A ruling by a federal judge has halted Arkansas’s work requirement for some recipients of the state’s Medicaid expansion program. That was the top story this week, which led the roundtable discussion on AETN’s Arkansas Week. I joined reporters Benji Hardy of the Arkansas Nonprofit News Network and independent journalist Steve Brawner to talk about that with host Steve Barnes. The ruling came down just as lawmakers are considering funding for Medicaid and this is expected to complicate the debate.
We also discussed school voucher proposals, the withdrawal of a bill concerning waste from a hog farm in north Arkansas, a term limits proposal that appears on track to go before voters, and as Steve was starting to wrap up the show, I had to toss in my favorite bill of this legislative session, which is now headed to the governor’s desk. Every state has two statues in the U.S. Capitol and legislation approved by the House this week would replace Arkansas’s with singer Johnny Cash and civil rights leader Daisy Bates.
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’m very proud and excited to share that I’m one of 53 public broadcasting newsroom leaders selected to take part in an intensive 100-day training program paid for entirely by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The Editorial Integrity and Leadership Initiative is being held at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.
It will be a great opportunity to hone my skills. I’ll fly out to Arizona as part of the second group in August, spending a week there, then work remotely each day with a coach before returning to ASU for a wrap up in January. From the description: “It is 8 total days of customized intensive training at Cronkite and 3 months working 1:1 with a personal coach (industry leader). The goal is to take strong journalists and make them great leaders who can guide public media into the future.” You can read more on this CPB press release.
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.
It took two votes, but the Arkansas Senate approved Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s tax proposal which now moves to the House where it’s expected to face a bigger challenge. Meanwhile there was a lot of anticipation about the governor’s highway plan, which has been a key issue that has kept even some Republicans from backing the tax cut. We also gave an update on the implementation of state’s medical marijuana program. I joined fellow journalists Wes Brown and Andrew DeMillo for the roundtable discussion following two state lawmakers who offered their thoughts.
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 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.
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 Arkansas Week and the streaming of events on the Arkansas Citizens Access Network. The posts on this site are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Arkansas PBS or my former employers.
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.
I’m very proud and excited to share that I’m one of 53 public broadcasting newsroom leaders selected to take part in an intensive 100-day training program paid for entirely by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The Editorial Integrity and Leadership Initiative is being held at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.
