A few times a year I’ll fill in for Flap Jones hosting her long-running country music program “Not Necessarily Nashville,” as I did last night on Little Rock Public Radio’s KUAR-FM 89.1. Flap has been a friend for 35 years since the first time she asked me to sit in doing the show in 1989, when we were both volunteer DJs at community radio station KABF-FM 88.3.
“Not Necessarily Nashville,” Nov. 16, 2024, 7 p.m. on Little Rock Public Radio’s KUAR-FM 89.1.
It’s always a joy because playing music was what inspired me to get into broadcasting. Then I learned how little freedom commercial radio DJs have in selecting their music, so in 1993 I made the transition to news, which was a wise choice for me. I was always interested in reporting and anchoring, and that led to a more solid career path. There are a tiny fraction of jobs for DJs now compared to when I got into radio due to the corporatization of the industry, and the rise of computer automation.
On this weekend’s program, I played several songs from a new David Olney tribute album that was released last month. I was a big fan of Olney’s since the first time I saw him play live about a decade ago at Little Rock’s White Water Tavern. I wasn’t familiar with him that night, but the songs and his voice were amazing. I never missed another show whenever he would come through town. Below is a video I recorded of him playing “Dillinger” and “Vincent” at the White Water on Nov. 13, 2019.
Olney died about two months later of an apparent heart attack during a performance at a music festival in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida on Jan. 18, 2020. In the middle of his third song, he abruptly stopped, said “I’m sorry” to the audience, and put his chin to his chest, according to musician Scott Miller who was performing with Olney. “He never dropped his guitar or fell off his stool. It was as easy and gentle as he was. We got him down and tried our best to revive him until the EMT’s arrived,” Miller wrote on Facebook. Olney was 71.
The tribute album “Can’t Steal My Fire: The Songs of David Olney” was released on Oct. 18 and the range of performers covering his shows just how much respect he had from his peers. They include Lucinda Williams, Steve Earle, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Buddy Miller, Jim Lauderdale and Willis Alan Ramsey.
I played four songs from the new album, as well as a live version of Olney performing “Vincent” during a performance that was eventually released as the “Live in Holland” album in 1994. You can find the full playlist of songs I played this weekend below.
I also played a couple of Willie Nelson songs. From several decades ago, I pulled “To Make a Long Story Short, She’s Gone” from one of Willie’s albums, which was a duet with Kris Kristofferson. I’m still mourning Kristofferson’s death on Sept. 28 at the age of 88. The only time I got to see him play live was at the first Johnny Cash Heritage Festival in 2011, which was a fundraiser to support the restoration of Cash’s boyhood home in Dyess, Ark. I covered the event for a news story, which included Kristofferson speaking at a press conference before the show about his friendship with Cash.
“I’ve never met another human being who had the power just in the presence that John had. And to be working on a tribute for him and for his home is a real honor for me,” Kristofferson said.
I also aired a song off Willie Nelson’s new album “Last Leaf on the Tree,” which was released on Nov. 1. Many songs on his albums in recent years seem almost like he’s preparing us for his eventual death. I played “Keep Me In Your Heart,” which includes the lyrics: “Shadows are fallin’ and I’m runnin’ out of breath, Keep me in your heart for a while. If I leave you, it doesn’t mean I love you any less. Keep me in your heart for a while.”
I’m looking forward to being able to talk about him next month on Arkansas PBS when we air “Willie Nelson’s 90th Birthday Celebration” on Wednesday, Dec. 11. I’m scheduled to be speaking during breaks in the program as part of our pledge drive. I saw the concert film in a theater in Little Rock when it had a one day screening nationwide. During our broadcast, I hope to be able to share details of my one experience with Willie, interviewing him in 2005, as well as what makes me such a fan of his work.
My first exposure was as a kid when during any long drive, my mom would play the 8-tracks of “Red Headed Stranger” and “Stardust,” laying the foundation for an appreciation of his work. I’ve probably seen him play live a dozen times over the decades, most recently on May 31, 2022 at Little Rock’s First Security Amphitheater along the Arkansas River. At 91, he has definitely slowed down, with his voice more a whisper, not playing the guitar quite as heavily and sitting on a stool for much of the show, but it’s amazing he’s still performing and maintaining a busy schedule.
“Not Necessarily Nashville” playlist, Nov. 16, 2024, Little Rock Public Radio
Flaco Jimenez (with Stephen Stills) — “Change Partners” (from Flaco’s album Partners) Graham Wilkinson — “Lucky” Rosanne Cash — “Money Road” (The River and the Thread) Jimmy Dale Gilmore — “If it Wasn’t for the Wind” (Can’t Steal My Fire: The Songs of David Olney) David Olney — “Vincent” (Live in Holland) Steve Earle — “Sister Angelina” (Can’t Steal My Fire: The Songs of David Olney) Willis Alan Ramsey — “Women Across the River” (Can’t Steal My Fire: The Songs of David Olney) The SteelDrivers — “If My Eyes Were Blind” (Can’t Steal My Fire: The Songs of David Olney) Willie Nelson & Kris Kristofferson — “To Make a Long Story Short, She’s Gone” (Extras) Willie Nelson — “Keep Me in Your Heart” (Last Leaf on the Tree) Townes Van Zandt — “I’ll Be Here in the Morning” James McMurtrey — “Vague Directions” (Candyland) Joe Ely — “She Never Spoke Spanish to Me” (Joe Ely) The Flying Burrito Brothers — Wheels (The Gilded Palace of Sin)
Director of Public Affairs at Arkansas PBS, 36-year broadcasting veteran, photographer, interested in radio, TV and railroad history, author and host of the book and podcast series Rock Island Railroad in Arkansas.
We’ve got a lot happening on the air and being streamed on Arkansas PBS during the month of November. Prentice Dupins and I detail some of the highlights and events that are planned.
An Arkansan and a Canadian attempt a 2,200-mile trip through the Northwest Passage in homemade rowboats as captured in the new film “Passage,” premiering Nov. 7 at 7 p.m.
Ken Burns’ new two-part documentary on the life, genius and enduring impact of Leonardo da Vinci premieres on Nov. 18 and 19. In advance of that, we’re hosting an event on Saturday, Nov. 9 at 4 p.m. to screen highlights, followed by a panel discussion at CALS Ron Robinson Theater,
And of course, we’ll preview the Nov. 5 election on the Nov. 1 episode of “Arkansas Week,” then have analysis on the following week’s program.
Throughout the month, Arkansas PBS is also collecting gently used winter clothing, which can be dropped off at libraries across the state during the Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood Sweater Drive.
Director of Public Affairs at Arkansas PBS, 36-year broadcasting veteran, photographer, interested in radio, TV and railroad history, author and host of the book and podcast series Rock Island Railroad in Arkansas.
I speak with the three journalists who would be asking questions of candidates in the 1st district congressional debate before the broadcast began on Oct. 8, 2024. Photo: Arkansas PBS
Each election cycle, Arkansas PBS hosts a series of debates with candidates running for Congress, and when applicable, state constitutional offices. This year we featured the races for the state’s four seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. With a special election being held for treasurer, all three candidates also took part in a forum discussion on our program “Arkansas Week.”
Now in my role as Director of Public Affairs at Arkansas PBS, this was the first time I helped organize the debates, learning the extensive steps that begin months ahead of time to ensure a fair format, participation by all candidates, and the that technical logistics of making the live broadcasts happen run smoothly. In previous election years, beginning in 2010 while working at Little Rock’s KUAR-FM 89.1, I served in the panels of journalists who would question candidates. Having that background proved to be beneficial for me. Even more important was seeing how my colleagues, who have been organizing decades for decades, did their jobs.
The debates, moderated by Steve Barnes, generated news stories around the state as these were the only matchups among the candidates. The debates took place over the span of a week one month before Election Day in one of our three studios. They were broadcast and streamed live at 10 a.m. or 2 p.m. each day, and we reaired one each evening that week. All four were rebroadcast in a marathon the following weekend. The debates also aired on Little Rock Public Radio, while KASU-FM 91.9 in Jonesboro broadcast the 1st district debate.
1ST DISTRICT CONGRESSIONAL DEBATE
Incumbent Republican Rep. Rick Crawford, Democrat Rodney Govens and Libertarian Steve Parsons were questioned during the Oct. 8 debate by KAIT-TV 8 news anchor Diana Davis, Talk Business & Politics reporter George Jared and KASU-FM 91.9 News Director Brandon Tabor.
2ND DISTRICT CONGRESSIONAL DEBATE
Incumbent Republican Rep. French Hill and Democrat Marcus Jones were questioned during the Oct. 7 debate by reporters Steve Brawner, Arkansas Business Editor Hunter Fields and KARK-TV 4’s Caitrin Assaf.
3RD DISTRICT CONGRESSIONAL DEBATE
Incumbent Republican Rep. Steve Womack, Democrat Caitlin Draper and Libertarian Bobby Wilson were questioned during the Oct. 8 debate by reporters Steve Brawner, Talk Business & Politics reporter George Jared and Yuna Lee, an anchor with 40/29 News in Fayetteville.
4TH DISTRICT CONGRESSIONAL DEBATE
Incumbent Republican Rep. Bruce Westerman and Democrat Risie Howard were questioned during the Oct. 10 debate by Brandon Evans with 40/29 News in Fayetteville, Little Rock Public Radio Politics and Government Reporter Josie Lenora and Pine Bluff Commercial Editor Byron Tate.
Following each debate was a press conference, which all candidates were invited to participate in. We included the press conferences in the live streams of each debate. Arkansas PBS is located on the edge of the University of Central Arkansas campus, and one instructor saw the learning opportunity for his students. Journalism professor David Keith, who was teaching a class on political reporting, had his students watch the debates, then attend the press conferences, with many asking questions of the candidates.
Incumbent U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman speaks during the Oct. 10, 2024 press conference. Journalism professor David Keith and his students took up about half of the seats in the room where it was held after the 4th district debate. Photo: Michael Hibblen
FORUM FOR TREASURER CANDIDATES ON ‘ARKANSAS WEEK’
The appearance by the candidates for Arkansas treasurer on “Arkansas Week” was the only time the three sat down together for any kind of public forum. Democrat John Pagan, a former state legislator, Libertarian Michael Pakko and Republican John Thurston, who is currently Secretary of State, joined host Steve Barnes on Oct. 11. The special election was necessitated by the death of previously elected treasurer Mark Lowery.
Director of Public Affairs at Arkansas PBS, 36-year broadcasting veteran, photographer, interested in radio, TV and railroad history, author and host of the book and podcast series Rock Island Railroad in Arkansas.
Five years after the Arkansas General Assembly approved replacing the state’s two statues in the U.S. Capitol with civil rights leader Daisy Bates and Johnny Cash, the singer/songwriter’s statue is about to be unveiled. A ceremony is set for Tuesday, Sept. 24 at 11 a.m. in Washington.
A clay model of Kevin Kresse’s statue of Johnny Cash as it appeared on Oct. 20, 2022, while he was working on it in a studio at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Photo: Michael Hibblen
As I start this blog entry, it’s just before dawn on Sunday, Sept. 22, and I’m about to begin a two-day road trip to our nation’s Capitol. After five years of following every step in the process — and getting to know sculptor Kevin Kresse, who was selected to make the eight-foot tall bronze statue — I wouldn’t miss it.
The statue, secure inside a wooden crate, left Arkansas on Sept. 5 to begin its own journey in the back of a tractor-trailer. A send-off ceremony was held outside the Arkansas state Capitol in Little Rock. Below is a video with highlights that I shot that morning.
On “Arkansas Week,” the program I oversee at Arkansas PBS, we previewed the Washington unveiling ceremony by talking with Kresse and the state’s Statuary Hall Steering Committee Chair Shane Broadway, who has overseen each step in the process, including selecting the artists for each project. We also included clips with daughter Rosanne Cash, who has raved about Kresse’s work in capturing her dad.
Then in the second segment, host Steve Barnes reflected on Bates, whose statue was unveiled earlier in the year, by talking with Janis Kearney. She had known Bates well and eventually became publisher of the Arkansas State Press, which had been run by Bates and her husband L.C. Bates. Mrs. Bates is best known for mentoring the nine Black students who desegregated Little Rock’s Central High School in 1957.
I’ll eventually write an update after the ceremony, while you can find links to my previous reports here. Below is a link from U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson to watch the live ceremony. His office had to approve the statue design and other factors before it was finally cast in bronze.
Director of Public Affairs at Arkansas PBS, 36-year broadcasting veteran, photographer, interested in radio, TV and railroad history, author and host of the book and podcast series Rock Island Railroad in Arkansas.
Crews using heavy equipment tear boxcars apart on May 26, 2024, one day after the Union Pacific freight train derailed near Emmet, Arkansas. All photos by Michael Hibblen
A Union Pacific freight train derailed near the southwest Arkansas town of Emmet on May 25, 2024, with the railroad reporting 51 cars were involved. The wreckage blocked the busy double-track main line between Little Rock and Texarkana, which is also used by Amtrak’s Texas Eagle, with two passenger trains scheduled each day between Chicago and San Antonio. No injuries were reported.
Reports obtained from the state said 10 of the rail cars involved were loaded with cases of bottled beer, which broke during the derailment and clean up, flowing to a nearby creek where hundreds of fish and other wildlife were killed. State and federal environmental and wildlife officials were soon at the site assessing the impact and efforts to mitigate the spillage. Dozens of autoracks carrying new Dodge pickup trucks were also involved, with the vehicles being heavily damaged or destroyed. No hazardous materials were involved.
The derailment occurred behind a Foster Farms feed mill along U.S. 67, with most of the wrecked rail cars in a wooded area that required temporary paths to be cleaned to access the cars. If the derailment had happened a mile or so up the tracks, it would have been in a residential neighborhood. I arrived the following morning as a major response was underway with trucks carrying heavy equipment like bulldozers lining both sides of the highway. Also brought in were pieces of prefabricated track loaded on trailers.
A worker walks in front of a pile of spilled boxes of Modello.
Talking with some of the workers who were employed by contractors or consultants for the railroad, I was told they had been laboring through the night and were exhausted. Crews would continue clearing wreckage until the tracks could be repaired and reopened. Workers used backhoes to break apart boxcars and move them off the tracks. In the process, especially when cars were being moved or lifted upright, I could see boxes of beer falling out and hear the sound of breaking glass. The contents were cases of Modelo and Corona wrapped in plastic on wooden pallets. A strong smell of beer was in the air.
Union Pacific spokeswoman Meg Siffring said in an email that “beer inside some of the boxcars was discharged into a creek and traveled downstream about a mile. Union Pacific’s Hazmat team is working to contain and remove the beer. The incident has been reported to the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and the Dept. of Environmental Quality as some fish have perished. The cause of the derailment is under investigation.”
Reports from the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality said because of recent rain and the soil being saturated, the beer was not absorbed into the ground, with an estimated 10,000 gallons of beer flowing downhill to a ditch that feeds into the Terre Rouge Creek. An inspector from the Office of Emergency Management followed the creek 0.8 miles from the initial derailment location, finding a log in the creek provided a natural barrier with water behind it being clear and no dead aquatic life being found.
Vacuum trucks were brought in to suck up the contaminated water, collecting about 6,000 gallons. Additional pumps would be added in the coming days to aerate the waterway, but state biologists said they continued finding more dead fish each day, totalling about 400 by May 29. They also discovered dead mussels, crayfish and turtles. Attorneys for Union Pacific requested the state keep any dead fish for legal reasons.
Word that beer was in many of the boxcars spread through the community, with the Hempstead County Sheriff’s Office posting to social media on May 30 that its deputies and Union Pacific Railroad Police “have been stationed at the site to deter any looting of the cargo.You will face trespassing and theft of property charges if you enter the feed mill lot or take anything from the site of the derailment.”
The sheriff’s office also said a recent Facebook post claiming there was “free beer” at the site was not true, and asked people to stay away as the railroad and contractors where “have heavy machinery and workers trying to clear the site and it is not a safe environment for anyone not involved in the cleanup.”
Crews worked in extreme heat for several days to remove the damaged rail cars and clear the tracks.
Workers methodically removed the pickup tracks from the auto racks and stacked them in neat piles.
A staging area was established for removing and stacking the damaged pickup trucks that were inside autoracks. All were new Dodge-brand models, likely coming from being assembled in Mexico. They were stacked in piles over a large area showing very dramatic damage like entire roofs being ripped off. The monetary loss of the vehicles was likely very high.
I’m not sure exactly when all the damaged rail cars were removed and the track repaired, allowing the resumption of trains. Weeks later, most of the damaged trucks were still alongside the right of way, showing what a long process a cleanup like this can be.
With tracks reopened, a train passes through the site of the derailment on June 16, 2024.
Director of Public Affairs at Arkansas PBS, 36-year broadcasting veteran, photographer, interested in radio, TV and railroad history, author and host of the book and podcast series Rock Island Railroad in Arkansas.
On the web since 2002, this is the online home of broadcasting news veteran Michael Hibblen. I've worked for newspapers, radio and TV stations around the country, with this website telling the story of my career, including audio, photos and videos. Also featured are various interests I've researched, primarily about radio and railroads. Today I'm Director of Public Affairs at Arkansas PBS, overseeing production of the program "Arkansas Week" and the streaming of events on the Arkansas Citizens Access Network.
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, as well as other states in the middle of the U.S. The book features historic photos and tells the story of the Rock Island, which was shut down in March 1980. READ MORE
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.
