Robert J. Smith
Stories by Robert J.
GRIDLOCK GURU: Traffic halt for funeral a bad idea
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS — Brake lights on Interstate 540/U.S. 71 on a busy weekday mean traffic is about to slow way down or stop. Read More »
Hospital admits radiation error; man files lawsuit
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS — Attorneys representing a Marion County man on Monday accused a Missouri medical center of causing an Arkansas woman’s death and delaying an announcement of radiation overdoses to at least 76 patients. Read More »
TRAVELERS’ CHECK: Flier fee hike called necessary
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS — Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport is a shopping mall void of namebrand clothing, Sbarro pizza and Dippin’ Dots. Read More »
GRIDLOCK GURU State likes big icons over words
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS — A fatal crash in Bella Vista last month had Jack Fellenzer thinking about making a left turn safer. Read More »
TRAVELERS’ CHECK: States see little help from grant
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS — Dick Trammel could find the good in heartburn, potholes and Charlie Sheen. Read More »
Study to look at trail history
Goal is addition to Park Service
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS — An event in Fayetteville on Tuesday kicks off a study to confirm the exact path of the Butterfield Overland Mail Route and determine if it should be added to the National Park Service’s trails system. Read More »
Kids’ clinic goes off without ex-UA star
Jailed Robertson OKs return to Texas
BENTONVILLE — An organizer of a Saturday night basketball clinic wasn’t about to let the felony arrest of key participant Alvin Robertson spoil his long-planned event for children. Read More »
GRIDLOCK GURU Snow glint fed signal false data
Traffic signals act wacky for all sorts of reasons, but Rick McCullough of Fayetteville found no logical explanation for a recent incident. Read More »
Creeks again left off list of soiled waters
This time, state cites UA study
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS — The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality says a scientist’s study involving two Illinois River tributaries justifies its decision not to list the creeks among impaired waters. Read More »
TRAVELERS’ CHECK: City flags lead way at a cost
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS — One of the neatest aspects of the Olympics comes when the athletes carry their nation’s flags during the opening ceremonies. Read More »
Trial is over, but litigation will continue
Poultry case will see appeals, insurance claims after ruling
TULSA — A Tulsa attorney predicts three to five more years of litigation will stem from Oklahoma’s pollution lawsuit against Arkansas poultry companies. Read More »
Gravette man joins 3rd District race
Maddox latest GOP candidate to announce bid for House
GRAVETTE — A Gravette businessman announced Friday that he intends to seek U.S. Rep. John Boozman’s seat. Read More »
GRIDLOCK GURU Cars blow through crosswalk
PRAIRIE GROVE — When it isn’t cold, the trails at Prairie Grove Battlefield State Park often see more than 100 people a day. Read More »
Defense: Oklahoma ignoring own law
Closing arguments presented in 2005 lawsuit over manure in watershed
TULSA — Defense attorneys on Thursday criticized Oklahoma for asking a federal judge to cut poultry manure’s use in the Illinois River watershed when the state has the ability to do it on its own but has not changed it. Read More »
TRAVELERS’ CHECK: Regional pilots bear heavy load
SPRINGDALE — Regional airline bosses howled last week after the television news show Frontline aired a one-hour investigative report on a turboprop’s fatal crash a year ago near Buffalo, N.Y. Read More »
GRIDLOCK GURU Icy temps put freeze on projects
Winter is a public-relations nightmare for the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department and cities with idled road construction. Read More »
TRAVELERS’ CHECK: Oversupply of rooms hits region
Statistics kept by Smith Travel Research show just how bad last year was for hotels. Read More »
Oklahoma seeks a special master to supervise river
Oklahoma asked a district judge to severely restrict chicken manure’s use as fertilizer in the Illinois River watershed, and to appoint a special master to ensure the orders are obeyed by Arkansas poultry companies. Read More »
Turn lane not on any project list
Drivers look out for themselves, and they suggest changes and ask questions of The Guru based on what they experience. Read More »
City manager: EPA ‘punishing’ region with plan
FORT SMITH — A Northwest Arkansas city leader criticized a federal agency Thursday for developing an Illinois River watershed protection plan after cities already have spent millions of dollars improving water quality. Read More »
State moves to get sewer fixed at river
Buffalo’s spring popularity cited in repair of lift station
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS — Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel on Tuesday asked a circuit judge for a preliminary injunction to stop untreated sewage from flowing into a Buffalo National River tributary. Read More »
Groups reach pact, clearing way for plant
Phosphorus at heart of issue
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS — An Oklahoma advocacy group on Monday agreed to end its legal objection to a small, regional sewer plant being built in Northwest Arkansas. Read More »
TRAVELERS’ CHECK: Do-gooder puts driver in bad spot
ROGERS — People should do at least one nice thing for another person every day, but the good deed shouldn’t be staying back to allow another driver to turn left across a congested street. Read More »
Just like Atlanta?
A handful of Tulsa businessmen is backing a proposal to land the 2020 Summer Olympics. They insist the idea isn’t far-fetched, saying their city is ...
TULSA — Alderman John Eagleton concedes that initially, the notion of Tulsa being the perfect spot for the 2020 Summer Olympics is “belly-laugh funny.” Eagleton and businessman Neil Mavis are among a small group of Tulsans discussing the possibility of their city following Atlanta as the country’s next Olympic venue. Read More »
GRIDLOCK GURU Flashing yellows head north
Flashing yellow left-turn arrows went into use in Fort Smith three years ago. Read More »
New winter wallop predicted for region
Emergency management officials on Tuesday geared up for the expected arrival Thursday of freezing rain, sleet and snow. Read More »
Witness upholds research methods
Tyson attorney knocks numbers
TULSA — A Purdue University researcher spent Monday defending his work in a federal lawsuit as a defense attorney suggested flawed calculations led him to decide phosphorus from poultry manure is reaching Lake Tenkiller. Read More »
TRAVELERS’ CHECK: Road salt in state has small harm
SPRINGDALE — Humans often face decisions about whether a short-term gain is worth the long-term consequence. Read More »
GRIDLOCK GURU Misplaced police are drug team
William Cullen found it weird to see a Springdale police officer monitoring traffic on Interstate 540, about 20 miles south of his town. Read More »
TRAVELERS’ CHECK: On time? Board isn’t always right
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS — Most people arriving by car at Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport take on tasks in an exact order. Read More »
EPA study of river could trump lawsuit
A judge is poised to decide if poultry companies must change how they operate in the Illinois River watershed long before the Environmental Protection Agency finishes a detailed evaluation of the area. Read More »
Dim roads can reflect on a city
FAYETTEVILLE — Fayetteville resident John Duncan says his city should see the light and make driving bright at night. Read More »
Expert refutes state’s findings
Witness: Errors in litter evidence
TULSA — One of Oklahoma’s key expert witnesses erred by assuming phosphorus washed from a farm field ends up in the Illinois River or its tributaries, a water quality expert testified Tuesday. Read More »
Didn’t check other sources, expert attests
Phosphorus in watershed same as elsewhere, he says
TULSA — A water quality expert on Monday testified that Oklahoma failed to investigate commercial fertilizer, septic tanks, sewer plants and family pets as potential sources of phosphorus in the Illinois River. Read More »
Differences found on youths placed by exchange firms
Six companies placing foreign exchange students in Arkansas schools did not meet a new deadline to register with the state, Arkansas Secretary of State Charlie Daniels’ office reported Wednesday. Read More »
Trial’s debate swings to cattle
Poultry not only polluter
TULSA — Cattle in the Illinois River watershed do most of their defecating in or near streams, making it likely for the manure’s phosphorus to reach streams, a veterinary toxicologist testified Tuesday. Read More »
TRAVELERS’ CHECK Flier still due $368 from Delta
Delta Air Lines won’t have Bentonville businessman Bob Bland to kick around any more. Read More »
Conservation effort looking for support
Improving Illinois River watershed is goal
FAYETTEVILLE — Three years ago a mechanical tree planter rolled across White River bottomland owned by Fayetteville physician C.R. Magness, plopping loblolly pine saplings into what once was a hay pasture. Read More »
Airports wait to get word on scanners
The Transportation Security Administration plans to put 150 “backscatter” machines at airport security checkpoints next year, but the federal agency hasn’t decided whether any of the controversial full-body scanners will be placed in Arkansas. Read More »
FRANKLIN COUNTY Instability closes part of Pig Trail
Arkansas 23 shut north of Cass
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas 23’s on-again, off-again relationship with motorists hit the skids again Tuesday. Read More »
GRIDLOCK GURU
LOWELL — Robert J. Smith’s column does not appear today. Read More »
Experts of state called wrong
Use of manure ‘not significant’
TULSA — Bird manure’s use as crop fertilizer does not affect the Illinois River or Lake Tenkiller to “any significant extent,” an environmental engineer testified Wednesday in U.S. District Court. Read More »
‘Solid waste’ cut as claim in poultry suit
Judge cites federal law; defense to start case today
TULSA — A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed one of Oklahoma’s key claims against Arkansas poultry companies, ruling that bird manure isn’t “solid waste” under the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976. Read More »
Poultry firms set for defense
Testimony to begin Tuesday
LITTLE ROCK — Farmers who testified in the first half of a federal trial suggested last week they did nothing to help the state of Oklahoma’s case against Arkansas poultry companies. Read More »
GRIDLOCK GURU: In Lowell, processor slows light
Northwest Arkansas — The worst traffic signal is whichever one slows a driver down the most. Read More »
Scientist explains e-mails
Trial told ‘edits’ part of process
TULSA — An Ohio limnologist on Tuesday struggled to explain his use of the word “deleting” in an email that seems to show he got rid of information that disagreed with researchers’ conclusions about the effects of the nutrient phosphorus on Lake Tenkiller. Read More »
TRAVELERS’ CHECK: Avoiding fee is not convenient
LOWELL — Allegiant Air sells 90 percent of its plane tickets through the company’s Web site, and buying that way costs an extra $14 per ticket. Read More »
Appeal of overnight lines lies in goal, chance to bond
LITTLE ROCK — Amanda Dillingham is adept at being among the first. Read More »
GRIDLOCK GURU: City finds no need for signal
LOWELL — Mike Bartholomew of Springdale figures Don Tyson Parkway needs another traffic signal. Read More »
FORT SMITH: Man killed near bus had former grazes with law
Threatened to stab father in July
LITTLE ROCK — The Fort Smith man killed Wednesday by a police officer’s bullet near a Fort Smith Transit bus threatened to kill his own father with a knife in July, a police report shows. Read More »