Arkansas Week Home

“Arkansas Week” airs Fridays at 8 p.m. Each week, a dedicated, distinguished group of Arkansas journalists and political scientists discuss issues in the news.

Barnes has been on the air in the Natural State since 1968 when he started as a copy boy on weekends at KTHV-TV Channel 11 in Little Rock. His adept hand at leading journalists and others in a discussion of current events complements his encyclopedic knowledge of the state, its players and its past. Barnes has not only become one of the most recognizable and respected people within Arkansas, but has connected with a national audience through work published in the New York Times, fed to the Reuters news service and shown on networks ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN and PBS. He has been a recipient of the University of Arkansas’ journalist of the year award, as well as receiving first prize for television documentary awarded by the Society of Professional Journalists.

June 26, 2009

(Turk) A setback for the southwest Arkansas power plant: how big a setback and for how long? (Keno) A lottery is one thing, but does the law make it the only thing? (ADC) Never completely out of the news, our prisons are emphatically back in the news. (GOP) And Arkansas Republicans, does the beat go on?

June 19, 2009

(New-CA?) A native son comes home to a campus desperately seeking solace. (Incomes) Want some upbeat economic news? Delighted to  oblige, though -- (Gas) Just in time for summer vacation, the cost of  driving and shipping goes up.  How much more? (3rd) And in the northwest corner, can the Democrats hope to make a race of it?

June 12, 2009

(Economy) A slowdown in layoffs but tell that to the laid off. (Lottery) To sell the tickets, a CEO who appears to have the savvy, in more ways than one. (UCA) A new CEO for a troubled campus: do the troubles continue? (Pressure) For our U.S. senators, a less than restful summer seems assured.

June 5, 2009

(Taxes) The state's latest revenue report, which way is up? (Lottery) The search for a CEO - with the chairman expressin some unease. (Congress) A challenger in the second district. Serious or scrificial lamb? (Jihad?) And Arkansas, for at least a few days, a focus of global attention.

May 29, 2009

('10) With months to go before the primaries but time wasting, some clues to next year's ballot.  (Sotomayor) A judicial nominee, an easy call for Arkansas's two? (Jobs) Unemployment, the bad news, and the good news. (Tickets) And the lottery, are we closer to hiring a CEO?

May 22, 2009

(GOP) He said he was in. Is he still in? And if not, then who? (23.7B) The highway commission's ten-year wish list, almost a quarter-trillion. (Cuts) The slowdown and its impact in Arkansas, some high-tech jobs, and some dealerships. (Lottery) And running the state lottery, who's in the running?

May 15, 2009

(Lottery) The state moves closer to printing and selling the tickets. (UCA) More commotion, white-collar, at one facility those tickets would benefit. (Dollars) The economic outlook - retail down, unemployment up. (GOP) And the stumbles of some Arkansas Republicans, with an even-numbered year coming up.

May 8, 2009

(Dollars) The state's latest revenue report: not unexpected, but hardly welcome. (Layoffs) The private sector, some good news, but a log of bad. (Lottery) Legislative oversight, arms-length, or a wee bit cozy? (UCA) And the fiscal turmoil at a major Arkansas campus, which way out?

May 1, 2009

(Sine Die) After 88 days, the 87th formally ends on the 89th. (Shale) An economic boom gets more attention from environmentalists. (60?) Could a party switch by a senator from a distant state make life more complicated for his Arkansas colleagues? (100 Days) And, whither Arkansas, at the end of Mr. Obama's first milestone?

April 24, 2009

(The Gentlewoman from Arkansas draws a GOP apponent.  Just one? ($$$) Schools and the stimulus, how much and where? (ADEQ) The Fayetteville Shale, is the state taking a harder look at drillers and drilling? (EPA) And how will what seems a new environmental attitude in Washington impact Arkansas?

April 17, 2009

(Lottery) The men and women who'll oversee state-sponsored gambling. (TEA) Lipton or Luzianne, or Earl Grey? (Cuba, si?) Are Arkansas exporters inching closer to a new nearby market? (Cuba libre?) And are Arkansas imbibers getting an extra day to belly up?

April 10, 2009

(Recess!) Neither sine die, nor sayonara, but that's it for now. ($4.4B) In place, a budget that smokers don't like but grocery shoppers do, a little. (350) How many students to make a district? That's what it says. (Lincoln) And the gentlewoman from Arkansas, a step or two, or three, or four to starboard. Firmly amid ships.

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