Plentiful sunshine. High 79F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph..
Clear skies. Low 52F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph.
Updated: March 11, 2025 @ 11:59 am
Mike McNeill is publisher and editor of magnoliareporter.com.
Mike McNeill is publisher and editor of magnoliareporter.com.
The steel that we noted Monday had been delivered to the former Barton Art Studio and Frame ‘n Gallery on the Magnolia Square apparently isn’t for the rebuilding of those structures, but for repairs to the former 2C Custom Framing building next door. The 2C Custom Framing building was heavily damaged when part of the north wall of the Frame ‘n Gallery collapsed atop it during the latter’s demolition last April. Workmen were busy on Monday and today rebuilding the front of the damaged 2C Custom Framing.
Jeff and Toy Blaauw have opened Magnolia Jiu Jitsu, a martial arts school at 1707 Eastridge Drive, Suite C. An open house/open mat is scheduled for noon Saturday, April 5 with classes beginning Monday, April 7. He is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu brown belt. She is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu blue belt. We wish the new school much success.
Brush & Barrel Beauty Barn, 1316 E. Main, will have its ribbon cutting at noon Friday, March 21, 2025.
Walgreens will become a private company after its pending acquisition by Sycamore Partners, a private equity firm. Walgreens once had a market value of more than $100 billion, but has fallen to less than $10 billion. Walgreens also plans to close about 1,200 of its current 8,700 locations nationwide. No word about the Magnolia Walgreens and its future. Our outlook for it is positive.
7 Brew, a drive-through coffee stand that is rapidly expanding across the nation, dropped its future El Dorado location onto its foundation at 2100 N. West Ave. last week. It offers a variety of hot and cold coffees, smoothies, shakes and teas. It will create about 50 full- and part-time jobs.
Hot coffee, coffee cake, and coffee-flavored ice cream and candy – we’re OK with that. Cold coffee, not so much.
James Bright, general manager and editor of the Texarkana Gazette, wrote a column last week lamenting the 15 percent increase that newspapers will experience when the Trump Administration raises prices on Canadian produced newsprint. “Newsprint” is the industry name for the paper on which newspapers are printed. He says the Texarkana Gazette will hold the line on newspaper prices for now, but that the situation may not last intentionally. We lean toward a belief that the tariff is an unsubtle attack on print media by the administration.
Our new online poll seeks to understand how readers think they will be affected by President Trump’s actual or proposed tariffs.
Dr. Mike Hemphill, professor at the Clinton School of Public Service, University of Arkansas, will speak to the Rotary Club of Magnolia during its meeting at noon Thursday. The club meets in the Cal Partee Room at Cadence Bank.
The South Arkansas Sustainability (SOAR) Conference is scheduled for April 23, 2025 at Southern Arkansas University, but we have received no details about it other than the date.
We recorded 0.4 inches of rain during the weekend, raising the March total to 2.66 inches, and the year-to-date total to exactly 12 inches.
Five years ago, we reported that the Arkansas Activities Association was postponing the eight remaining state basketball championship games due to the new coronavirus outbreak, including the Magnolia-Mills game for the Class 4A title. CLICK HERE to see the story.
Keep on your entertainment radar: Southern Arkansas University Theatre production of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s “Cinderella,” 7 p.m. April 10-12 and 2 p.m. April 13.
If you’ve not done anything with your website or Facebook page in four or five years, it may be time to reboot, rethink or pull the plug.
We’ve been meaning to pen the words about this story: That’s just sad. We’re referring to an article we published Thursday, March 6, 2025 about the sad life and death of one Earl James McDaniel, whose remains were found along Interstate 40 near Carlisle in October 1984. He was an unidentified homicide victim until Arkansas State Police announced last week that McDaniel had been identified through advanced DNA testing at Othram Labs in Texas. It’s not known who strangled McDaniel to death, but at least his daughter in Washington state officially knows that he’s dead. McDaniel had a hard life. He served prison time in Washington and Oklahoma, and his last known location involved a DUI arrest in Iowa about six weeks before he was found dead. Just sad. But the news does give hope to thousands of people whose loved ones are missing, or who pray for the resolution of other cases. CLICK HERE to see Thursday’s story.
Mike McNeill is publisher and editor of magnoliareporter.com. Email him at news@magnoliareporter.com or call him at 870-904-3865. Opinions expressed in this column are his own.
CLICK HERE to see past installments of Mike McNeill’s Diary.
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