Henderson State comes back from the brink

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Tiffany Wright, Henderson StateIn 2019, Henderson State University in Arkadelphia was within a week of having no cash on hand. Today, its finances have recovered, its enrollment is up, and it’s looking for ways to distinguish itself from other schools. But it won’t be paying anyone to play football.  

Those were takeaways from a conversation with chancellor Dr. Trey Berry on the HSU campus Sept. 1.

Berry came to Henderson on Jan. 1, 2024, after serving as president of Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia. He had grown up on the HSU campus, where his father, Clyde Berry, was a head football coach and baseball coach. Continue reading →

Cotton, Sanders make the top 10

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Tiffany Wright, Cotton SandersThe 2026 elections haven’t occurred, so is it too early to talk about 2028? It’s not when a prominent national news outlet ranks Sen. Tom Cotton and Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders among its top 10 contenders to be the next Republican presidential nominee.

The Hill ranked Cotton eighth and Sanders ninth in an article written by Niall Stanage, senior staff writer.

Those slots would make Arkansas’ two most prominent Republicans more dark horses than frontrunners, which include the top contender, Vice President J.D. Vance, followed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. 

Early frontrunners have failed to catch fire in the past, including former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani in 2008 and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush in 2016.  Continue reading →

Tiffany Wright is looking for child welfare warriors

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Tiffany WrightDo you remember the U.S. Marines’ recruiting slogan, “We’re looking for a few good men”? Tiffany Wright is looking for 130 child welfare warriors.

Wright is director of the Division of Children and Family Services, which responds to reports of child abuse and neglect and administers the state’s foster care system.

DCFS has more than 130 job vacancies, including 69 for front line workers who manage an average of 24 cases. It is advertising job opportunities through social media, recruitment webinars, and a new webpage, humanservices.arkansas.gov/u/dcfs-jobs.

Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ state employee pay plan last year increased front line workers’ starting salaries from $36,155 to $52,137. Average annual turnover has since fallen from 60%-70% to 43%, which is still high.  Continue reading →

Low expectations for Hogs good for Silverfield

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Ryan Silverfield expectationsIt can be an advantage when people have low expectations of you, especially when you’re Ryan Silverfield.

The new Arkansas Razorbacks head football coach leads a program of which few expect much this year, to his benefit. The Razorbacks are coming off a season where they finished 2-10 overall and 0-8 in the Southeastern Conference. It was the fourth 0-8 conference record since 2013. The Hogs have won one SEC home game in three years.

Things aren’t expected to get much better. ESPN says the Razorbacks have the nation’s toughest schedule this year. Media types who cover the SEC picked the Hogs to finish last among 16 teams.

Silverfield, 46, wisely didn’t make pie-in-the-sky predictions as he prepared for the season opener against North Alabama Sept. 5. Instead, he promised the Little Rock Touchdown Club Aug. 24 only a “special, special year” and a bright future.  Continue reading →

State would get millions; Facebook promises changes

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Meta settlementThe state of Arkansas could collect more than $172 million spread over 10 years from Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram. Meanwhile, the company says it will take steps to reduce its platforms’ potential harms to teens.

Those new developments would come as a result of a settlement announced Wednesday between the company and 48 states along with the District of Columbia and three U.S. territories.

Attorney General Tim Griffin was the nation’s first attorney general to file a lawsuit when he did so in 2023. He argued that Meta had violated Arkansas’ Deceptive Trade Practices Act by misleading young people and their parents about its platforms’ addictive properties. 

Eventually every state sued. The company announced Wednesday it was settling with almost all of them, paying a combined $18 billion over 10 years. The exceptions being New Mexico, which has already won at trial, and Florida. The latter’s attorney general called the settlement “peanuts” and said the state is going to court. 

That’s understandable, considering Meta reported revenues of almost $201 billion in 2025. Continue reading →