I filled in hosting this week’s edition of Arkansas Week on AETN, focusing largely on the escalation of violence in Little Rock. The city has seen a 24 percent increase in violent crime from a year ago, but what finally prompted action from Gov. Asa Hutchinson was an outbreak of gunfire at a Little Rock nightclub early Saturday, July 1, with 25 people being shot. Amazingly no one died. Hutchinson announced the creation of a multiagency partnership that includes the FBI, Arkansas State Police and the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office working to get a handle on the situation. I opened the program interviewing Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola, then talked with our panel made up of political science professor Heather Yates from the University of Central Arkansas, Wes Brown of Talk Business & Politics, and Independent journalist Steve Brawner. The program will be aired tonight at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 11 a.m., or you can watch the program below.
Veteran news reporter, editor and manager spanning more than 30 years at newspapers, radio and television stations. I’m also a photographer, historian and author, having written the 2017 book Rock Island Railroad in Arkansas and hosting a podcast of the same name.
Joining i24NEWS anchor David Shuster (left) Friday, April 14 for a live interview during his program Stateside.
Arkansas’s plan to execute eight death row inmates over an 11-day period has generated a lot of attention from around the world. While courts removed two of the men slated to die, international media outlets continue following the story carefully.
Shortly after Pulaski County Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen issued a stay for the executions, I reported live on Israeli television network i24NEWS to discuss the latest. You can find a link to watch the broadcast here. I mentioned in the interview that we were still waiting for a ruling from a federal judge, and that ended up coming down the next morning, also staying the executions. The state is now appealing those decisions.
Veteran news reporter, editor and manager spanning more than 30 years at newspapers, radio and television stations. I’m also a photographer, historian and author, having written the 2017 book Rock Island Railroad in Arkansas and hosting a podcast of the same name.
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.
Veteran news reporter, editor and manager spanning more than 30 years at newspapers, radio and television stations. I’m also a photographer, historian and author, having written the 2017 book Rock Island Railroad in Arkansas and hosting a podcast of the same name.
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.
Veteran news reporter, editor and manager spanning more than 30 years at newspapers, radio and television stations. I’m also a photographer, historian and author, having written the 2017 book Rock Island Railroad in Arkansas and hosting a podcast of the same name.
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.
Veteran news reporter, editor and manager spanning more than 30 years at newspapers, radio and television stations. I’m also a photographer, historian and author, having written the 2017 book Rock Island Railroad in Arkansas and hosting a podcast of the same name.
This is the online home of news veteran Michael Hibblen. I've worked as a reporter, editor and manager for newspapers, radio and TV stations around the country, with this website telling the story of my career. Also featured on this site are outside interests I've researched, primarily about radio and railroads. The views expressed here are my own and might not reflect those of my employers. Today I work for Newsroom Ventures as an editor and reporter for its six newspapers.
Preserving the Rock Island Depot at Perry
Since 2017, I've been part of a group working to preserve the former Rock Island Depot at Perry, Arkansas. To keep it from being demolished, we raised money to move the depot to an adjacent lot, still alongside the tracks, which is now owned by the city. The building has since been listed on the National Register of Historic Places and our group has become a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE PRESERVATION OF THE DEPOT.
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. The book features historic photos and tells the story of the Rock Island, which was shut down in March 1980. READ MORE ABOUT MY BOOK.
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.
