Our thanks to all of the volunteers who gave up part of their Monday to put out United States flags around the Columbia County Courthouse Square. The flags recognize Columbia County residents who died in 20th century conflicts. This is a fine tradition that all of us appreciate.

Mike McNeill’s Diary will not be published today. The column will return on Tuesday.

We posted the recent news about Standard Lithium to our Twitter stream a couple of days ago. It got “re-Tweeted” so we threw out the additional comment that we were going to be really disappointed if further processing of any Union County-produced lithium does not take place in South Arkansa…

Yes. We admit it. We do get irritated with some of the readers of articles that we post on the Magnolia Reporter page on Facebook. We spend a lot of time every day finding information, rewriting it into readable form, and finally posting it on this website. We select a few of those stories e…

We were in the drive-through of a local fast food restaurant on Saturday morning, along with about two dozen of our neighbors. An employee emerged and walked down the line to implore, “We’re open! You can come inside, baby!” There were no takers. Two dozen people decided that they’d rather r…

If these were normal times, the west side of the Magnolia Square would be shut down later this evening as the set-up work for the Magnolia Blossom Festival got into full swing. But these aren’t normal times, and there will be no 2020 Magnolia Blossom Festival. We’re sad about that although w…

Many of our friends and colleagues have extended personal and professional congratulations on our announcement Tuesday regarding our move to North Court Square. Max Brantley at the Arkansas Times gave us a “tip of the hat” for “forging ahead with an investment as a local news provider during…

You know how it is when a song gets stuck in your head. We’re presently stuck with the theme song from the 1970s television sitcom, “The Jeffersons.” Yeah, we’re movin’ on up, not to the East Side of Manhattan, but to the north side of the Magnolia Square. We announced today that we’ve acqui…

Smartphone data indicates that Columbia County residents are among the Arkansas residents to have been less likely to stay at home during the COVID-19 pandemic. We can’t give you a direct link for legal reasons, but we can tell you that on Wednesday, the Washington Post published an article …

Exterior painting was taking place Wednesday at the new location of Heritage House Gifts on South Court Square. Owners Carla Machen and Laurie Burks are moving the store and the Merle Norman cosmetics and Vera Bradley accessories shop from North Jackson Street into the former Miller’s Pharma…

There’s more evidence all over town that the magnolia blossoms are blooming. They do cheer things up a bit. Take a quick drive around the Magnolia Square for a look. Then stop and do a little business and cheer everyone up. We made an emergency purchase Tuesday from a Square business of an i…

All across Magnolia this weekend, we saw activity inside barber shops. salons and gyms as owners made preparations for their limited re-openings on Wednesday. The regulations set out by the Arkansas Department of Health are challenging as those businesses start the first phase of reopening p…

We’ve been reporting in our news columns about the large number of COVID-19 cases at the Cummins Maximum Security Unit of the Arkansas Department of Correction. As we write this, Lincoln County lists 814 people as having tested positive for COVID-19. Almost all of them are at the Cummins Uni…

JavaPrimo, 121 S. Jefferson in Magnolia, has become the newest advertising client of magnoliareporter.com. Owners Shelly and Josh Hughes invite our readers to make breakfast or brunch, lunch and dinner easy with Family Packs. Each Family Pack includes a wide selection of food for one low pri…

People who have worried for weeks that the COVID-19 virus would eventually have a serious impact on Columbia County have seen those fears realized. The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Columbia County has doubled to 12 since Tuesday. This follows on the heels that one resident and one e…

Dave Sehon, a big voice in Magnolia radio for many years, has let slip that he’ll be hanging up his headset in mid-May. He’s half of the Troy & Dave Show at KZHE-FM and is the chief newsman at the radio station. He’s also the radio voice many area residents appreciate during bad weather.…

When did the COVID-19 pandemic “start” in the United States and South Arkansas? The narrative goes that the first U.S. COVID-19 death happened February 29 in Washington state. But, news stories in recent days have suggested that three people may have died from COVID-19 in California up to th…

It appears that the state has finally caught up with the COVID-19 testing performed in Columbia County. Through Sunday, the number of negative cases was 65. On Monday, the test number was 133. Today, it’s pushing 200 negative tests. The number of positive cases has been at five for a couple …

We have received an email from the SAU Alumni Association which encourages us to “Refer a Mulerider.” This is a program that comes out every year to encourage alumni and friends to let the university know about high school students with a potential interest in attending Southern Arkansas Uni…

We’ve seen the official state statistics, heard the anecdotal stories, heard some true stories and we have our own group of advisors. And we’ve come to this conclusion:

We can’t give you a direct link for legal reasons, but we can tell you that on Tuesday, the Politico website published an article by Rachel Roubein headlined, “Rural hospitals shut out of stimulus loans face financial crisis.” The article notes that, among others, Magnolia Regional Medical C…

Steve’s Outdoor Sports, 606 W. Main in Magnolia, has become the latest business to join our list of advertising clients. Steve Rogers wants to promote the large number of guns he has in stock, from handguns to rifles and shotguns. People who click on the ad will be re-directed to Steve’s Out…

The Taylor High School Lady Tigers softball team got a nice shout-out on ESPN last week. The sports network’s Scott Van Pelt featured photos and videos of seniors on high school teams across the country whose seasons were either cut short, or left unable to perform, due to the COVID-19 crisi…

Our current online poll question is a repeat from one we conducted in March regarding readers’ level of patience with the COVID-19 outbreak. We want to see if attitudes have changed in reader tolerance of social disruption caused by the virus. The early results appear to indicate a strong wi…

Vine Street Liquor, 513 N. Vine, has become the latest Magnolia business to become an advertiser on magnoliareporter.com. The store owned by Steve Rogers wants the public to know that it is now authorized to deliver alcoholic beverages. People who click on the ad will be redirected to the Vi…

Looking through our news feed on all things having to do with lithium, we’ve come across many articles regarding the global supply chain and the lithium market, generally, as they relate to the impact of the COVID-19 virus. First, global demand for all electronic products powered by lithium …

Rejoining us as an advertiser this week is Magnolia Blossom Florist, 118 N. Court Square. Kim Glasscock and her employees continue to serve the public during this difficult time. Think about it – everyone would appreciate receiving some nice spring flowers or a gift now. A gift would brighte…

Many local organizations, groups and churches are using their websites and Facebook pages to communicate how they are dealing with the COVID-19 public health emergency. That’s great. We encourage every organization and business with the manpower to have a website, backed up with other social…

An El Dorado woman got locked up a few months ago for posting on her Facebook page that there had been a shooting at an El Dorado school. The post caused a brief panic as lawmen and parents flooded the campus. We reminded a friend of that arrest after she expressed outrage about someone send…

Sunday’s announcement about the first confirmed case of the COVID-19 virus in Columbia County was expected. We wish the victim a speedy recovery. Most people with the COVID-19 virus will do exactly that. They will recover. We’ve seen multiple reports that -- pardon the expression -- many wil…

We had a vivid dream last night. The fact that we can still remember it, and the fact that it was both timely and pertinent to us for personal reasons, merits sharing the content. We emphasize that it was a dream and you may take that for what it’s worth. We dreamed that we were on the Magno…

magnoliareporter.com seeks to be as useful and helpful during the public health emergency. There’s nothing we can do about school closures, curbs on business activity and the other social and economic disruption that’s taking place. We can’t solve the problem but there are ways we can help. …

This has been one of the most bizarre weeks in our professional life. At this time last week, we gave very little thought to the coronavirus. In the last 72 hours, it has almost totally taken over everything we do, and every place we go. The sheer volume of information that’s come our way ha…

We didn’t know Hot Springs Police Officer Brent Scrimshire personally. He was shot and killed in the line of duty on Tuesday night. Still, this strikes very close to home. Officer Scrimshire – who shot and wounded his assailant during an exchange of gunfire at a traffic stop – was the son of…

There are many ways to fight the potential for a coronavirus outbreak in Magnolia. One means that’s been suggested to us is through providing special monitoring to the most vulnerable population – elderly residents. Something that’s certain is that the virus will infect and kill older and we…

Fear of something happening is usually worse than the event itself. We don’t know what the full effect of the coronavirus will be worldwide and nationally. It may turn out to be not that big of a deal. But, the worst-case scenario would be something like the Spanish Influenza that peaked in …

The undefeated Magnolia Panthers basketball team plays in the quarter-final round of the state Class 4A basketball tournament against Blytheville at 5:30 p.m. today in Farmington. The winner will play the Pottsville-Brookland winner at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. The Class 4A championship game will …

Hearty congratulations are due to the swimmers and coaches of the 2020 Magnolia High School swim team. The team won the Arkansas Class 4A-1A swimming championship last week. The Magnolia girls’ team was first, and the Magnolia boys’ team was second. CLICK HERE to see our story. The achieveme…

We noticed some preliminary plans making the rounds for a long-overdue traffic improvement at Southern Arkansas University. The proposal is to turn the Jackson-University and Washington-University intersections into roundabouts. Roundabouts are all the rage. Plans for highway improvements al…

Jerry Walsh of Magnolia, the former and long-time executive director of the now-defunct South Arkansas Youth Services, was sentenced this week to 2 ½ years in federal prison. As the head of SAYS, Walsh was caught up in a larger statewide public corruption scandal. For his part, Walsh was con…

Previously reported was the $291,000 research grant to the Southern Arkansas University engineering program to study improved methods for manufacturing asphalt. According to the story, faculty members and student assistants will analyze the effects of using a wood ash-based polymer as an alt…

This past week’s Arkansas Children’s Radiothon on KZHE-FM in Magnolia raised a minimum of $33,575 for the hospital, with more money expected that will boost the total to more than $34,000. The local Circle of Friends, which is a support group for the hospital, joined forces with the radio st…

We’ve long had a certain amount of fascination about Arkadelphia. Our grandmother had an association with Henderson-Brown College, and our father was born in Arkadelphia. We once had an opportunity to work at the now late and lamented Siftings-Herald. Three of our younger relatives attended …

We love driving around Magnolia to see so much construction under way. There are the first signs of work on the south side of the Amfuel building for the pending construction of new painting booths. Earthwork has begun at the new College of Education building on the Southern Arkansas Univers…

We’re glad that Magnolia Police Chief Todd Dew is going to be OK after his bullet-resistant (avoid using the term “bullet-proof,” because they’re not) vest stopped a shot accidentally fired by another officer on Tuesday as they were executing an arrest warrant. Chief Dew was released followi…

As we watched the Magnolia Panthers get trounced by Pulaski Academy last November in the first round of the Class 5A football playoffs, we had one overriding thought. The thought was that for the better part of two decades now, Magnolia football has been outclassed. Sure, it’s had winning se…

It took almost a half-century of driving, but we finally tagged a deer today. We had to be out early, very early, this morning just north of Village on Arkansas 98 in the rain and fog. That’s the exact time when deer think the coast is clear to cross roads in large numbers. We came upon a sm…

Golf and beer go together like peanut butter and jelly. So, anything about alcohol and the Magnolia Country Club that we publish is bound to draw some attention. We noted that recent actions by the Alcoholic Beverage Control Division cancelled the country club’s permit in the ABC’s license s…

Major changes may be coming for traffic traveling through El Dorado on Hillsboro, the U.S. 82 business route. Last week’s public meeting held by the Arkansas Department of Transportation in El Dorado projects the replacement of two traffic signals with roundabouts. The roundabouts would be a…