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Doesn't know Cotton

It's time for those who make public policy in Arkansas to follow the example of billionaire John Tyson and go big. Along with the eclipse, the top story in Arkansas this month has been the hiring of John Calipari as head basketball coach at the University of Arkansas. The story received major media attention across the country and shook the sports world. Arkansas was in the spotlight because Tyson chose to go big.

As towns across rural Arkansas continue to bleed population, the most obvious victims often are the churches. I recently saw an online plea for funds to help keep up a Presbyterian church building at Helena, a once-beautiful city on the banks of the Mississippi River that has been losing residents for decades.

Restauranteur and Little Rock civic leader Capi Peck joins Rex on this week’s episode to discuss, most notably, the litter, trash and graffiti problems that plague the Little Rock metro area.

I met Eric Jackson in the winter of 1979. I was a college student at the time. I was also sports editor of the Daily Siftings Herald at Arkadelphia. That meant I could spend race days at Oaklawn Park in the press box. It was a dream assignment for a 19-year-old aspiring journalist from just down the road.