Stories by Greg Harton

OPINION | GREG HARTON: Sanders selection to articulate GOP response to State of the Union Address is puzzling Selection of Sarah Huckabee Sanders to deliver the Republican response to President Joe Biden's State of the Union Address surprised me, but I may be using measures -- like achievement -- that hav... February 5, 2023

OPINION | GREG HARTON: Is “civic love” a better idea than apathy or distrust? It will come as no surprise to anyone paying attention: When it comes to civic engagement -- that is, being directly involved in local government and the community in which you live -- a lot of people... January 29, 2023

OPINION | GREG HARTON: Lawmakers lash out at drag show performances for children in an unsurprising test of limits on expression I sat in the Walton Arts Center theater watching a man on stage dressed as a woman, affecting the mannerisms typically associated with femininity and singing/speaking in a soprano voice.So I thought o... January 22, 2023

OPINION | GREG HARTON: How will Arkansas’ public education fare under a new governor’s leadership? The idea that parents matter in the education of their children isn't exactly an Einstein-level discovery.They've always mattered and too many shirk their direct involvement their child's ... January 15, 2023

OPINION | GREG HARTON: Speaker drama doesn’t bode well for the next two years Was it "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" or "The Taking of Pelham 123"?Last week's historic clash over the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives made me wonder. As I finish... January 8, 2023

OPINION | GREG HARTON: Coger’s tenacity, disliked by county leaders, wins case in name of open government Score one for Beth Coger. And for transparency in government.Coger refused to accept the legal gymnastics Washington County's leadership went through to keep her from observing deliberations affec... January 1, 2023

OPINION | GREG HARTON: Just a few words about the significance of Christmas Day This being Christmas morning, the mission -- should any newspaper opinion writer choose to accept it -- is to put together a few hundred words that lend significance to the day.It is, for sure, a day ... December 25, 2022

OPINION | GREG HARTON: Hope can be a wonderful, and deceptive, thing I'm no scientist. That's no theory. It's a fact established by years of empirical evidence.But it doesn't take a scientific rocket (thanks for that description, Danny Ford) to grasp th... December 18, 2022

OPINION | GREG HARTON: The debate over deal for Griner’s release complex yet simple That Brittney Griner was released from prison in Russia is news that should to be universally celebrated here in the United States. The U.S. government did what the U.S. government ought to do -- look... December 11, 2022

OPINION | GREG HARTON: Hillary Clinton, back in Northwest Arkansas, offers thoughts for office seekers The most surprising fact to come out of former U.S. senator Hillary Clinton's appearance in Bentonville last week is that she had never been to Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.I'll give... December 4, 2022

OPINION | GREG HARTON: Researchers think they can help with inexplicable slowdowns on highways Millions of Americans took to the nation's highways last week in pursuit of turkey and reunions with families and friends. I was certainly among them, driving south to Sherwood Wednesday, then a l... November 27, 2022

OPINION | GREG HARTON: Pick for University of Arkansas’ new chancellor was dramatic, historic I sat in a routine meeting last Wednesday. Rusty Turner, this newspaper's editor, turned his attention to his smartphone.We were discussing possible editorials for the next week or so. I wondered ... November 20, 2022

OPINION | GREG HARTON: A few thoughts on jail expansion rejections in Benton, Washington counties and Sanders’ victory speech Several days removed from the end of the campaign season (though not for runoff candidates), it's tempting to write about anything but the election cycle we just went through.Rejection of larger j... November 13, 2022

OPINION | GREG HARTON: Time to pick Arkansas’ next governor The state's gubernatorial campaign has pitted the hard-working Chris Jones and the hardly visible -- except in TV commercials -- Sarah Huckabee Sanders.And I should mention Ricky Dale Harrington i... November 6, 2022

OPINION | GREG HARTON: Jail expansion proposals, opposition featured in podcasts Voters across the state have a lot of decisions to make on Nov. 8, Election Day, or during the early voting period that precedes it.Election Day will be here before you know it. The ballot covers a lo... October 23, 2022

OPINION | GREG HARTON: Not a fan of candidates who appear to avoid questions, forums Political advice these days, at least for people who appear to be shoo-ins for the office they seek, seems to be focused on individual victory to the exclusion of public accountability or civic respon... October 16, 2022

OPINION | GREG HARTON: Exploring local history is vital to region’s present, future In the ongoing love/hate relationship I've got with Facebook, perhaps one of the features I appreciate the most is its ability to pluck photos and events from the past and show them to me today.It... October 2, 2022

OPINION | GREG HARTON: Why do we mourn people we’ve never met? Did you mourn the death of Queen Elizabeth II?It would be a shock if you didn't observe some of the celebrations of the queen's life or the many, many shows documenting her 70 years on the thr... September 25, 2022

OPINION | GREG HARTON: Boozman’s campaign softens up a little after defeating hard-right challengers John Boozman likely ensured himself another six years in the United States Senate when he avoided a runoff in the GOP primary against far-right challengers Jake Bequette and Jan Morgan, as well as &qu... September 18, 2022

OPINION | GREG HARTON: Historical recognition not an easy road What days of remembrance we find ourselves in.On this Sunday, we remember a sunny September Tuesday 21 years ago when the skies of two American cities were darkened by the rising smoke of death and de... September 11, 2022

OPINION | GREG HARTON: When did protecting democracy become such a divisive concept? Joe Biden gave a speech the other night in front of Philadelphia's Independence Hall. It was never going to be a speech Donald Trump supporters embraced.Part of what the president delivered sounde... September 4, 2022

OPINION | GREG HARTON: An indebted nation of students asks forgiveness Let's take a moment and consider that the good intentions we almost always assign to our own actions might just motivate others as well.Yes, that will lead to occasional disappointment, but it&#39... August 28, 2022

OPINION | GREG HARTON: Adding to local history recognition should not start with erasing some of it "I just think it's time to celebrate a different kind of history."-- D'Andre Jones, Fayetteville City Council memberFayetteville's Black Heritage Preservation Commission has prop... August 21, 2022

OPINION | GREG HARTON: Love your gas-powered vehicle? It’s fine; the EV police aren’t coming for you People who, these days, dig in their heels against electric vehicles remind me a little of Charlton Heston.No, I'm not talking about his dystopian 1973 movie of a future, "Soylent Green"... August 14, 2022

OPINION | GREG HARTON: It’s getting more crowded in Northwest Arkansas; is there really a painless way to deal with it? One's perception of Northwest Arkansas is largely defined by his or her direct, day-to-day environment.For some, it's becoming the mountain biking capital of the Midwest, but if you've nev... August 7, 2022

OPINION | GREG HARTON: Being a slave to pre-agreed consensus isn’t what I remember from American Government One of my most interesting college professors taught me in my freshman fall semester.I hadn't grown up around many people who went to college. I had little idea what to expect at Arkansas State Un... July 31, 2022

OPINION | GREG HARTON: Sports radio specializes in debates that will never end Sports talk radio can be excruciating.No, let me revise that a bit: Summertime sports talk radio can be excruciating.And I'm a sports fan.In recent days, I've watched tennis matches from Wimbl... July 17, 2022

OPINION | GREG HARTON: Hamilton, the one from Indiana, knew respect for democracy, law is vital to America’s future Thirty-five years ago this week, a U.S. Marine Corps colonel sat before a joint congressional committee attempting to explain his part in secretly diverting money from arms sales to Iran, in hopes of ... July 10, 2022

OPINION | GREG HARTON: The Supreme Court says Congress is the answer, but will it fulfill its responsibility? As the U.S. Supreme Court's term ended Thursday, a lot of Americans breathed a sigh of relief. At least until after October, the nation won't have to worry about a new ruling that upends some ... July 3, 2022

Greg Harton: Fairness has to be an effort When writing a news story, reporters always have to make choices about which facts are most important and which phrasing is most accurate in delivering the information.A primary example is when a repo... June 26, 2022

OPINION | GREG HARTON: Jan. 6 hearings let Republicans bear the facts: There was no stolen election Among reasons I voted Republican in the 2016 presidential election -- and yes, that means I voted for Donald Trump -- was the idea of bringing someone who wasn't a career politician into the White... June 19, 2022

OPINION | GREG HARTON: Is declining to wear a logo really “hate?” Last week, my beloved St. Louis Cardinals played the Tampa Bay Rays and, sad to say, the Rays beat them in all three games.It was tough for Cards fans, but the team they were playing was making bigger... June 12, 2022

OPINION | GREG HARTON: Don’t make nation’s challenges sound so easy to resolve Jim Hendren's Common Ground Arkansas last month attempted to make the politically moderate middle more relevent in the state's politics. And by the state's politics, I mean Republican poli... June 6, 2022

OPINION | GREG HARTON: With political will, the nation can find answers to its violence Last week, every effort to write a Sunday column about anything other than the murders of a classroom full of fourth-graders quickly became pointless.I tried. It's not a column I want to write, ce... May 29, 2022

OPINION | GREG HARTON: Bigger jails or a moratorium on more jail beds: What’s the best approach to criminal justice? The fight over Northwest Arkansas' capacity for incarcerating people has intensified in recent days. The questions over how to approach the subject are varied.Are people in the mood to pay the tax... May 22, 2022

NWA EDITORIAL | Walton Arts Center stays true to the educational value of the arts When the Walton Arts Center opened on Fayetteville's Dickson Street back in April 1992, there was naturally a lot of excitement about the facility's capacity to attract big-time shows unlike a... May 18, 2022

OPINION | GREG HARTON: Dreaming of the ideal in politics I always struggle with romanticizing the early days of my political awareness. I grew up in central Arkansas during a time when Democrats ruled the roost pretty much statewide. Sure, there was that gu... May 15, 2022

NWA EDITORIAL | Hutchinson continues to tease what may come in 2024 It's not easy to become president of the United States.Donald Trump made it look easy in 2016, shocking most every political watcher. Hillary Clinton had the stronger political resume, but she lac... May 11, 2022

OPINION | GREG HARTON: The Supreme Court springs a leak With more than 20 years of writing opinion columns, I've covered a lot of topics, from local political issues to national ones.The one I've tried to mostly stay away from is abortion. It's... May 8, 2022

OPINION | GREG HARTON: O unity, wherefore art thou? I don't give money to political campaigns. I don't sign petitions. I don't put political campaign signs in my yard.I'm an American, free to support whoever I want, but as a newspaper g... May 1, 2022

OPINION | GREG HARTON: A few thoughts about covid-19 changes and gubernatorial campaigning, Sanders style A few odds and ends on my mind:•••It's almost a pleasure to see covid-19 reports these days, comparatively speaking.Rather than hundreds of new cases in Benton, Washington, Sebastia... April 24, 2022

OPINION | GREG HARTON: In Hollywood, the harshest penalty for a slap heard around the world appears to be denial of the limelight The longer a journalist works, the higher the chances he or she has been called out by someone in a public meeting over some piece of information reported in the newspaper or other news outlet.When it... April 10, 2022

OPINION | GREG HARTON: Voting laws passed in wake of Trump’s “big lie” deserve scrutiny, but how much? Through my many years of publishing columns, it's been quite clear that many readers never find my writing quite so skilled and brilliant as when I happen to agree with their own conclusions.Judge... April 3, 2022

OPINION | GREG HARTON: United Methodists, after years of fighting, appear to know the end is near The Democrat-Gazette's March 19 Religion Page offered a review of the mostly united but occasionally tumultuous 54-year history of the United Methodist Church.Readers may be surprised its history ... March 27, 2022

OPINION | GREG HARTON: Gov. Hutchinson sits down for an interview as he approaches end of final term Term limits are a double-edge sword.In theory, they prevent the dreaded "career politician" that a lot of people think is a big part of the problem in government. President Joe Biden, these ... March 20, 2022

Opinion | GREG HARTON: A coach’s mid-field prayer gets a constitutional penalty flag Leslie Rutledge continues her practice of globbing onto distant litigation as long as it provides a partisan opportunity for state-paid promotion of, well, Leslie Rutledge.Last week's subject was ... March 13, 2022

OPINION | GREG HARTON: Have Americans lost the art of getting along when it comes to opinions? It seems easy for some folks, but I've always had a hard time classifying people as either entirely upright, good and moral or entirely evil and lacking in human decency.Unless we're in a disc... March 6, 2022

OPINION | GREG HARTON: Vaccines’ trigger of body’s amazing defense seems miraculous Got religion?If anything good might be said of the worldwide spread of covid-19, it's that the disease has prompted a lot of people to find God.Well, not exactly.Rather, it seems it's inspired... February 27, 2022

OPINION | GREG HARTON: Governor helps heat up jail, prison debate with expansion plans Arkansas would be an even more wonderful place if it didn't need new jail or prison space.People within our judicial systems and law enforcement agencies say the status quo isn't working. The ... February 20, 2022

OPINION | GREG HARTON: Stay alert to changing community conditions Civic involvement doesn't have to mean running for mayor or serving on a city council.People seem busy these days. Too busy, it sometimes seems, to be involved in the community decisions that must... February 13, 2022