Times Record (Ft. Smith Southwest)
New report alleges censorship at colleges
A “widespread, McCarthyite censorship” campaign by the Trump administration led to the suppression of speech at colleges and universities across the nation, a new report by the American Civil Liberties Union and Amnesty International concluded. The...
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Fire near East Camden now 90% contained
A wildfire near East Camden was 90% contained after burning 2,849 acres as the Arkansas National Guard began scaling back a response that dropped more than 400,000 gallons of water on the fire. National Guard helicopter crews dropped 483 Bambi buckets...
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Cursive is making a comeback in schools
Learning to read and write cursive was once a rite of passage for practically every American schoolchild. Until the early 20th century, children in the United States were generally taught to write in cursive or script, rather than the print writing...
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Nine Fort Smith schools, district improve grades
Fort Smith Public Schools improved its overall state letter grade from a C to a B for 2026, and nine district schools also earned higher grades than last year. The Arkansas Department of Education Division of Elementary and Secondary Education...
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Officials report ICE officer shot, injured man in Texas
An Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and injured a man on Sept. 20 in Austin, officials said, the latest shooting involving federal officers in the United States this year. Austin-Travis County EMS Chief Robert Luckritz said at a news...
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Trump says arch to also serve as military complex
President Donald Trump announced Sept. 20 that his new 250-foot-tall triumphal arch across the Potomac River from the U.S. Capitol – part of a pending lawsuit – will also serve as a military complex. Trump said in a Truth Social post that the arch...
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President Trump to face skeptical world leaders
WASHINGTON – When President Donald Trump addressed the United Nations a year ago, he touted the U.S. bombing of Iran’s nuclear sites just months earlier as “totally obliterating everything” and said he had brought peace between Israel and...
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U.N. mission details U.S., Iran allegations
MOHAMMED HUWAIS/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
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USPS mail ballot changes blocked
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Supreme Court on Sept. 14 declined to let the U.S. Postal Service tighten the use of mail-in ballots ahead of the November midterm elections that will decide control of Congress. The ruling was a loss for President Donald Trump,...
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Johnson: Congress shouldn’t lead AI safety
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said that artificial intelligence developers, not Congress, bear responsibility for ensuring their products are safe and rejected a national moratorium on AI buildout during a Sept. 13 appearance on CNN’s “State of the...
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DIGITAL DETOX
A trove of recent articles bemoan the collapse in recreational reading among younger Americans, with COVID-19 pandemic-related reading declines, artificial intelligence and social media often described as causes. But as the authors of “How Gen Z...
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25th anniversary of 9/11 commemorated
JONATHAN ERNST/REUTERS Volume 144 | No. 215 Questions? Call 479-785-7700 ©2026
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A GENERATION OF AFTERSHOCK
Aquarter-century later, 9/11 still echoes. h The worst terrorist attack in U.S. history has been followed by other seismic events, from a once-in-a-century global pandemic to the rise of artificial intelligence that is transforming commerce, education...
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SEX-TRAFFICKING CRACKDOWN STALLS
WASHINGTON – The Trump administration has repeatedly said the fight against sex trafficking is one of its top priorities. But investigations have stalled and prosecutions declined because of staffing shortages, funding cuts, immigration enforcement...
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‘TRUMPAPALOOZA’
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump has a solution for his party’s midterm woes as Republicans struggle to match Democrats’ election enthusiasm and face major headwinds to keep control of Congress: More Trump. It’s almost time for “Trumpapalooza,”...
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Iran aims to tackle economic issues
DUBAI – Iran said it will step up efforts to tackle problems created by the U.S. sanctions that are crippling its economy, while a senior Iranian official warned of a “painful response” if it comes under further attack. Six months after U.S.-Israeli...
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Mandatory water limits imposed south of Zero Street
Water customers south of Zero Street are under mandatory conservation measures through Sunday after a damaged water main caused significant water loss and left reservoir levels serving the area low. The City of Fort Smith announced Thursday that...
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AN IDLE THREAT
Abus company that left its buses’ engines running while parked in Boston neighborhoods has settled a lawsuit by agreeing to pay $5.6 million in damages for the resulting air pollution. The settlement came in a citizen-enforcement lawsuit under the...
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Immigration delays separate couples
Nicholas Miller hasn’t tried Taco Bell. Or Whataburger. Not because they are hard to find; they are everywhere in Austin. He is saving them for Irina Miller, his wife, for when her green card clears and she crosses the border for the first...
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PRESS UNDER PRESSURE
In his White House Correspondents’ Association dinner speech on July 24, President Donald Trump made his usual diatribes against the news media. He derided the “failing” New York Times and reiterated his complaint that CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins...
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Living history group to retrace Civil War journey
More than 1,000 Louisiana soldiers arrived at Fort Smith in the opening months of the Civil War, only to discover there wasn’t enough room for them inside the fort. They camped instead along the Poteau River before continuing north toward one of the...
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Iran still wants a negotiated end to war
DUBAI – Iran is still seeking a negotiated solution to its conflict with the United States, President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Aug. 31, a day after the two countries resumed hostilities for the first time since late July, driving oil prices up more...
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Arkansas National Guard soldiers return to Ebbing
Seventy-eight Arkansas National Guard soldiers returned home Thursday after a deployment to Washington, D.C., where they supported a public safety mission in the nation’s capital. The soldiers, assigned to the 142nd Field Artillery Brigade, arrived...
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Cup of care &ambition
In 1973, Dolly Parton wrote “I Will Always Love You” to soften the blow of leaving her business partner Porter Wagoner after years of producing hit country duets together. Parton was ready to pursue a solo career. So she played the song for Wagoner to...
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Iran urges opposition to new sanctions
DUBAI – Iran condemned the United States’ new economic sanctions on Aug. 28 as “state terrorism” and said other countries were legally obliged not to implement them. The Iranian foreign ministry’s statement came as mediators stepped up efforts to...
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LGBTQ+ community remembers icon Parton
“If I hadn’t been a girl, I’d have been a drag queen.” One of Dolly Parton’s most iconic oneliners is reverberating anew for the LGBTQ+ community. “She was the outsider who made it big by being herself, and leading with love,” the Tennessee Equality...
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Fort Smith fulfills vision for Butterfield monument
Judge Jim Spears won’t see his vision running along Garrison Avenue, but Phil White intends to keep a promise he made shortly before his death. A life-size steel silhouette of a Wells Fargo stagecoach and team of horses soon will rise from the Farmers...
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ATU-Ozark enrollment hits highest level since 2019
Arkansas Tech University-Ozark Campus has recorded its highest total enrollment since 2019, with more than 2,000 students attending the campus this fall. ATU-Ozark reported 2,095 students enrolled for fall 2026, a 12.3% increase from fall 2025,...
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Government efforts converge on one question
Fort Smith voters will see only one question about changing the city’s form of government on the Nov. 3 ballot, despite two separate efforts successfully putting the issue before voters. Mayor George McGill has signed and issued two proclamations...
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‘We call it the Green Door’
For decades, Fort Smith could see its Air National Guard mission in action. Aircraft sat on the ramp at Ebbing Air National Guard Base. People heard A-10s flying overhead. The gates could open, and families could walk onto the base, touch an aircraft...
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GLOBAL REPUTATION
‘Razorback One, checking in.’ For ground forces engaged in combat operations thousands of miles from Fort Smith, Col. Jonathan Esparza said those words have meant something over the past decade. h “The Flying Razorbacks have become a brand,” said...
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Fort Smith voters get to decide government change
third time was the charm for the Fort Smith Board of Directors, which voted 7-0 Tuesday to put a proposed change in the city’s form of government on the Nov. 3 ballot after two previous attempts failed. The vote, however, created an unusual situation:...
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Trump plan could hit science funding
Most Americans don’t read the rules that govern the federal grants funding science. Those rules, called the Uniform Guidance, shape how cancer research is funded, graduate students are trained, clinical trials are sustained, universities stock their...
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Poll: Trump approval rating hits new low
President Donald Trump’s polling woes continue as he fell to a new record low since his return to the White House, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos survey, with only one in three Americans approving of his job performance. The poll, released Aug. 17,...
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Trump orders South Korea drill cuts
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump on Aug. 16 instructed the Pentagon to “substantially reduce” joint military exercises with long-term Asian ally South Korea, citing the cost of the drills and Seoul’s refusal to take part in actions against...
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River Valley filmmaker’s stories take center stage
The Fort Smith International Film Festival will spotlight River Valley filmmaker and pastor Julio Gómez during a free community screening of two of his films on Thursday, Aug. 20, at The Bakery District. h The event begins at 6:30 p.m. and will feature...
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TRACING HISTORY ON THE TRAIL OF TEARS
NEW ECHOTA, GA – Horror lingers in the knotted sweet gum and bent magnolia trees. To stand here is to feel shock, cruelty and despair emanating from the red clay of north Georgia. Blood is as much a part of this landscape as the honeysuckle...
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U.S. tells Iran it will step up pressure
LONDON – Transit through the Strait of Hormuz appeared to grind to a near standstill on Aug. 14 after two more ships were attacked there and the United States said it could maintain a naval blockade of Iran indefinitely. A senior Iranian source said...
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Al-Qaida, Islamic State group adopting AI
Artificial intelligence may not create a new kind of terrorism, but it makes existing tactics cheaper, faster and easier. That is the central argument of a July report from the U.S.-based think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies. h It...
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Black Rodeo USA debuts in Fort Smith with Aug. 22 event
Fort Smith will host its first Black Rodeo USA event later this month as the Fort Smith Invitational Black Rodeo brings competitors from across the region to Kay Rodgers Park. The one-night event is scheduled Saturday, Aug. 22, at Harper Stadium...
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Critics take aim at Trump vaccine order
President Donald Trump hailed his new order on childhood vaccines as a win for parental choice as doctors slammed the move, saying it could lead to greater risk of diseases that were rarely seen for generations. Trump signed an executive order Aug. 10...
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Officials seek to stop mail-in ballot rules
Less than 90 days out from the midterms, election officials are pleading with the Supreme Court to block the Trump administration from making changes that would allow the U.S. Postal Service to decide who gets mail-in ballots. And after the Postal...
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UAFS move-in to slow traffic on Waldron Road, Grand Avenue
Fort Smith residents should expect heavier-than-normal traffic around the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith next week as hundreds of students move into campus housing ahead of the start of the fall semester. The busiest periods are expected from 9...
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Oklahoma’s oil legacy runs deep
On an April day in 1892, near Bartlesville, Oklahoma, in what was then Indian Territory, a drilling crew struck oil at a depth of less than 200 feet. The Nellie Johnstone No. 1 was the start of a transformation. h The first commercially productive well...
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Mayor’s race draws seven candidates, record field
Fort Smith voters will choose from seven candidates for mayor this November, marking the city’s first contested mayoral election since 2010 and one of the largest fields in recent history. The race also carries another milestone: Four women have filed...
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Shoffner says seniors deserve stronger Medicare, Social Security
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Hallie Shoffner campaigned across Crawford County, using a visit to the Van Buren Senior Activity Center to outline her plans for strengthening Social Security, expanding Medicare and addressing Arkansas’ rural health...
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Voters face options in 5 states’ primaries
Voters in five states head to the polls Aug. 4 in primaries that will determine the November options in some hotly contested swing states. Primaries in Michigan, Virginia, Kansas, Washington and Missouri will help shape the power balance in Congress,...
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‘The very core of building our food system’
Aspiring farmers interested in growing fruits, vegetables, flowers and herbs can now apply for the 2027 Farm School program offered by the Center for Arkansas Farms and Food. h The nine-month program, which runs from February through November 2027, is...
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Officer retention dominates Fort Smith police station discussion
Fort Smith directors questioned whether the city should finance a proposed $10 million police headquarters through bonds on Tuesday, with a broader discussion about officer retention and long-term planning ending without action on the...
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Attack sparks fears wars could merge
WASHINGTON – Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States insisted that leaders in Kyiv are not playing “a game of chess” with their recent drone strike on an Iranian ship and have no interest in leveraging their conflict with Russia into a wider, global...
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Mayoral race opens with historic first filing
The filing period for Fort Smith’s municipal elections officially opened Wednesday, with Christina Catsavis becoming the first candidate to file for mayor and the first woman to officially seek the office in the city’s history. Catsavis, who is...
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Administrator search down to two
Fort Smith’s search for a new city administrator has narrowed to two candidates after two previously announced finalists withdrew from consideration, leaving acting city administrator Jeff Dingman and Whitfield County, Ga., administrator Robert Sivick...
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Oman presents Iran with Hormuz plan
DUBAI – Oman has presented Iran with a plan backed by Gulf states to manage the Strait of Hormuz, including collecting voluntary fees for using it, a Gulf source and a Western diplomat told Reuters on July 28. The plan could serve as a basis to end...
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Iran appears to test latest U.S. pause
DUBAI – Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Iraq reported drone attacks on July 27, two days after the United States abruptly suspended a two-week campaign of air strikes against Iran, as Tehran appeared to put President Donald Trump’s latest strategic U-turn to...
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Teen’s death more than just a mystery
When Mississippi teenager Nolan Wells disappeared after a Fourth of July boat trip, questions immediately began to swirl about what happened to him and why. Three weeks after his body was found, many of those questions remain unanswered. Parallel...
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Man who filmed police sees growing backlash
PHOENIX – Five years ago, Gabriel Bassford saw an online video that changed his life. It was 2021, and the aftershocks of George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police officers continued to linger. He was on YouTube and stumbled upon an...
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U.S. strikes shipping point on Red Sea
DUBAI – U.S. missiles struck targets across Iran, reaching as far as its Caspian coast, on July 24 after President Donald Trump vowed “major military punishment” for Tehran and its Houthi allies in Yemen for extending the war to a second major shipping...
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Hundreds of drones seized near World Cup venues
ETIENNE LAURENT/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES FILE
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Bobby Crabtree street dedication celebrates hometown champion
Fort Smith added another hometown hero to its streetscape Tuesday, naming a section of Towson Avenue Bobby Crabtree Boulevard in honor of former world champion boxer Bobby “The Fighting Hillbilly” Crabtree. On one of the hottest days of the year, with...
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Taylor Farms’ reach spans across the U.S.
Taylor Farms produces much of the lettuce sold in America’s supermarkets and fast food restaurants. Right now, many consumers would like to know which ones. The company is in the news because of a historic outbreak of cyclosporiasis, the “explosive...
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Pentagon IDs service members killed in war
A 17th U.S. service member has been killed in the war with Iran, U.S. Central Command confirmed on X, in northern Iraq July 18 during the controlled detonation of an “unexploded ordnance from a downed Iranian one-way attack drone.” That service member...
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‘People Helping People’
Arkansas Tech University education students facing unexpected costs on the path to becoming teachers will have a new source of financial assistance thanks to a gift from a longtime community service organization. h The Arkansas Tech University...
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Report: State leads U.S. in religious liberty protections
Arkansas ranked first in the nation for religious liberty in a new index released Tuesday by the First Liberty Institute’s Center for Religion, Culture & Democracy, with Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders crediting recent state laws aimed at protecting...
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U.S., Iran trade attacks on infrastructure
DUBAI – The United States struck bridges and an airport in Iran on July 17 and Tehran responded by hitting a power and desalination plant in Kuwait, as the warring foes risked further escalation by expanding their targets to include infrastructure. In...
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Blanche grilled at AG confirmation
Todd Blanche faced a tough grilling from Democrats at his Senate confirmation hearing for attorney general, but it’s not clear they have the votes to block his nomination. The former personal lawyer to President Donald Trump was hit with accusations...
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U.S. Marshals Museum campaign hits $8M with Griffin donation
Partnerships have long been at the heart of the U.S. Marshals Service, whether tracking fugitives across state lines or working alongside local, state and federal agencies on complex investigations. Museum leaders say that the same spirit of...
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Restaurant, beverage chains expanding across River Valley
Several national food and beverage chains are preparing to expand their footprint in the Fort Smith area in the coming months, with new locations planned in Barling and Fort Smith. The River Valley’s first Taco Bell location in Barling is expected to...
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Fort Smith honors Jaylin Williams
Jaylin Williams has accomplished what countless young basketball players dream of. The Fort Smith Northside graduate helped lead the Grizzlies to a state championship, became one of the University of Arkansas’ top players, reached the NBA with the...
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Uncovering a layer of Arkansas history
As “The Western District” approaches the end of its current production run, playwright and actor Dr. Brandon Chase Goldsmith is bringing the historical drama back to the place where it found its voice. h The production will be performed at 2 p.m. July...
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Lightning Over the Fort returning
The Fort Smith Patriot Association announced Tuesday that the Lightning Over the Fort Air Show will return to Fort Smith on May 7-8, 2027, marking the city’s first announced air show since 2011. The free event will be at Fort Smith Regional Airport...
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Trump switches planes after summit in Turkey
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump swapped planes, taking the old Air Force One for part of his return from the NATO summit in Turkey, as a security precaution amid renewed hostilities between the United States and Iran, according to a source familiar...
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Army recognizes Arkansas Tech graduate with lasting honors
A former Arkansas Tech University graduate and commander of the U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command is being remembered with two posthumous honors recognizing his lasting influence on the nation’s military intelligence operations. The late...
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