Stories by Brenda Blagg

OPINION | BRENDA BLAGG: Pay close attention to the details, not just Arkansas’ campaign ads Perhaps campaign advertising should contain a simple warning: The following may contain falsehoods or misleading assertions amid kernels of truth.As the end of this year's election season nears, t... November 2, 2022

Who’s going to lead? Arkansas officials this week projected that barely more than half of this state's eligible voters will bother to vote in the Nov. 8 general election.That's not exactly how the secretary of sta... October 26, 2022

OPINION | BRENDA BLAGG: Check out your ballot issues, races before stepping up to the voting machine With early voting starting next week in Arkansas, here are some quick tips for voters not yet prepared to vote in the Nov. 8 general election.The first will show you exactly what will be on your ballo... October 19, 2022

OPINION | BRENDA BLAGG: An easy way to vote on Arkansas’ ballot issues: No, no, no, no Let's make this simple. Arkansas voters should reject all four of the proposed constitutional amendments on the Nov.8 ballot.The first three were proposed by the Arkansas Legislature and the fourt... October 12, 2022

BRENDA BLAGG: Ethics kerfuffle dramatic, but time will tell whether Senate holds senator accountable for dishonesty So far, so good.There is evidence that the Arkansas Senate can -- and will -- hold a member to account under its code of ethics.Never mind that the Senate code has been around since the late 1990s. Se... October 5, 2022

OPINION | BRENDA BLAGG: State’s voters will clear the air on recreational marijuana’s future The Arkansas Supreme Court's review of that pending lawsuit over a recreational marijuana amendment came to a quick conclusion last week.Consequently, votes for or against what will be Issue 4 on ... September 28, 2022

OPINION | BRENDA BLAGG: Marijuana amendment’s future rests with THC (The High Court) Yes, recreational marijuana is on Arkansas' Nov. 8 general election ballot.But votes for or against proposed Issue 4, which would legalize use by adults, may not count.That fact might not be clear... September 21, 2022

OPINION | BRENDA BLAGG: Without a change, beneficiaries of student loan forgiveness may get a higher state tax bill Wouldn't you know it?Arkansas is one of just a few states that may take a share of the federal student loan forgiveness recently promised by President Joe Biden.Remember, more than 40 million Amer... September 14, 2022

OPINION | BRENDA BLAGG: State’s gubernatorial victor will make history, whether it’s Jones or Sanders Recent news reports painted a bleak financial picture for one gubernatorial candidate and underscored a huge advantage for another.It is exactly the kind of fundraising imbalance anticipated when Sara... September 7, 2022

OPINION | BRENDA BLAGG: New $50 million fund may only be first installment on school safety issues The Arkansas School Safety Commission continues to fine tune its recommendations, which are due to Gov. Asa Hutchinson later this year.The governor reinstated the commission on June 10 in the aftermat... August 24, 2022

OPINION | BRENDA BLAGG: Legislature gets in, out of session quickly Gov. Asa Hutchinson got what he wanted last week, both in terms of what the Arkansas Legislature did in special session and in the way it happened.Lawmakers were in and out of Little Rock quickly as t... August 17, 2022

OPINION | BRENDA BLAGG: Raid on ex-president’s home a history-making moment This is a week of celebration, despondence, disbelief, anger, worry and fear for Americans.The wave of conflicting emotions was largely true when the only news of the week was the historic action by t... August 10, 2022

OPINION | BRENDA BLAGG: Fights over whether voters will decide recreational marijuana, casino amendments continue Changing who decides whether to certify the popular name and ballot title of ballot issues in Arkansas apparently hasn't taken controversy out of the process.The responsibility used to fall to the... August 3, 2022

OPINION | BRENDA BLAGG: Hearings build case that president chose to violate oath to the nation Months deep into their investigation of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, House Select Committee members do not mince words.They have learned a lot, will learn more and want to see those responsi... July 27, 2022

OPINION | BRENDA BLAGG: Groups favoring, opposing Pope County casino battle it out over constitutional amendment Legalization of recreational marijuana and a proposal to keep a casino out of Pope County may be on Arkansas' general election ballot in November.Petitioners for both issues submitted signatures b... July 13, 2022

OPINION | BRENDA BLAGG: Attack on democracy detailed in congressional hearings If you haven't yet tuned into the ongoing hearings about the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, it is high time you did.The democracy Americans celebrated on Independence Day this wee... July 6, 2022

OPINION | BRENDA BLAGG: After overturn of Roe, how will state’s “trigger” law be enforced? The availability of abortion care for Arkansas women disappeared quickly last week.It had been severely limited. Now, it's gone.Attorney General Leslie Rutledge certified the state's "tri... June 29, 2022

OPINION | BRENDA BLAGG: As millions watch, Jan. 6 committee connects the dots on Trump’s role in Capitol attack Perhaps expectations were unduly low as the Jan. 6 insurrection committee hearings began last week.No one was sure who would watch or for how long, but revelations from the committee's months-long... June 22, 2022

OPINION | BRENDA BLAGG: Americans get a chance for a deeper look into what happened at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 Be honest. Just how much do you really know about the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol?Probably not enough. At least not yet.All of us know something, assuming we've at least viewed ... June 8, 2022

OPINION | BRENDA BLAGG: Could mass murders in Uvalde, Buffalo so close to Election Day actually produce movement on gun legislation? Buffalo, N.Y., couldn't even bury the last of the grandmothers gunned down in a grocery store before there was another mass murder in this country.The latest target was an elementary school in a s... June 1, 2022

OPINION | BRENDA BLAGG: Hendren sought to put “people over politics” with new organization Candidates weren't the only ones anxious to know the outcome of Tuesday's Arkansas primary elections.So, too, was a relatively new player in this state's elections, Common Ground Arkansas.... May 25, 2022

OPINION | BRENDA BLAGG: Abortion, gun violence, racism may motivate voters Another mass shooting. More innocent victims, this time the obvious targets of a hate crime.That happened in Buffalo, N.Y., where an 18-year-old white gunman massacred 10 people at a neighborhood groc... May 18, 2022

OPINION | BRENDA BLAGG: In what’s likely a sure defeat, Democrats want senators on the record about abortion Legislation to codify the Roe v. Wade protections for abortion rights can't pass the U.S. Senate, so why will the Senate consider it?The Women's Health Protection Act is scheduled for a vote t... May 11, 2022

OPINION | BRENDA BLAGG: Revelation of Supreme Court draft shows likelihood of a historic decision on abortion rights The premature release of a U.S. Supreme Court draft opinion that signals Roe vs. Wade will be overturned is reinvigorating women voters, stirring political passions in ways that now make November'... May 4, 2022

OPINION | BRENDA BLAGG: Who will decide what Arkansas should do with a projected $1 billion fiscal year-end surplus? Arkansas could be sitting on a $1 billion general revenue surplus as the fiscal year ends on June 30.That's well up from the $600 million the state had projected and built into the next state budg... April 27, 2022

OPINION | BRENDA BLAGG: Sanders, Boozman go with heavy use of campaign ads, but not much in-person contact with voters With primary elections scarcely more than a month away, this has to rank as one of the more uninformative political seasons in Arkansas in recent memory.Yes, there is television advertising out there,... April 20, 2022

OPINION | BRENDA BLAGG: At the end of Jackson’s nomination process, justice Soon-to-be Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson finally got the respect she was due last week at the White House celebration of her historic confirmation.It came just a day after the U.S. Senat... April 13, 2022

OPINION | BRENDA BLAGG: Days after a judge ruled four Arkansas voting laws invalid, the Supreme Court put them into effect again The courts can move quickly after all.The Arkansas Supreme Court proved it last week, reinstating four state voting laws within days of their being found invalid by a lower court.Pulaski County Circui... April 6, 2022

OPINION | BRENDA BLAGG: Judge makes ruling clear: State’s new voting laws won’t withstand constitutional scrutiny Four new state voter laws, each of which was recently declared unconstitutional, could still complicate the upcoming May elections.Pulaski County Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen recently ruled that the ... March 30, 2022

OPINION | BRENDA BLAGG: Nominee an excellent match for Supreme Court expectations Soon, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson will be a U.S. Supreme Court associate justice. Or, she certainly should be.Her historic appointment moved front and center on Monday with the start of Jackson's ... March 23, 2022

OPINION | BRENDA BLAGG: Celebrating Sunshine Sunshine Week, America's celebration of the public's right to know what its governments do, comes this year at a particularly sobering time.The annual observance began Sunday and continues thr... March 16, 2022

OPINION | BRENDA BLAGG: Arkansas’ political filings continue to show strong influence of GOP The surprise, if there was one with the close of the state's political filing period last week, was that so many people actually want to hold office in this time of divided politics.A total of 446... March 9, 2022

OPINION | BRENDA BLAGG: Outdoors lovers celebrate five decades of national reverence, relevance for Buffalo River It has been 50 years now since some determined Arkansas people, led by conservationists and outdoors enthusiasts, saved the Buffalo River for the rest of us.In the 1960s, plans emerged to build two hy... March 2, 2022

OPINION | BRENDA BLAGG: Lawmakers unwilling to give senator running for (slightly) higher office an attention-getting platform The Arkansas Senate apparently won't be taking up any of three anti-abortion bills in the ongoing fiscal session.Last week, senators voted 20-11 to table for the rest of this session three resolut... February 23, 2022

OPINION | BRENDA BLAGG: Hutchinson hopes to bolster law enforcement, state's prison space in final months as governor Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Monday set an ambitious agenda for the Arkansas Legislature as it convened for this year's fiscal session.It was Hutchinson's final State of the State Address to a joint... February 16, 2022

OPINION | BRENDA BLAGG: Republican committee ignores reality in declaration over "discourse" of Jan. 6 There is really no excuse for the Republican National Committee's description of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol as "ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political disco... February 9, 2022

OPINION | BRENDA BLAGG: Hutchinson earns national attention in role with governors association Gov. Asa Hutchinson certainly tried to take full advantage of the exposure offered by his chairmanship of the National Governors Association and its recent convention.Tucked into the week's activi... February 2, 2022

OPINION | BRENDA BLAGG: Sanders, with a huge war chest, makes gubernatorial contest lopsided The filing period hasn't even opened, yet this year's governor's race in Arkansas appears to be over.At least that's the logical conclusion when you see how well, or how poorly, the va... January 26, 2022

OPINION | BRENDA BLAGG: The numbers show a "rough January" isn't over yet As the New Year dawned, Arkansas was again experiencing a spike in new covid-19 cases.It was bad enough. But it would get worse.The number of new cases was just shy of 4,000 on New Year's Eve but ... January 19, 2022

OPINION | BRENDA BLAGG: Judge's past political activity becomes issue in election district lawsuit Litigation over redistricting in Arkansas was fully expected. But it has come with unexpected, additional controversy.The American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas filed a federal lawsuit late last y... January 12, 2022

BRENDA BLAGG: Worries about the stability of our democracy persist one year after Capitol riots The new year begins with the nation at a political crossroads.The one-year anniversary of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol is upon us. Serious questions loom about preservation of the democ... January 5, 2022

OPINION | BRENDA BLAGG: Vaccinations remain most promising barrier to omicron's spread, but resistance lingers The message preached by state and federal authorities is the same it has been for months: Get vaccinated to protect yourself, your family and others in this ongoing pandemic.Can those who haven't ... December 29, 2021

OPINION | BRENDA BLAGG: Christmas delivers many reasons for concern People the world over will remember this Christmas.The continuing pandemic, with the rapid spread of another variant in various parts of the world, would be reason enough. People are still getting sic... December 22, 2021

OPINION | BRENDA BLAGG: Lawmakers reject colleague's effort to turn tax-cut session into a campaign event Thank you to the 23 Arkansas state senators and 61 state representatives who knew it was time to go home last week and voted to adjourn the special session of the Legislature.They had done what Gov. A... December 15, 2021

Opinion | BRENDA BLAGG: Gubernatorial race's Democrats, Libertarian campaign in Sanders' shadow As Republican Sarah Huckabee Sanders prepares for an apparent cake walk to her party's nomination for Arkansas governor, there's a bit more mystery about who she might face in November.Five ot... December 1, 2021

OPINION | BRENDA BLAGG: Sanders sparks political game of musical chairs involving Rutledge, Griffin Leslie Rutledge wasn't the first Republican to bow out of Arkansas' 2022 governor's race.The state's attorney general, term limited and looking for a new job, entered the field in July... November 24, 2021

BLAGG: Arkansas' piece $4 billion of the bipartisan infrastructure bill will go mostly for highways Arkansas' piece of the $1 trillion federal infrastructure bill is something more than $4 billion in funding for the next five years.That's a huge infusion of money for highways, bridge repairs... November 17, 2021

OPINION | BRENDA BLAGG: A new poll of Arkansas residents shows most have witnessed death, illness in pandemic Covid-19 has directly touched more Arkansans than you might imagine. The recently released annual Arkansas Poll found that 69 percent of respondents personally know someone who has been hospitalized ... November 10, 2021

OPINION | BRENDA BLAGG: Delays mean Arkansas redistricting happening at a fast clip Proposed apportionment maps released last week likely define how most Arkansas legislative districts will be drawn for the next 10 years. The Arkansas Board of Apportionment -- made up of the governo... November 3, 2021

OPINION | BRENDA BLAGG: The rolled dice settle in the longstanding fight over Pope County's casino license Arkansas Supreme Court members broke out their dictionaries to resolve long-running, controversial litigation for the sole casino license for Pope County. The court, or rather a four-member majority ... October 27, 2021