Subscriber Exclusive
City condemns house source of chronic code violations
The Hot Springs Board of Directors condemned a Chapel Street address Tuesday that inspectors three years earlier had identified as an imminent danger to public…
Stories by David Showers
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Subscriber Exclusive‘Red wave’ washes over quorum court
Erin Holliday's plurality in the District 1 city director's race Tuesday earned her a second elected term on the Hot Springs Board of Directors, but election n…
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Subscriber ExclusiveRepublican wave sweeps quorum court as incumbents fall
Final unofficial results from Tuesday's general election had Republicans winning all eight contested races for Garland County justice of the peace, leaving Tho…
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Subscriber ExclusiveWATCH | Election Day voters add to record tally
Garland County voters have used touch screens to mark their ballots and scanners to tabulate them for many years, a dramatic departure from the analog days of …
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Turnout on pace to surpass ’20 general election
More than half of Garland County's registered voters will have cast their ballot when polls open at 7:30 a.m. for today's general election.
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Subscriber ExclusiveSenior center, culture wars highlight year-long JP battle
Described by the Garland County Election Commission as the largest field of justice of the peace candidates since the statewide restructuring of county governm…
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Subscriber ExclusiveMcGrew seeks second term against Democratic challenger
With more than 1,600 bills introduced in last year's 94th Arkansas General Assembly, and almost 900 becoming law, new legislators have compared their introduct…
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Subscriber ExclusiveDemocrats’ challenger undeterred by another uphill battle on Tuesday
The personal finance website, WalletHub, recently ranked Arkansas as the least politically engaged state.
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Subscriber ExclusiveRepublican bounty benefits party’s JP candidates
The Republican Party of Garland County donated $25,600 to its candidates for justice of the peace, according to contribution and expenditure reports candidates…
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Subscriber ExclusiveGarland County roads see dividends from 2022 tax
The number of roads with 3 inches of new asphalt in Garland County's more than 700-mile network have calls for speed bumps rivaling complaints about potholes.
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Subscriber Exclusive’25 city budget includes funding for resource center director
The $169.2 million 2025 budget the Hot Springs Board of Directors will consider Nov. 5 includes $100,000 for an administrator of the community resource center …
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Subscriber Exclusive911 merger not considered in city, county budgets
The city of Hot Springs says it has yet to tell the state it won't consolidate 911 operations with Garland County, but the 2025 budgets the city and county pre…
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Subscriber ExclusiveWATCH | International election observers visit Garland County
Election observers from Norway and Switzerland visited Garland County Tuesday for an up-close look at how the county is conducting the Nov. 5 general election.
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Subscriber ExclusiveRAD deal continues to frustrate Hot Springs board
Unsatisfied with its work session earlier this month with the director of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Little Rock field office, the Ho…
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Subscriber Exclusive’25 city of Hot Springs budget empties ARPA account
The 2025 budget proposal the city presented Tuesday totaled $169.2 million, a 2% increase from last year's adopted budget.
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Subscriber ExclusiveNov. 1 deadline set for fire marshal applicants
The Civil Service Commission established eligibility criteria, test and interview dates for the two fire marshal positions the Hot Springs Board of Directors a…
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Subscriber ExclusiveFirst day of voting signals record turnout
With more than 3,000 people casting ballots during the first six hours of early voting Monday for the Nov. 5 general election, Garland County was no exception …
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Early voting for general election starts today
Thirteen days of early voting for the Nov. 5 general election and nonpartisan runoff starts today at 8 a.m.
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Subscriber ExclusiveCity adjusts parking rates that take effect in January
New downtown parking rates the city adopted in July will take effect Jan. 2, the city said at Tuesday's Hot Springs Board of Directors meeting.
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Subscriber ExclusiveWATCH | ‘The greatest job’: New assistant HSFD chief discusses career, new duties
Rising from hoseman to the new assistant chief's position the Hot Springs Board of Directors created this spring, Tom Braughton has seen many changes during hi…
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Subscriber ExclusiveDecades of neglect led to city’s decision to raze historic Park Avenue home
The city said while lamentable, Tuesday's unanimous vote by the Hot Springs Board of Directors to tear down what historians believe to be the oldest house in t…
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Subscriber ExclusiveCity board agenda includes acquisition of office space/storage
The $525,000 purchase of 15,000 square feet of office space and a half dozen outbuildings behind the Weyerhaeuser building on Whittington Avenue the Hot Spring…
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Subscriber ExclusiveDemolition likely for historic Passmore House
The Hot Springs Board of Directors will consider demolishing the 150-year-old home historians believe to be the oldest in the city.
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Subscriber ExclusiveWATCH | New challenger joins District 1 rematch
The race to represent the city's northernmost political boundary on the Hot Springs Board of Directors features a 2020 rematch and a new challenger.
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Subscriber ExclusiveMaintenance issues plague public housing under RAD deal
Privatizing the city's 365 public housing units in 2018 addressed $18 million in deferred maintenance that had accrued since they were built in the early 1960s…
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Subscriber ExclusiveRevised draft of zoning code retains manufactured home regs
Manufactured homes won't be permitted in residential districts under the zoning code draft the Hot Springs Planning Commission considered Thursday.
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Subscriber ExclusiveSales tax ‘correction’ doesn’t concern county judge
July sales tax collections the state revenue agency remitted last month showed the county's first year-over-year decline since February 2021.
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Subscriber ExclusiveCounty to continue employee premium pay in ’25
Garland County justices of the peace advanced funding Monday for the second round of 2024 premium pay, an employee perk County Judge Darryl Mahoney wants to co…
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News in brief
Candidate forum set for Thursday at library
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Subscriber ExclusiveControversial STR back on city board agenda
A court ordered the city in April to issue a lakefront residence the permit that allowed its owners to apply for a short-term rental license, but some city dir…
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Subscriber ExclusiveCity to replace Depot benches as it deals with homeless issues
The city of Hot Springs plans to install new benches that will discourage sleeping at Transportation Depot.
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Subscriber ExclusiveWATCH | ‘Not the best timing’: City postpones parking management plan until after beginning of year
The city said free on-street parking on Central Avenue is likely to continue through the end of the year, telling downtown merchants it's postponing the new ra…
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Subscriber ExclusiveDesign work for new fire station nears completion
The new fire station on First Security Way will be designed to segregate turnout gear from firefighters' living quarters, a separation critical to managing can…
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County issues burn ban after Jessieville wildfire closes highway
County Judge Darryl Mahoney issued a burn ban for the unincorporated area of Garland County on Friday.
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Subscriber ExclusiveVIDEO | JP candidate questions former incumbent’s integrity
Trust is at issue in next month's District 7 justice of the peace race, Libertarian candidate Robert Louton said Tuesday, asking the audience at the JP candida…
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Deadline to to pay 2023 property taxes Oct. 15
Garland County Tax Collector Rebecca Dodd Talbert notes that Oct. 15 is the deadline, not the due date, to pay 2023 property taxes.
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Subscriber ExclusiveCity sales tax collections fall short in consecutive months
July collections of the city of Hot Springs' 1% general fund sales tax fell short of the previous July total, marking the first consecutive decline in monthly …
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Subscriber ExclusiveThe Hope Movement: Local nonprofit looks to expand its portfolio
The Hope Movement believes independence breaks the cycle of chemical dependence. Give people agency to escape their circumstances, and they'll forge ahead.
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Subscriber ExclusiveJPs advance LHFD dues increase to full quorum court
Volunteer fire departments are the leading edge of emergency response in the unincorporated area of the county.
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Subscriber ExclusiveCity moves closer to treating new water source
The city of Hot Springs said it expects to treat Lake Ouachita water at the Cozy Acres Road plant on upper Lake Hamilton by the end of the year.
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Subscriber ExclusiveHR committee expands county DEM’s oversight
The director of emergency management will be more involved with the Garland County 911 Communications Center under the updated job description justices of the …
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Subscriber ExclusiveBoard OKs structural inspection of historic Park Avenue home
The Hot Springs Board of Directors said its unanimous condemnation of a 150-year-old Victorian-era home doesn't consign the property to demolition.
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Subscriber ExclusiveCity’s force main bid comes in under estimate
No overflows have been reported from manholes immediately upstream of the pump station that handles as much as half the regional wastewater system's flow since…
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Subscriber ExclusiveHSFD academy: In-house program graduates its first firefighters for city
The Hot Springs Fire Department completed its first in-house academy last month, certifying five new firefighters for duty.
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Subscriber ExclusiveFirefighter alleges violations of civil service law
Violations of the law governing the hiring and promotion of police and fire personnel are alleged in an employee complaint against Hot Springs Fire Chief Ed Da…
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Subscriber ExclusiveGrant opportunity revitalizes East Belding Street extension
Former District 2 Director Elaine Jones championed the extension of East Belding Street to Malvern Avenue.
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Subscriber ExclusiveCity applies for federal housing funds
The city wants to increase its stock of affordable housing by converting vacation rentals to residential units.
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Subscriber ExclusiveWATCH | Invictus Award: HSPD officers first recipients of state award for valor
Hot Springs police Officers Nicolas Cato and Alexander Lee were recognized this week for their actions the night of March 11, receiving the Arkansas Commission…
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Subscriber ExclusiveWATCH | Former county judge ‘front runner’ for JP appointment
Former County Judge Rick Davis will be one of the nominees the county will submit for the vacant District 7 justice of the peace seat.
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Subscriber ExclusiveWATCH | Board to review zoning code, include accessory dwellings
Accessory dwelling units have come into vogue as demand for affordable housing has exceeded supply, a trend the zoning code didn't foresee when the Hot Springs…
