OPINION | MASTERSON ONLINE: Taking the shot
We weren't certain what to expect other than the typical prick of a needle when Jeanetta and I showed up at the North Arkansas Regional Medical Center last week to receive our initial Pfizer covid vac...
January 23, 2021
OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Not smiling now
I hope the world-famous Gravette-area resident who forced his way into the Capitol alongside a couple of hundred others on Jan. 6 feels his moment of fame was worth the enjoyment he's about to face in...
January 19, 2021
OPINION | MASTERSON ONLINE: 'Ghost' voters
With many allegations surrounding the November election, I wondered how many states, if any, might have overstated the number of registered voters when compared with how many were actually eligible to...
January 17, 2021
OPINION | MASTERSON ONLINE: Back on the Buffalo again
Just when you thought the karst-laden Buffalo River watershed had eluded any threat of possible contamination by the removal of a misplaced hog factory, another possible threat to that river (and othe...
January 16, 2021
OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: What's that I spy?
Many witnesses in Hawaii put unidentified flying objects back in the news last week when they said they watched a bright blue oblong UFO hovering in the skies above Oahu. Several recorded their sighti...
January 12, 2021
OPINION | MASTERSON ONLINE: Getting the Nod
I've experienced many so-called GodNods over the course of living seven-plus decades. One from nearly two decades past leaps readily to mind when I attempt to list them all.
It was March 26, 2002, wh...
January 10, 2021
OPINION | MASTERSON ONLINE: Lost art of saying no
My inability to say no--and stand behind it--has always been a personal shortcoming, beginning not long after the birth of son Brandon, and carrying through after daughter Anna arrived seven years lat...
January 9, 2021
OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Imprints left
A social media post asked what imprints you will leave on the sands of Earth.
In light of how fragile and temporary our stays in this wondrous yet troubled world are, I'm not certain any of us will f...
January 7, 2021
OPINION | MASTERSON ONLINE: Jailhouse murder
In 1984, not long after returning to my native state to head investigative efforts for the Arkansas Democrat, I became embroiled in the 24-year-old murder of a Black U.S. Army veteran that would stun ...
January 3, 2021
OPINION | MASTERSON ONLINE: Striving for clarity
After 50 years in this business of journalism, I apparently have yet to master the art of expressing myself clearly enough for some readers who take their valuable time to pen letters to the editor ac...
January 2, 2021
OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: I'm offended too
I've lately become confused over how so many Americans say they are offended.
All this offensiveness has led me to surrender and join the legion of immature whiners to compile a list of some matters ...
December 29, 2020
OPINION | MASTERSON ONLINE: Credibility vital
I've previously told readers of the fellow (his name escapes me today) who two decades ago told me that something as simple as credibility would be worth money in the future.
At the time, I was sligh...
December 27, 2020
OPINION | MASTERSON ONLINE: Money taints politics
Bear with me as I express my biggest peeve with our election campaigns in the modern-day America we've so willingly embraced.
I'll begin with a little story about a longtime friend. Pat Moles was ele...
December 26, 2020
OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Hallmark holiday
With Christmas only three days away, we've decided while cowering in covid seclusion just how we'll spend our special day in the most festive way possible.
We will remain housebound for the day (noth...
December 22, 2020
OPINION | MASTERSON ONLINE: Taking a shot
I have an important decision to make in the coming four or five months. So do you.
Will we take the covid-19 vaccine, or choose to decline and take our chances of becoming infected and perhaps windin...
December 20, 2020