On New Year's Day 2024, firefighters in rural Latimer County responded to a house fire reported around 6:30 p.m. along Southwest 1050th Avenue in the Tuskahoma area near Yanush. The structure was fully engulfed when crews arrived. As they worked to extinguish the flames, they discovered the body of the homeowner inside. The victim was later identified as 92-year-old John Edward Welsh. An autopsy conducted by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined that Welsh had s

Mark Twain observed in 1897: “There are people who think that honesty is always the best policy. This is a superstition. There are times when the appearance of it is worth six of it.” One suspects he was writing about Fort Smith politics. It has long been accepted local dogma that you don’t have to be honest with all the people. You only have to convince more of them that you believe what you say than to actually listen to yourself with a critical ear. This in a city where f