A veteran broadcaster and five-term state legislator is the new head of Arkansas PBS. Carlton Wing started as Executive Director/CEO on Sept. 30, the same day he submitted his resignation for the district 70 seat in the Arkansas House of Representatives.
After less than two weeks on the job, Wing sat down with me on Arkansas Week to discuss his background and how he’s meeting with each member of the staff to prepare a plan for our future. While the end of federal funding has made this a challenging time for public broadcasting, there are immense opportunities ahead, Wing said.
In another segment of the program, I discussed the ongoing federal government shutdown and the impact it was having on agriculture. An economic support package was expected to have been announced that week by the White House, but was delayed, with administration officials blaming the shutdown. Joining me to talk about that were Dr. Hunter Biram, an agriculture economist with the UA Division of Agriculture, and Dr. Jeremy Horpedahl, director of the Arkansas Center for Research in Economics at UCA.
I’m looking forward to seeing Jim Lauderdale play tonight in Little Rock. I’ve been listening to his songs for years, but still don’t feel like I have a true appreciation of his music. I’ve heard he’s great live, so I’m excited to see him performing at Stickyz on Sunday, Oct. 19. Leading up to the show, I played a couple of Lauderdale’s bluegrass songs — including his latest — while filling in last weekend hosting Not Necessarily Nashville on Little Rock Public Radio’s KUAR-FM 89.1. Below is the full playlist for the show.
It’s always a joy filling in for Flap Jones a few times a year. The first time I hosted her program was 35 years ago — that’s how far back she and I go. Flap has enlightened me to so much good country music, and she has so many longtime regular listeners that I know the bar is very high whenever I’m on the show.
AUDIO: Not Necessarily Nashville, Oct. 11, 2025 at 7 p.m. on KUAR-FM 89.1.
I also played a reflective song from Joe Ely, who announced last month he has been diagnosed with Lewy body dementia and Parkinson’s disease, two conditions that significantly affect cognitive and physical functions. He and his wife Sharon are being very open, with a post on Facebook saying they’re sharing the journey, “not to dwell in hardship, but to bring understanding, awareness and hope through the healing power of music.”
Not Necessarily Nashville playlist Oct. 11, 2025:
Willie Nelson (featuring Loretta Lynn) — “Somewhere Between” (To All The Girls…) Jim Lauderdale (featuring the Po’ Ramblin’ Boys) — “Little Bitty Diamonds” Jim Lauderdale — “All Roads Lead Back To You” (The Bluegrass Diaries) Kathy Mattea — “Life As We Knew It” (Untasted Honey) Waylon Jennings — “I Hate To Go Searchin’ Them Bars Again” (Songbird)
The Byrds — “I Am A Pilgrim” (The Byrds)
The Reivers — “Please Don’t Worry” (Second Story)
Patterson Hood — “Pinicco” (Exploding Trees & Airplane Screams)
Alison Krauss — “Poison Love” (Windy City)
Billy Joe Shaver — “Ramblin’ Fever” (Tulare Dust – A Songwriters’ Tribute to Merle Haggard)
Joe Ely — “You Can Bet I’m Gone” (Satisfied at Last)
Iris DeMent — “Let the Mystery Be” (Infamous Angel)
Gram Parsons & Emmylou Harris — “Cash on the Barrelhead” (Grievous Angel)
Texas Tornados — “(Hey Baby) Que Paso” (Los Texas Tornados)
With a Sept. 30 deadline to avert a federal government shutdown, U.S. Rep. Steve Womack is urging Congress to pass a new government funding bill for the coming fiscal year. Republican leaders, however, have been backing a stopgap spending bill, which is what ultimately passed in the House.
Speaking with me on Arkansas Week, which aired Sept. 19 on Arkansas PBS, Womack (R-District 3), expressed frustration with the short-term fix which would only extend funding through mid-November. He’s a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee which in the previous week passed the 12 bills needed for a new funding plan. He had called on the full House to consider the bills
“I’m a bit at odds with my own leadership team on this subject because continuing resolutions are not the answer to America’s fiscal problems,” Womack said. “And once again, here we are at the very end, right on a cliff of a potential lapse in government funding and we don’t have a plan for how we’re going to fund today’s urgent priorities.”
The legislation moved to the Senate, but with Republicans and Democrats locked in a standoff and neither side showing a willingness to compromise, a government shutdown now looks likely. Republicans hold only a small margin in their majority and will need the support of at least a few Democrats to get the bill passed.
During the interview, Womack also spoke about the need for the federal government to help farmers facing their worst financial situation in decades. It’s estimated that about one-third of all farmers won’t survive to plant another crop next season. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins visited Womack’s district earlier in the week, saying direct financial assistance was in the works and would soon be presented to Congress, though Womack said he didn’t know details of what was being planned. We also talked about legislation he sponsored to ensure veterans get continued access to telemedicine, which was passed last week by the House and now advances to the Senate.
In the second segment of the program, I was joined by Shannon Newton, president of the Arkansas Trucking Association. The industry — which is one of the largest in the state, employing about 100,000 people — is in the third year of a freight recession. Trucking companies had expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic to address problems with the nation’s supply chain, but as life returned to normal, they needed to scale back their operations.
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 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.
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.
