A penchant for travel and languages led me on for thirty years in a variety of careers – winning hearts and minds in and out of uniform military, federal, and freelance. Now exclusively freelance. I’m fluent in German and English, with survival skills in French, Haitian Creole, Russian, Standard Arabic, Swahili, Turkish and Samoan. Lately…
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Juneteenth commemorates the day the enslaved people in Galveston, Texas finally received the news that they were free. The news came two years after President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, on June 19, 1865. Flash-forward almost exactly 100 years, to Chapel Hill in 1969. That’s when Howard N. Lee was elected mayor of this town. In so…
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After being closed for a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Argenta Community Theater (ACT) at 405 Main Street in North Little Rock recently announced that it will be reopening its doors in August 2021. ACT will kick off its 2021 season with a grand re-opening celebration on Tuesday, August 17, 2021, at 7 p.m. outdoors at Argenta Plaza (510…
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Discovery made during cross-country gemstone quest (MURFREESBORO, Ark.) – It’s thrilling when hard work pays off. For years, 26-year-old Christian Liden, of Poulsbo, Wash., has wanted to find the raw materials to make his own engagement ring. He started by panning for gold around his home state. After five years, he had accumulated enough for the…
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There’s a shopping center in Chapel Hill that’s fun to visit because many longtime Chapel Hill retailers are at the helm and their experience adds to the feeling of community. University Place (formerly known as University Mall) is anchored by SilverSpot Cinema. The mall originally opened with Ivey’s and Belk (Belk-Leggett Horton) in 1973, and Roses Stores as a junior anchor. It was developed…
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The latest episode of the Discover Arkansas podcast is now available online. This month’s topic focuses on lesser known parts of Arkansas. Host Colton Faull traveled to Marion to learn about the Sultana Disaster Museum, which tells the story of the explosion and sinking of the steamboat Sultana in 1865. The tragic event took more…
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A new acrobatic air show in Arkansas debuts in Bryant on June 19 over Father’s Day weekend. Wings Over Bryant is the only air show scheduled in Arkansas this year and is set to take place at the Saline County Regional Airport. On the lineup are a range of impressive acts. “Team AeroShell is the…
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10 state parks to hold free public COVID-19 vaccination clinics (LITTLE ROCK, Ark.) – Arkansas State Parks, a division of the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage, and Tourism (ADPHT), is partnering with the Arkansas Department of Health (ADH) to host free public COVID-19 vaccination clinics in 10 state parks across the state. The first vaccination…
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Historic preservation has been around forever. In one form or another, people have always wanted to maintain the past – the old homeplace – while at the same time inviting in the new. The new takes many forms: a road, a store, a building. But the world is finite, and once the old is gone…
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Dear NATJA Family: All I can say is, “We are back!” After this past week’s announcement from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention relaxing the use of masks, we are confident that tourism will once again see a boom! Travel will be at the top of the public’s mind, especially after 14 months of missing…
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