I can’t tell you the number of times that, over the last two and a half years, I’ve told someone, “I have the best job in the world.” And it’s true: since May of 2012, I’ve sat down at this computer every day in my pajamas and gotten paid (a little) to write about Arkansas policy and politics. Somewhere along the way, people started to take what I was saying seriously. I did … [Read more...]
Dirty Cops, Wrongful Imprisonment, and Blessings from Government: A Conversation with Senator Hutchinson
Earlier this week, I interviewed state Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson about the Gyronne Buckley case. It was one of the most astonishing conversations I have ever had. As I wrote on Tuesday, Buckley was incarcerated for over eleven years; the state Claims Commission determined that he hadn’t received a fair trial. In particular, the Commission found that Buckley was the victim of a … [Read more...]
Exchange Director Unsure If Arkansas Will Speed Up Implementation of State Exchange
Last week, I began investigating whether Arkansas was moving towards a state-run Obamacare exchange. My initial interest in this story emerged after several state lawmakers told me they were hearing rumblings that the state’s Obamacare bureaucracy was looking at expediting our move to a state-based exchange. This troubled me because, as I read the existing law, I realized the … [Read more...]
Gyronne Buckley, Who Was Wrongfully Imprisoned, Is Now Wrongfully Denied Compensation
Imagine if you were the victim of a crooked cop who withheld evidence in your criminal trial, and imagine that -- because of this -- you were put in prison for more than a decade. And imagine if the Supreme Court ordered your sentence overturned -- more than a decade too late -- because it found you never received a fair trial. Imagine if your own state's top law enforcement … [Read more...]
AEDC’s Latest Less-Than-Superior Performance
Superior Industries is closing one of its plants in northwest Arkansas. According to news reports, this will result in the loss of 500 jobs, sucking even more air out of Governor Beebe’s “jobs record.” It’s a heartbreaking story for the community, but an even more gut-wrenching tale for taxpayers -- and it’s simply the latest in a long string of failures by the state to prop up … [Read more...]
