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Stories by Mike Masterson
OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Who I am "An unexamined life is not worth living."--Socrates.Warning: I am far from a psychologist, but I've had time on my hands of late to better examine my life. Accordingly, I've spent mo... August 7, 2022
MASTERSON ONLINE: Intro to chemo Chemotherapy for many Arkansans, including a number of close friends, has become a reality over the years. Little wonder, since it represents a primary and effective defense against cancer.Until now f... August 6, 2022
OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Earned respect The temperature on this late July day again was edging toward 95 degrees when I eased into a slot at the Sonic. It was past time for an icy drink to wet my dry mouth.After pushing the red button, I wa... August 2, 2022
OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: John’s GodNod Daughter Anna called in tears the other day after learning some shocking news. "It's been such a terrible day, Dad," she said.It seems a close friend and fellow retired Navy chief, John ... July 31, 2022
OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: The battle begins The time had arrived after weeks of preparation and testing.On this morning I'm face up on a hard treatment table, alone, arms at my side, staring into the single eye of a white plastic-lined line... July 30, 2022
OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: A lot of nothing Editor's note: Mike Masterson is taking the day off. The original version of this column was published July 8, 2008.The more suns that rise and set in my life, the deeper my resignation that I kno... July 26, 2022
OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: The beast invades Every change we experience in our lives can be traced to the moment we detect something is different or amiss.My introduction to internal squamous cell cancer began with a slightly sore throat on my l... July 24, 2022
OPINION | MASTERSON ONLINE: Letters from readers There are times at the laptop when I wonder how many subscribers are reading my words. After my column last week about my ongoing battle with squamous cell cancer, I felt overwhelmed by the responses ... July 23, 2022
OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Battling anew If living teaches us anything, it should be how unpredictable and fleeting it is. This fact is never clearer than when we reach our mid-70s when seemingly half the names and faces on the obituary page... July 19, 2022
OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Fateful collision It happened this time of the year 20 years ago. I was dressing for work when I heard two sharp "bangs" on the patio glass door with the reverberating force of a sonic boom.Taken aback, I wai... July 17, 2022
OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Newport’s plague File this under News of the Weird.It was a night in 1972 that no one who experienced it will ever forget. My phone rang shortly after 10 p.m. on a warm summer's evening in Newport. As we know, tha... July 16, 2022
OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Wrists slapped The biggest question I see lingering in the Lamar School District's recent finding that three middle school students were guilty of locker-room harassment and sexual assault against three fellow s... July 12, 2022
OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: ‘Voyage of Life’ Years ago on a trip to Washington, D.C., I made it a point to visit our National Gallery of Art. I'd encourage you to give this impressive place a visit next time you're there.I've always ... July 10, 2022
OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Editorial seeks resignations I'm rooting around in Huntsville's backyard again following that embarrassing incident on May 24 when Washington County sheriff's deputies discovered Huntsville School board member Duane G... July 9, 2022
OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: From far below As a child, I'd fantasize about digging a hole so deep it would reach the center of the Earth.Yeah, I know, kid-think. Yet betcha I wasn't alone.So today, fellow adults, let's imagine a ho... July 5, 2022
OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: It’s human nature During my tenure as executive editor of the former Northwest Arkansas Times in Fayetteville, I learned a lot about human nature using a simple poster board and a sack of stick-on gold stars.In an effo... July 3, 2022
OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Philosophical urology As odd as it might sound to some, I always enjoy spending time with my urologist, Dr. Scott Ferguson of Harrison.Truth be told, he strings relevant thoughts and words together so well he could easily ... July 2, 2022
OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Nothing ‘afowl’ There's been lots of recent comment and conjecture on social media about the large number of fires at meat-processing plants. People have grown increasingly concerned that perhaps facilities are b... June 28, 2022
OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Moving movie If you have yet to see the box-office-busting "Top Gun: Maverick" and harbor doubts that Hollywood is capable of producing a quality, immensely entertaining movie during this grossly unpopul... June 26, 2022
OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Costly fees, questions Taxpayers in Huntsville's School District must fork over $12,912 in attorneys' fees to Fort Smith attorney Joey McCutchen after the district lost a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed aga... June 25, 2022
OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: From other voices I continue to receive feedback from valued readers over the recent tragedy at Uvalde, Texas, as they share ideas and thoughts on that school shooting and other recent events. Some prefer not be be nam... June 21, 2022
OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Fortify schools Seems everyone has an opinion on how best to prevent school shootings. I do know these often-suicidal killers are never concerned with laws, including the missives posted at virtually every school.Hav... June 19, 2022
OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Being back home "Hey, it's good to be back home again.Sometimes this old farm feels like a long lost friend"--John Denver, "Back Home Again"_____Some still ask why I, after living and working ... June 18, 2022
OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Readers respond Letters to the editor are part of the job when you lay your thoughts and opinions out for others to either appreciate, yawn or disparage. I always weigh the thought rather than the emotion behind each... June 14, 2022
OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Rue remembered My father, retired Lt. Col Rue B. Masterson, has been gone 42 years.Yet 1980, when he unexpectedly stopped by my office at the Hot Springs Sentinel-Record bearing a grim and ashen face, doesn't se... June 12, 2022
OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Summer sojourns Summer's finally dawning and Silver Dollar City's National Kids Fest brings two new entertainment icons to the internationally acclaimed 1880s-style theme park near Branson starting this weeke... June 7, 2022
OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Love bandits When it comes to falling for online romance scams, those seeking suckers found slim pickings in our state.Arkansas actually fared very well in a recent study by the website Social Catfish using popula... June 5, 2022
OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Back to the cove Twenty-six years of weekend reunions at Ken Reeves' lake house floating in Coffman Cove on Bull Shoals Lake are starting to show in the thinning gray hair, multiplying wrinkles and failing eyes of... June 4, 2022
OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Written on a wall More than 20 years have passed since I penned my first column in this space on the Voices page. Yet the message behind it remains as relevant today.Since I suspect many readers have come and gone over... May 31, 2022
OPINION | MASTERSON ONLINE: Spiritual warfare In the wake of national tragedies like the one at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, that claimed the lives of 19 students and two teachers in a single classroom, our polarizing national debate ... May 29, 2022
OPINION | MASTERSON ONLINE: Incumbents lose seats The good people of Huntsville on Tuesday sent a stinging rebuke of their school board's terrible mishandling of the notorious "bean dipping" and "baptism" scandal by voting to ... May 28, 2022
OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Costly defense Ellen Kreth, the national- award-winning publisher of the Madison County Record in Huntsville, published a story the other day detailing how expensive it can be for taxpayers when a school district lo... May 24, 2022
OPINION | MASTERSON ONLINE: Ticks aplenty They're baaack! We pulled two ticks from little Benji the other day, and I found one crabbing up my leg in search of a place to snack.I decided to write about the threatening little bloodsuckers a... May 22, 2022
OPINION | MASTERSON ONLINE: Bowen faculty rebuff The Bowen Law School faculty hath decreed (so let it be written, so let it be done): No longer will Jewish Professor Rob Steinbuch be allowed to select guest speakers to host his own classes for a few... May 21, 2022
OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: FOIA violations That student-on-student sexual abuse scandal continued to play out the other day when Circuit Judge Doug Martin ruled the Huntsville School District Board violated the state's Freedom of Informati... May 17, 2022
OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Day of mystery I suspect few of us exit this life without having at least one mysterious experience we can never explain. I'm prone to refer to some as GodNods.While I'd had several such events over a lifeti... May 15, 2022
OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Our complex, changing faith Feeling as religious or spirit-filled as you may have been 10 or 20 years ago?As children, my brother, sister and I became accustomed to regularly attending Sunday School and church services with our ... May 14, 2022
OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Viable alternative With the uproar over President Joe Biden considering that taxpayers pay off our federally guaranteed student loans, I decided to focus on an effective, less-costly alternative to advanced education.Co... May 10, 2022
OPINION | MASTERSON ONLINE: Beloved mothers The most certain thing about mothers is we can't take a breath in this strange world without coming through them.Yes, males among us must contribute to the process of creating and sustaining life.... May 8, 2022
OPINION | MASTERSON ONLINE: Back to Cranor’s A typical early morning mist was rising from the clear flow and a woodpecker drilled to his heart's content in the background as we gingerly stepped into guide Jerry Killebrew's boat at Cranor... May 7, 2022
OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Customers first Anyone recall the classic admonition reminding every merchant the customer is always right? It's been a long time since I've heard it, though the principle remains as valid as ever.In place of... May 3, 2022
Obits say a lot I read the daily paper front to back, pausing when I happen across a headline or lead paragraph that captures my attention.The handy-dandy iPad supplied by the paper with my subscription makes it easy... May 1, 2022
OPINION | MASTERSON ONLINE: Our changed nation More than 45 years have passed since I packed up a 24-foot Coachman motorhome, bolted a Honda Civic to her rear, and set off from Hot Springs to spend a year writing about the mood of the people along... April 30, 2022
OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: No charges filed After a year of uproar over the alleged sexual abuse of some Huntsville junior high basketball players by fellow students, it turns out none of the adult mandated reporters will be charged for failing... April 26, 2022
OPINION | MASTERSON ONLINE: ‘Les Miz’ coming My favorite Broadway show is returning for a road-show performance on Jan. 19, 2023, at the Fox Theatre in St. Louis.While I realize the 15 times I've seen Victor Hugo's immortal classic &quot... April 24, 2022
OPINION | MASTERSON ONLINE: Conflict at Bowen Readers may wonder why I've become intrigued by the recent controversy over whether faculty members at the William H. Bowen Law School at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock will remain free... April 23, 2022
OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: At a crossroads The historic Christian-based College of the Ozarks in Point Lookout, Mo., remains embroiled in a legal battle with a Biden administration bent on erasing various gender needs while enforcing shared ho... April 19, 2022
OPINION | MASTERSON ONLINE: Past remembered Nearly 50 years have passed since I last walked the streets of downtown Hot Springs. The city has spread out in every direction over those decades, as I discovered the other day after spending two nig... April 17, 2022
OPINION | MASTERSON ONLINE: Electric vehicles, no thanks We've chatted previously about why I'll never consider purchasing or leasing an electric car or truck to make my way along the highways and byways of our nation.Don't misunderstand. I have... April 16, 2022
OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Zero education Since personal finance and our economy represent a major portion of the lives we share, it seems relevant here in National Financial Literacy Month to examine everything our educational systems and pa... April 12, 2022
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