I am proud to share that I’m now managing editor of the recently formed Newsroom Ventures LLC, which is the parent company of six newspapers acquired over the last year by Roby Brock. I’ll also be a contributing reporter for Talk Business & Politics.
Michael Hibblen and Roby Brock on April 24 in the Little Rock television studio of KARK-4 and KLRT-Fox 16.
I’ve known Roby since I moved back to Arkansas 17 years ago, partnered with him on many stories while working at Little Rock NPR station KUAR-FM 89.1 and am pleased to now be working for him. KUAR aired a radio version of Talk Business & Politics and Roby often joined me on the air to discuss political topics.
I greatly appreciate that he has purchased these newspapers — many of which were on the verge of being shut down. All have histories stretching back a century or longer of serving their communities. I’m glad Roby came up with a viable business model to keep publishing weekly editions of each paper, while we are also expanding their websites and social meida presense.
At this point, I’m primarily editing and reporting for The Glenwood Herald and The Grand Prairie Herald in Hazen. I’m steadily expanding my responsibilities for our other newspapers, which are The Pine Bluff Commercial, The England Democrat, The Fordyce News Advocate and The Waldron News.
I started as a freelance reporter for the company on March 9, then on April 24 Roby announced I was becoming its managing editor. In a story that ran in the newspapers about my news position, Roby said: “I’ve known Michael for many years and I value his friendship as much as I do his news reporting, editing skills and attention to detail. He will be a great asset to our collection of newspapers, websites and social media platforms.”
I greatly appreciate his confidence and have enjoyed writing for the newspapers, especially feature stories about the people of the communities I’m getting to know. The Arkansas Press Association also published the story about me becoming managing editor.
The cover of the May 7 issue of the Arkansas Press Association’s weekly magazine Publisher’s Weekly. Click to read as a PDF.
The association is a nonprofit trade organization that supports the state’s newspaper industry. The following week, Ron Kemp interviewed me for a very kind profile which was run in the APA’s May 7 issue. He noted the irony of me now being part of the England newspaper as I spent a year working for a radio station in the city, KLRA-FM 96.5, while I was in high school 36 years ago.
I occasionally meet with Roby at the England Democrat, with the newspaper office still located in the downtown building that has long been its home. It features some fascinating old newspaper equipment that Roby eventually plans to display as part of a museum there. The England building is also the company headquarters for Newsroom Ventures. The Hazen newspaper, where I work each Tuesday, is also in its original downtown downtown, looking out on the unused tracks that once carried passenger and freight trains of the old Rock Island Railroad. The historic passenger depot is a block over.
I joined Roby on his May 3 episode of his television show Talk Business & Politics, which airs on KLRT-Fox 16, while the audio of the program airs on my former radio station KUAR. He opened the segment by announcing I had been hired as managing editor, then we discussed the end of the fiscal session of the Arkansas Legislature and plans for a special session which would begin the following week to consider a state tax cut package.
I’ve always loved writing for newspapers and am looking forward to what’s ahead. While early in my career, I wanted to work in the biggest markets possible, today I’m finding incredible joy working at community newspapers which provide unique storytelling experiences.
Sculptor Kevin Kresse speaks during a groundbreaking ceremony Monday for the atg Pavilion at Argenta Plaza in North Little Rock. Photo: Michael Hibblen
A groundbreaking ceremony was held Monday in North Little Rock for a pavilion in Argenta Plaza that will eventually house statues and busts of influential musicians who emerged from Arkansas. Artist Kevin Kresse, best known for crafting an eight-foot-tall bronze statue of Johnny Cash for the U.S. Capitol, is making the sculptures of 20 musicians who span a broad range of genres, along with Stax Records executive Al Bell.
The first group will be unveiled in September, Kresse said, and will include a replica of the Cash statue using the same mold. Others will be Levon Helm, Sister Rosetta Tharp, Al Green, Glen Campbell, Louis Jordan and Florence Price. Subsequent unveiling ceremonies will take place each year until all 21 statues or busts are on display. In addition to the busts being placed in the pavilion, a second casting will be made of each which will be placed in the hometowns of the musicians.
“It’s something that I’ve been dreaming about for so long that it’s almost surreal that this day is here,” Kresse said in an interview before the ceremony. “It’s the beginning of what I see as a longer adventure with this being the beginning of it. But I see this spreading out around the entire state eventually, hopefully moving on to educational components for kids and everything too.”
Attending the event were private financial donors, state and local tourism officials, representatives of the communities the musicians are from and some of the musicians’ family members. The pavilion is being named after Applied Technology Group, which is headquartered a few blocks away and is owned by Scott and Ruth Landers. The $3 million project is a partnership between North Little Rock Tourism and the nonprofit Argenta Arts Foundation.
“This project will move the needle on tourism not just in the Argenta Arts District, but throughout the state, as well,” said John Goudin, who is the project’s campaign chair. To the financial backers, he said “they’ve never blinked from day one on this project, so thank you all so much.”
Also at the ceremony were Glen Campbell’s youngest sister Sandi Campbell Brink and cousin Steve Campbell, who still lives in Pike County. Glen Campbell was born in the community of Billstown, near Delight, which is also where he was laid to rest in his family’s cemetery after his death in 2017.
Steve Campbell said the second cast of the statue will be placed in a room at the Delight Branch Library. In the meantime, he said in an interview that he’s painting the room and preparing materials that will be placed in there.
“The heritage of music in Arkansas is totally unbelievable. When you start looking at the people that came out of Arkansas and made it so well, it influenced the entire world of music. So Glen being part of it, it thrills us to the core. But all of the others, as well, that there are parts of it, where just the whole nucleus stretches out to the entire state.”
Kresse says the idea of creating a series of statues came to him in 2018 while driving back from the city of Marvell where he had unveiled a bust of Levon Helm, drummer for The Band. He said he had a list in his head of artists he wanted to honor, then began working with radio host Stephen Koch of “Arkansongs” and musician Greg Spradlin. Koch and Spradlin had been working on getting highways named for some of the musicians. But the project was put on hold when Kresse was commissioned for the Cash statue in the U.S. Capitol. Once that was unveiled on Sept. 24, 2024, he then began talking again with Goudin.
The goal, Kresse said Monday, was “for everyone in Arkansas to see the huge cultural impact that the music has had on the whole world and for them to get a real sense of pride of that.”
Also at the ceremony was Jimmy Cunningham, director of tourism development for the Pine Bluff Advertising and Promotion Commission. Compared to the neighboring states of Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana, he said Arkansas is late in promoting its musical heritage.
“Arkansas’ got such an incredible, incredible music history, with so many greats, so many giants, and so many contributions, but we haven’t curated our narrative. And so, you know, if nobody else tells the story, how is it gonna get out? We gotta do it ourselves,” Cunningham said.
“I’m excited about it because I think Arkansas needs to celebrate its music. It needs to tell the world how important that music is, and this is one way to do it.”
Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism Secretary Shea Lewis said the pavilion will become a key stop along the Arkansas Music Trail, giving travelers a place to connect to the state’s musician legacy while also boosting economic tourism.
“When visitors come here to see the 21 different busts,” he said, “they’ll stay and explore our restaurants, shops, and the riverfront that North Little Rock has to offer. It’s the power of tourism. It drives our foot traffic, supports small businesses, it strengthens our overall communities, as well as quality of life. It’s what makes Arkansas special, our creativity, our culture, the warm, welcome people that they feel when they arrive.”
Here is the complete list of artists being honored and the cities where second castings of statues and busts will be placed:
Johnny Cash –- Dyess
Albert King — Osceola
Howlin’ Wolf — West Memphis
Al Green — Forrest City
Charlie Rich — Colt
Sonny Boy Williamson — Helena
Conway Twitty — Helena
Levon Helm — Marvell
Louis Jordan — Brinkley
Sister Rosetta Tharpe — Cotton Plant
Big Bill Broonzy — Pine Bluff
Lefty Frizzell — El Dorado
Scott Joplin — Texarkana
Glen Campbell — Delight
William Grant Still — Little Rock
Florence Price — Little Rock
Pharoah Sanders — North Little Rock
Al Bell — North Little Rock
Granny Almeda Riddle — Heber Springs
Jimmy Driftwood — Mountain View
Ronnie Hawkins — Fayetteville
This story was published by Talk Business & Politics on May 11 and will run in upcoming issues of The Pine Bluff Commercial and The Glenwood Herald.
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders was joined by legislative leaders on Wednesday to sign identical budget bills. Photo: Michael Hibblen
At the conclusion of a three-week fiscal session of the Arkansas Legislature, Gov. Sarah Sanders on Wednesday (April 29) signed the Revenue Stabilization Act into law.
The $6.7 billion budget for the fiscal year that begins in July includes an increase in funding for Educational Freedom Accounts, authorizes millions in economic incentives to attract a major manufacturer to West Memphis and funds a pay increase for Arkansas State Troopers.
The governor was surrounded by Republican state lawmakers for the bill signing ceremony.
“A fiscal session is always a mad dash, but we came together, we did the work and we delivered for the people of Arkansas,” Sanders said.
The budget meets the goals she laid out in her State of the State address at the start of the session, Sanders said, “and because of that, we will now be able to cut taxes for the fourth time in three years next week.” That’s when legislators will return to the Capitol for a special session focused on reducing state taxes.
“When we cut Arkansas’ income tax, we will have lowered our overall rate since I took office by 25% and returned more than $1.5 billion to the people of Arkansas. We will also lower our corporate tax rate … by 0.2% and continue to make Arkansas the best state in America to do business,” Sanders said.
Senate President Pro Tempore Bart Hester, R-Cave Springs, acknowledged to state agency directors and cabinet secretaries in the room that the final approved budget would be tight for all of them. But he said that was necessary to put the state in a financial position to responsibly pass additional tax cuts.
“What we’re asking them to do is more with less and continue to serve the people of Arkansas. I want to thank every state employee who’s out there doing their part to make sure that we continue to provide great services,” Hester said.
House Speaker Brian Evans, R-Cabot, stressed the importance of education-related votes during the fiscal session.
“Education that is for all children, regardless of their age, their gender, their background, their wealth index, or physical, or mental capabilities,” Evans said. “We are investing in the children of Arkansas.”
Additional EFA funding
When Sanders was questioned about expanding funding to cover the growing cost of sending kids to private schools or for home schooling, she said public schools are also benefitting from the budget approved by the legislature.
“We’re putting about $300 million into Education Freedom Accounts. At the same time, we’re putting $3.3 billion into public education — 10 times as much — the largest investment we’ve ever made in public education in the state of Arkansas. And you want to know what the best part is? It’s actually working,” Sanders said.
“Our kids are doing better, our teachers have higher satisfaction than they have ever had, our state is winning because we’re investing where it matters, and it’s gonna make a difference, not just in the immediate, right now. We’re seeing our test scores go up. We’re seeing our schools do better.”
She suggested the benefits to education will be felt for decades to come and said Arkansas is a blueprint that other states are following.
West Memphis Superproject
The budget authorizes up to $300 million to be transferred from surplus funds to help convince a major manufacturer to build a superproject in West Memphis. Details are being kept confidential, but it has been suggested the project could initially create up to 4,000 jobs, then another 2,000 after completion.
“I’m hopeful that we will be able to get this project,” Sanders said. “It will be a massive economic investment in a region of our state that will benefit greatly.”
Sanders said she couldn’t get into specifics about the other states vying for the project, but suggested “Arkansas is in a very good position.”
The money would be split into $150 million for an incentives package, then another $150 million for infrastructure improvements, like roads and highways. There have been assurances this is not a data center.
Senate and House leadership
During his remarks, Senator Hester congratulated Sen. Breanne Davis (R-Russellville) for winning a majority of the votes in the Senate earlier in the day to become president pro tempore designate for next year’s general session. But that’s not the final vote.
Sen. Ron Caldwell, R-Wynne, told colleagues he too is interested in the leadership position. After the November election and before the Senate is convened next year, a decision is expected during an organizational meeting.
Meanwhile in the House, Speaker Evans, who did not face a challenge, was again elected to the top leadership position in that chamber.
This story was reported for Talk Business & Politics and the six newspapers published by Newsroom Ventures. I’ll discuss the fiscal session and what’s planned for next week’s special session on the “Talk Business & Politics” program airing Sunday, May 3 at 9:30 a.m. on KLRT-Fox 16 in Little Rock, KNWA-Fox 24 in Fayetteville and on Monday, May 4 at 6:05 p.m. on Little Rock Public Radio’s KUAR-FM 89.1.
This is the online home of Michael Hibblen, managing editor of Newsroom Ventures, which publishes six Arkansas newspapers. I've worked as a reporter, editor and manager for newspapers, radio and TV stations for more than three decades, with this website telling the story of my career. Also featured are outside interests I've researched. The views expressed here are my own and might not reflect those of my employers.
Preserving the Rock Island Depot at Perry
Since 2017, I've been part of a group working to preserve the former Rock Island Depot at Perry, Arkansas. To keep it from being demolished, we raised money to move the depot to an adjacent lot, still alongside the tracks, which is now owned by the city. The building has since been listed on the National Register of Historic Places and our group has become a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE PRESERVATION OF THE DEPOT.
My Book
Released by Arcadia Publishing in 2017, Rock Island Railroad in Arkansas delves into the history of the railroad, which once had a huge footprint in Arkansas. The book features historic photos and tells the story of the Rock Island, which was shut down in March 1980. READ MORE ABOUT MY BOOK.
For 13 years, from May 2009 to December 2022, I worked for NPR station KUAR-FM 89.1 at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. That included 10 years as News Director while continuing to anchor and report. You can read and hear reports from that time on Little Rock Public Radio's website.
