There was a lot of uncertainty when we recorded AETN’s “Arkansas Week” on Friday, April 14. As the state prepared to carry out an unprecedented seven executions over an 11-day period, there was a flurry of legal filings and decisions that were about to come down. A four-day federal court hearing had just wrapped up the night before, but no verdict issued yet, and the rapid pace of the lethal injections was drawing media attention from around the world. I took part in that week’s panel discussion joined by UCA political science Professor Heather Yates and Blytheville Courier News Editor Tom Henry.
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 cover of my new book for Arcadia Publishing, which was released on April 3. You can click on the cover to order a copy of the book.
A huge project which has dominated much of my free time over the last two years has been preparing a new book for Arcadia Publishing called Rock Island Railroad in Arkansas, which is part of its Images of Rail series. The book is a collection of mostly vintage photographs of the railroad taken around the state and was officially released on April 3. It’s available at major bookstores in Arkansas, or can be ordered online. I’m excited that my first lecture on the subject was Tuesday, April 4, at the Clinton School of Public Service, which is housed in the 118-year-old building that for much of its existence was the Little Rock passenger station for the Rock Island. Click here to find a link to watch a video of my presentation, learn more about the book, where to purchase it, or find when and where I’ll be taking part in future lectures or book signings.
I’ve been researching the Rock Island off and on for 29 years, recording interviews with former employees, visiting locations in the state that were once used by the railroad, and most recently, got access to the files of former Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton who was in his first term in office when the Rock Island was shut down in 1980. I plan to get many of those documents posted in the coming year to offer a different perspective on what a crisis this was for the state. About 700 people worked for the railroad in Arkansas at the time, and there were then efforts to try and get a new railroad to buy the former trackage, much of which ended up being removed.
But in the short term, my next project concerning the railroad is producing a podcast series using audio of interviews I’ve recorded with more than 20 people over the years, most former employees, to give a firsthand account of life working for the Rock Island and the impact its shutdown had on the state. Look for the first episode in the coming weeks. I expect I’ll probably produce about 10 to 15 episodes in the coming months.
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 for AETN’s Arkansas Week, with the top issue being proposed changes Gov. Asa Hutchinson is requesting from the federal government for the state’s Arkansas Works Medicaid expansion program. About 331,000 Arkansans are covered right now, but that would be reduced by about 60,000 as he wants to lower the income cap for eligibility. We also discuss reaction in Arkansas to the plan presented in the U.S. House of Representatives to repeal and replace President Obama’s signature healthcare law, and have the latest in the Arkansas Legislature concerning guns, unused school buildings and expanding wine sales in grocery stores.
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.
For 15 years this has been my home on the web. It started as an online portfolio documenting my career in radio, with audio of some of the bigger news stories I’ve covered and photos from each station or network. Eventually I started adding unrelated items that interested me, including railroads, photography and literature.
But the original platform hadn’t changed much since my former college roommate Tim Edens helped me put this online in 2002. I added some media players and made other minor modifications, but the website had become woefully outdated by modern standards. Admittedly, I had also let it become dormant over the last year. So I’ve decided to start from scratch and rebuild it. Maybe I can compare the process to an IHOP restaurant near my house in Little Rock, Arkansas, at the corner of University Avenue and Markham Street. I was surprised to see it bulldozed recently and now it’s being rebuilt on a much larger scale with part of it to feature a second floor. At a certain point, rather than making minor repairs, I guess they decided it was best to just teared it down and rebuild.
That’s what I’m doing here, though I am reposting older material. I also hope to greatly expand the website by adding a lot of additional interviews, photos and more on a wide range of topics I have reported on or just find interesting. The website is also now available in a form that can work on different platforms, including mobile devices. If you get a 404: Page Not Found, audio files that don’t play, or you find other errors, please bear with me! I hope to have everything up and running by the end of March. Thanks for stopping by!
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 of AETN’s Arkansas Week, Friday, Jan. 27, 2017, on the third week of this year’s Arkansas General Assembly. Key issues were Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s tax cut plan getting passage in both chambers, while a proposal for an earned income tax credit from Democratic Rep. Warwick Sabin was rejected. Bills concerning abortion, higher education funding and medical marijuana were also discussed, as was the possible impact to Arkansas of trade policies from Pres. Donald Trump.
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.
