't rehash the case in this column. In brief, she was sentenced to 12 years in prison after representing herself in Circuit …

The renewal notice came recently from the Magnolia-Columbia County Chamber of Commerce. We were happy to pay it. As has been our custom for the past few years, we sent a little more than was asked. Why? Because small-town Chambers of Commerce are dreadfully under-funded. They depend on membe…

Opening emails is one of our first morning tasks. So, we were a little groggy and misread the headline as “Peoples Bank acquires Bank OZK.” If we were talking about GDP instead of assets, that would be like Algeria taking over the United States. On closer examination, of course, it turned ou…

Magnolia basketball star Derrian Ford has made it official – he wants to be an Arkansas Razorback. Ford, one of the nation’s most highly prized high school basketball players, issued a Tweet. “First I want to thank God for giving me the opportunity to tell the world this. I put a lot of hard…

We asked readers of the Magnolia Reporter page on Facebook to name for us the first motor vehicle they bought with their own money. It was delightful to see more than 300 responses, and growing. Our own first was a 1976 Chevrolet Chevette, which our experience and history has revealed to pos…

The Arkansas Department of Health reported Monday that Columbia County suffered an additional COVID-19 death during the weekend, and that the number of confirmed and probable active cases had risen by 10 to a total of 46. A month ago, there were only 10 active cases. We’ve picked up an addit…

Got a little stir crazy on Sunday. We let Siri pick a compass direction and she sent us east to El Dorado. It’s been a few months since we’ve been there. Our notes:

Travel along Interstate 30 through Little Rock will be sharply disrupted this weekend. Contractors are demolishing the 9th Street Bridge as part of a reconstruction plan, which is itself part of the broader plan to widen Interstate 30 through the capital city. The widening plan has been cont…

Saw press reports earlier this week that Monroe, LA is making a push for the “rebranding” of its downtown, and that at least one new mural is part of it. Magnolia hasn’t had a new mural in several years but has largely managed to preserve the ones that currently exist. Visitors to our town o…

The City of Magnolia is proposing a bold step, seeking a $250,000 state grant that it will match to construct a public splash pad, skate park and dog walk. We have to admit that we waiver on the whole concept of public parks. Yes, parks are great things. We need green places and open spaces …

We do our best to tell readers about what’s happening in this community. Our website provides a great deal of information about businesses and industries, courts and cops, schools, government, civic life, entertainment and more. We admit that there are gaps. That’s just the way it is with a …

Rumors have been circulating for several weeks that El Dorado’s Griffin Restaurant might become a new location for Christy Ouei’s MuleKick. These rumors were confirmed on Thursday when MuleKick and the Murphy Arts District announced an agreement that MuleKick will lease the facility in downt…

Bridget Joslin invited us to stop by the new Bridget’s on the east side of the square, so we paid a visit. We have more than passing interest in her new shop next to the Corner Clubhouse, as we came very close to buying it last year before settling on Reporter Mansion. First things first. Sh…

Dr. Kevin Rudder let us play Thursday with Kneemo – the name MRMC personnel have attached to the facility’s new Mako SmartRobotics surgery-assisting robot. We took hold of the pistol grip and cut our way through a simulated knee. There are reasons why we don’t play video games, and reasons w…

The Emerson PurpleHull Pea Festival will be Saturday in Emerson. The festival was a COVID-19 victim in 2020, so it’s great that it is getting back on track. Literally. Everyone looks forward to the World Championship Rotary Tiller Race on Saturday afternoon. If you’ve never witnessed this sp…

It somehow escaped our attention that a vehicle ran through the front of the Dixie Mart on West Main Street during the weekend. The convenience store is closed for repairs. We’re running through a mental list of buildings that have been hit by vehicles in recent years. Dairy Queen. Jennifer’…

Following on our earlier report about a new Church of the Nazarene congregation in Magnolia, a local historian reminded us that there was one here previously. The Church of the Nazarene met from the 1940s into the early 1960s in a cinder-block building at the southeast corner of Ruth and Jea…

We may be a little premature with the Whataburger news but, yeah, we feel comfortable reporting it. The land has been sold, and the buyers definitely have connections with the hamburger chain. We don’t think they’re buying the land to install a White Castle. Whataburger makes a decent, and l…

Joining our bay of advertisers today is Spittler Tire & Auto, 521 E. Main. Spittler is a full-service automotive repair shop that keeps expanding to meet the needs of its customers. We should also note that its owners, Josh and Dyan Spittler, are emerging as Magnolia business leaders of …

Southern Airways Express is the newest advertising client of magnoliareporter.com, and today we welcome the company aboard. Southern Airways Express is the most successful of El Dorado Goodwin Field’s Essential Air Service providers, and is committed to building out its service from El Dorad…

We welcome back today as a temporary advertiser the 2021 Emerson PurpleHull Pea Festival, sponsored by Sawblade.com . Like almost every annual festival, the fun in Emerson was put on hiatus due to COVID-19 but on Saturday, June 26, it will be back with the World Championship Rotary Tiller Ra…

People always talk about their desire to have new restaurants in Magnolia, but they don’t want to run one. Off the top, we can think of a dozen different locations in Magnolia where buildings sit vacant where restaurants once operated – several until very recently. So, if you’re inclined, no…

We’re still on the Buc-ee’s watch, keeping track to see which Arkansas city will become the first to host one of the Texas chain’s supersized convenience stores. If we had to bet, we’d say it’s going to be Arkadelphia. Arkadelphia is laying the groundwork for a southside bypass that will con…

We listed on Wednesday several ongoing facilities improvement measures under taken by area forest product industries. We neglected to mention a big one – a $10 million project that will upgrade Anthony Timberlands’ Malvern mill. Anthony also operates the oak flooring mill off North Vine Stre…

Burkes Outlet is returning to Magnolia, but in a different location than the one it left in March 2018. You may have noticed in our monthly building permits list that Burkes Outlet received a permit to erect a sign at 410 N. Fredrick, which is a building inside the University Shopping Center…

Farmers Bank & Trust of Magnolia made the stunning announcement earlier this month that it’s created a $150,000 matching donation to the Boys & Girls Club of Magnolia, as the club seeks to raise $500,000 for renovation work. And toward that end, Farmers is bringing in Danyelle Mussel…

The contractors are making steady progress with the four-lane project along U.S. 82 from the U.S. 79 junction to County Road 27. They would be making more progress if it was drier. We want to root the project along. And we want to pick up on the recent theme to beat the drum for quicker comp…

The Square Market returns Saturday morning for its June-July run. It’s held on the block of North Jefferson Street between the Magnolia Square and West Union Street. Here’s hoping for a big turnout of vendors with fresh produce, baked goods and more. We’re also hoping for a lot of shoppers. …

Farmers Bank & Trust of Magnolia has announced plans to add a second location in Paris, TX. The full-service location will be on Lamar Avenue in the East Texas city. Buildings currently on the site – a florist shop and an oil change business -- will be demolished and work on a new 9,000-…

We can’t provide you with a direct link for legal reasons, but we can tell you that on Tuesday, MiningMagazine.com published an article by Alex Grant headlined, “Albemarle should build their Magnolia DLE project.” The article goes into detail about Albemarle’s brine resources in South Arkans…

The count is a little rough but a quick review tells us that since January 1, there have been 106 articles of incorporation filed with the Arkansas Secretary of State for entities in Columbia County. This means that about 100 businesses or individuals felt it necessary to become incorporated…

You made it, kids. Another school year will soon be over. This is the final day of the academic year for students in Magnolia Public Schools, and elsewhere in the state and nation. Let’s give them applause, from the pre-K to the seniors. They’ve all had to put up with a lot these past months…

An exhibit at the Arkansas Capitol this week is drawing attention to 21 missing person cases in our state, including Mary Jimmie “Bobo” Shinn of Magnolia. Her car was found in the parking lot of what was then Smitty’s Food Store at Main and Dudney on July 20, 1978. She has not been seen sinc…

We’ve started a brief run today of an advertisement on behalf of Columbia County Assessor Voyles Martin. She is reminding residents that Tuesday, June 1 is the effective deadline to assess property. People who click on the ad will be redirected to a website where they can assess their proper…

Now that a few days have passed since the Magnolia Blossom Festival, this is the perfect time to reflect on it. Our bottom line is that considering the festival took a year off due to COVID-19, the reboot was just right. There were fewer steak cooking teams and fewer arts and crafts booths b…

We’ve not had a column in a few days, but it was always our intent to write about Mary Harsh. Our first contact with Mrs. Harsh was in the seventh grade at Magnolia Junior High School, where she taught history and, for a half-semester annually – Arkansas history. Mrs. Harsh already had quite…

Arkansas and Tennessee transportation officials say it could be a couple of weeks, and possibly months, before the Interstate 40 bridge, also known as the Hernando de Soto Bridge, can be reopened to the 40,000-50,000 vehicles a day that use it. A fracture was discovered in a critical span of…

We heard a rumor about a potential new industry coming to South Central Arkansas, having to do with home construction. We checked it out with the name we heard, but a spokesman said the company is happy where it is, and has no plans to expand. Not to say another company with a similar name d…

After writing last week about Miracle Farms Market in Bodcaw, we decided to check with Suzanne’s Fruit Farm at Hampton about the prospects for its 2021 fruit crop. Sylvia Reddin expects a better peach and blueberry crop than last year. There will be a plum crop but not as many as 2020. Musca…

We’ve often intended to make the short trip to Miracle Farms Market near Bodcaw but never managed to get the vehicle pointed that way. So, we decided to make a trip our mission last Saturday. We were delighted with our purchases there. Let’s start with the raw Jersey milk. The last time we’v…

Staff at the Southwest Arkansas Planning and Development District, based in Magnolia, perform numerous functions on behalf of local governments. One of these functions is to raise employment, and among the ways SWAPPD accomplishes this is through its WIOA Title 1B program. SWAPPD has asked f…

One never knows which way traffic will flow around the Magnolia Square. Early Tuesday, we watch a panel truck travel east to west on the outer lane of South Court Square. During daytime the driver would have seen plenty of visual cues that he was going the wrong way – at night, not so much. …

magnoliareporter.com welcomes a new advertiser today, Texarkana-based Inspection Gator. Inspection Gator is a home and commercial building inspection business that is licensed to operate in Arkansas and Texas. Its inspectors will examine structures you propose to buy or sell, and provide det…

Today is commencement at Southern Arkansas University. The day was moved up as part of the university’s efforts to contain the COVID-19 epidemic. It seems to have worked, too, as there are no active cases on the campus and only one person in quarantine. This is a happy day for hundreds of gr…

Frankly, we expected a little pushback from our suggestion on Wednesday that our region needs to rethink the rapid reopening of public activities as COVID-19 appears to be on the decline. We pointed out that only 21.55 percent of the Columbia County population age 16 or older is fully immuni…

According to the arkansascovid.com website, through Monday, 21.55 percent of the age 16 or older population of Columbia County has been fully vaccinated for the COVID-19 virus, and 10.01 percent has been partially vaccinated. This is better than many of our neighboring counties but it isn’t …

Tea is among the most popular drinks in the United States but little of the leaf is produced in the nation. Wikipedia says that historically, the most production has come from a single producer in South Carolina, but total U.S. production comes from only a few hundred acres. There was a brie…