After being extensively vandalized, only concrete foundations remain of the restrooms and concession stand at what was the primary Glenwood baseball field as seen on May 27. Photo: Michael Hibblen
A community meeting is planned for Monday, June 8 at the dilapidated and vandalized baseball fields in Glenwood which haven’t been used in years. Karen Baker, a supporter of cleaning up the fields so they can again host games, says she wants people interested in volunteering with the project to see the extent of what would need to be done.
Baker was among those speaking on the idea during a Glenwood City Council meeting on Tuesday, May 26. The fields are currently owned, but not used by the Centerpoint School District. Superintendent Jody Cowart and members of the school board attended the meeting, expressing their support for the idea of donating the property, but because of legal requirements, said specific details will first need to be finalized. So far, this is simply in the discussion phase.
“I’ve researched what, from a reality standpoint, the school district can do if this was planned out well enough, where the school board wanted to deed the property over to what has to be an institution of higher education, technical institute, community college or a nonprofit organization, which would obviously be what would apply in this case,” Cowart said. “Is there a structure plan in place where the district or the board would feel comfortable in making that commitment to donating the property?”
Mayor Billy Plyler said residents who have been actively calling for again having ballfields in the city will need to be involved in making it happen. He detailed the extent of vandalism to facilities there, with the concession stand, bathrooms, bleachers and one of the dugouts burned in arson attacks. Lights above the field have also been shot out. Today all that remains of the buildings are their concrete foundations. A scoreboard and advertisements remain along the outfield fence.
“The people that are talking, they’re gonna have to do it because the school board’s not interested in that. They’re gonna basically relinquish the property if things were to go right and we’re gonna have to get active here, get a committee together and go back to the school board with a plan,” Plyler said.
He then opened the meeting for public comments, with Baker saying, “A lot of money is leaving our town for other communities that have ballparks. A lot of people are willing and ready to help when it can happen.”
She hopes to form a nonprofit organization that can pursue grant funding to cover the expense of buying needed supplies. One entity Baker said she has talked with is Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield’s charitable foundation Blue and You. It promotes health, fitness and wellness, and the proposed nonprofit would be required to show a need for the facility. There are other philanthropic entities that also support such endeavors.
But work repairing the ballfields would need to be completed by volunteers, she said. While there are several overgrown ballfields, which could eventually allow for baseball and softball fields, the effort would initially focus on making the main field again usable. The other fields are across the street. If tournaments are to eventually be held there, it was suggested two fields would be needed.
The baseball fields were originally owned by the Glenwood School District, which was merged in 1995 with the Amity School District, creating what is now the Centerpoint School District.
The proposed nonprofit would own the property, but the city would need to maintain it. Councilman Alan Moore suggested the city could try to find an older retired person who would be paid as a subcontractor to oversee the property. That person would also keep an eye out for any kind of vandalism like what has happened there in the past.
“It would cost the city very little to get back to where we started,” Moore said, adding that having ballfields would be extremely beneficial for the city’s young people.
There was then discussion about how the city would fund the maintenance. A hospitality sales tax on food sold at restaurants was one idea. If a proposal to allow the sale of alcohol in Pike County is approved by voters, that could also be a source. At this point backers of the initiative are gathering signatures and it has not been approved for the November ballot.
Mayor Plyler said it seems like two committees may be warranted, with one focused on the baseball fields and another on local taxes.
A memorandum of understanding would eventually need to be agreed upon by the Centerpoint School District, the city and the potential nonprofit. There are also liability concerns that would need to be resolved.
The community meeting on Monday, June 8 is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. The ballfields are located near City Park and the intersection of Park Street and Lakeshore Street.
This story was published in the May 29, 2026 issue of The Glenwood Herald.
Dondie’s White River Princess on May 12 after much of the repair work had been completed to the restaurant. Photo: Michael Hibblen
Seven months after a fire caused extensive damage to Dondie’s White River Princess in Des Arc, the landmark seafood restaurant will be reopening to the public on Friday, May 29 at 5 p.m. During the previous weekend, on Saturday, May 23, a first serving of food was for firefighters and other emergency personnel, “to show our appreciation for their fast response and hard work put into saving all they could at Dondie’s,” a post on the restaurant’s Facebook page said.
The restaurant was closed when the fire broke out on the night of Oct. 16. Co-owner Ben Scott says it was ignited by hot towels that had just been dried and spontaneously combusted after employees left. Scott, his wife Courtney, and his parents Roger and Belinda Scott have jointly owned the restaurant for more than two years, which sits alongside the White River, is two stories tall and was designed to look like a large riverboat. He says they immediately knew they wanted to make repairs and reopen, but didn’t know if that would be possible.
“There was definitely a mix of emotions,” Ben Scott said. “We didn’t know with insurance and how all that was going to play out, if [reopening] was going to be possible. So that’s kind of how we were able to reopen and it all worked out, but we had a lot of uncertainty there for a couple months.”
While he doesn’t have an exact cost, Scott says repairs were more than $500,000, with insurance covering the work.
“I wouldn’t really call it fighting with insurance, it’s just a process. They never really ever acted like they weren’t going to pay because it was a payable claim. It’s just a matter of trying to figure out how much was damaged and what it would cost for reconstruction. So it was a process and definitely there were some times we were unsure,” Scott said. “But we definitely had a lot of support and encouragement and prayers, and honestly, it’s everything you’d expect from a small town that loves its businesses.”
The restaurant was first opened by its namesake Dondie Guess in 1989. After a few years, he sold Dondie’s to Mike Scarter, who owned and operated it for more than three decades. In early 2024, Scarter sold the restaurant to the Scott family.
“He got older and had gotten in bad health and just decided it was time to sell,” Scott said. “I had spoken with him probably five or 10 years ago about potentially, if something ever happened and he got to a point that he wanted to do something, that I was interested.”
Roger and Belinda Scott had owned several other restaurants in Des Arc for about 25 years. Ben Scott says having grown up in the industry, it was natural for him to eventually want to co-own a restaurant. Roger Scott has also served as Des Arc’s mayor since 2023.
Patrons of Dondie’s won’t notice many changes when it reopens. There are some new nautical-themed items on display, lighting has been modified in places and the kitchen has been modernized. A new sign features the restaurant’s slogan “Dock. Dine. Unwind. Every meal is a shore thing.” Scott said the menu hasn’t been modified.
“It’ll pretty much look the same as what everybody remembers it as,” he said. “We’re excited to serve everybody and we want everybody to have a good experience.”
Scott said there might be a few new workers, but most of the staff will be the same people who were working there before the fire. While those employees were without work in December, Dondie’s organized a fundraiser selling tee-shirts for $20 each, with all proceeds going to the employees.
He knows a lot of people are eagerly anticipating the reopening and is asking for patience from customers.
“We’re kind of out of the swing of things for seven months and I think we’re going to be really busy,” Scott said. “Wait times may be high, but just please be patient with us. We’re excited to open, we’re excited to serve everybody and we want everybody to have a good experience.”
One of those excited to see Dondie’s reopen is Rex Nelson, a senior editor for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette who frequently writes about food, restaurants and culture. He describes Dondie’s not just as a local gathering spot, but a regional gathering spot with customers who are willing to make a drive.
“It’s just one of those places that you’re going to see everybody from a certain era, either on a Friday night or a Saturday night or a Sunday after church at Dondie’s,” Nelson said in an interview. “Whether it’s a Dondie’s or a Craig’s Barbecue at DeValls Bluff, the thing about those Delta restaurants is that Delta folks will drive an hour for a good meal.”
Nelson’s mother and grandparents lived in Des Arc and as a child, he spent much of his summers in the city, though that was years before Dondie’s opened.
“Dondie’s kind of in a way hearkens back to an older, lower White River culture that we’re quickly losing. I hope that it’s here for many vears to come and I’m heartened that they decided to build back after the fire.” Nelson said. “It is certainly in the tradition of the great catfish places you used to find all up and down the White River, and it’s got one of the best views of the river anywhere.”
I reported this story for the May 26 issue of The Grand Prairie Herald. Our intern Eli Dean of Harding University helped me write the story.
I am proud to share that I have been hired to serve as managing editor for 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 state news organization Talk Business & Politics.
Michael Hibblen and Roby Brock on April 24 in the Little Rock television studio of KARK-4 and KLRT-Fox 16 where Brock records his programs Capitol View and Talk Business & Politics.
I’ve known Roby since I moved back to Arkansas 17 years ago, partnered with him on many stories while I was 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 community 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 media presence.
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 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 ran 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 of Publisher Weekly. 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 longtime downtown location, looking out on the unused track that once carried passenger and freight trains of the Rock Island Railroad. The historic passenger depot is a block over.
I joined Roby on the May 3 episode of his television show Talk Business & Politics, which airs on KLRT-Fox 16, while the audio 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.
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.
