I joined the panel on AETN’s Arkansas Week today with the key topic being the proposed budget from Gov. Asa Hutchinson which will be considered by legislators in the session that begins in January. In includes tax cuts that will largely benefit the state’s top earners, but Hutchinson said would also help the state as a whole by drawing more businesses, residents and investments. We also discussed the rising number of people being dropped from the state’s Medicaid expansion program for not meeting the recently-enacted work requirement.
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.
The Perry depot on Thursday, September 28 after being moved to a city-owned access road behind the railroad’s property.
There is still so much more work to do, but the first big step in preserving the Rock Island Railroad depot in Perry, Arkansas has been accomplished. During the last week of September, a house moving company removed the depot from property today owned by the Little Rock & Western Railway. Now we’re raising money to construct a foundation, which the depot will eventually be placed on. I’ve written about that first part of the move, which you can read here.
As I write this, we’re preparing to hold a celebration of this milestone, which will also be a fundraiser for the next step in the project. The event is tonight, Sunday, Nov. 4 from 6 to 10 p.m. in Little Rock at the White Water Tavern. That’s located just off 7th Street, alongside where Rock Island tracks used to run, paralleling Missouri Pacific tracks before heading west toward Perry. Please join us if you can! If you’d like to make a donation to help us with the project, you can also do that on the link.
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.
With just over two weeks before Election Day, I took part in AETN’s Arkansas Week largely to discuss actions taken by the Arkansas Supreme Court. Five of the seven judges are challenging charges by the Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission which said the court failed to give notice or an opportunity to respond to Pulaski County Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen when they said he could no longer hear execution-related cases. The drama started in April 2017 when Griffen was photographed taking part in an anti-death penalty demonstration outside the Governor’s Mansion. We also discussed a ruling by the state’s high court disqualifying a tort reform proposal which was to be considered by voters next month.
The first half of the program featured a debate with a supporter and an opponent of a proposal to raise the state’s minimum wage. Then I joined Hoyt Purvis and Heather Yates for the round-table discussion. The embedded video below is set to start at the second half of the program.
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.
Healthcare coverage, an ongoing corruption investigation involving state legislators and a major reorganization of state government were among the key topics in the only debate for governor of Arkansas that featured all three candidates. I was one of three journalists who questioned candidates during the AETN debate on Friday, October 12, joined by Lance Turner of Arkansas Business and Yuma Lee of KHBS-KHOG television.
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.
After a debate between those for and against Issue 4, which would allow full-fledged casino gambling in Arkansas, I joined the panel on Arkansas Week about 12 minutes into the program to discuss Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s proposal to extensively reorganize state government operations. We also discuss rising revenue and the fierce battle over U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
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.
