A long-running sibling dispute involving the national president of Ducks Unlimited that culminated in a multimillion-dollar land sale was the most-read story on ArkansasBusiness.com in 2015.
Senior Editor George Waldon’s Feb. 9 front-page story on disagreements between Deborah Tipton of Memphis and her younger brother, George Dunklin Jr., attracted strong reader interest throughout the first quarter of the year, even after Dunklin was declared the high bidder at a court-ordered auction of his family’s 15,881-acre farming and hunting holdings in Arkansas and Jefferson counties.
The Feb. 9 story and a Feb. 25 follow-up with auction results each drew enough traffic to place high in the year’s list of the 10 most-read stories, according to page views calculated by Google Analytics.
In fact, the Feb. 9 story appears to have drawn the most traffic ever by an Arkansas Business story in a single year in the website’s 16-year history. The Feb. 25 follow-up ranked No. 5.
Obviously, Dunklin’s status as DU president (he’s now its chairman) and his ownership of some of the state’s prime duck hunting properties — along with familial conflict and lots of money at stake — provided a mix that was irresistible to readers.
The year’s second-biggest draw was the website’s breaking news that the human remains found in March in Petit Jean State Park were those of long-missing Little Rock construction executive John Glasgow.
Hikers had discovered the remains the previous afternoon — a story Editor Gwen Moritz broke on ArkansasBusiness.com a few hours after the discovery noted that Glasgow was the only person reported missing in that area.
The discovery opened a new chapter in a mystery that Arkansas Business has covered extensively since the chief financial officer of CDI Contractors disappeared in January 2008. While Glasgow’s brother, Roger, believes the death was the result of “foul play,” the medical examiner could not make a conclusive ruling on the cause of death.
Arkansas Business readers also took a keen interest in upscale homes — how much those homes can cost and the legal headaches they can cause.
First, the No. 3 story is the latest entry of a perennial favorite: Pulaski County’s most expensive home sales of the year.
This year, Senior Editor Mark Friedman rounded up photos, prices and other details of the 14 biggest home sales of the previous year. The most expensive: a two-story, 3,400-SF Edgehill home purchased by Diane Wilder and Barnett “Porter” Briggs Jr. for $1.75 million. The home, built in 1988, was sold by Sherry Worthen. Other million-dollar homes on the list were found in the River Market District, the Heights, Hickory Creek and Chenal Valley.
Friedman’s report on another seven-figure home — a $1.25 million manor in Hillcrest — was the year’s ninth most-read story.
The cover story examined Dr. Joel Dworkin’s lawsuit against Kathleen “Kathy” Blasingame, the home’s former owner. After Dworkin bought the home from Blasingame, he discovered it had leaky windows and other issues that would cost more than $300,000 to repair.
Dworkin alleged Blasingame committed fraud by not telling him about the condition of the house. He wanted to rescind the real estate contract and alleged other unspecified damages. Blasingame denied the charges.
Ultimately, Pulaski County Circuit Court Judge W. Michael Reif ruled in favor of Dworkin, awarding him $102,200 in damages. But Reif said Dworkin was not entitled to rescind the contract.
Arkansas Business readers were also attracted to Managing Editor Jan Cottingham’s nostalgic look back at Buster’s Bar & Restaurant, the place to see and be seen in the 1980s in Little Rock.
Buster’s was Little Rock’s original “fern bar,” described by Cottingham as “a stylish establishment attracting young professionals — some single, some decidedly not.” Opened by James “Buster” Corley in 1978, the legendary watering hole hosted yuppies, legislators, lobbyists and “bond daddies,” securities salesmen who proliferated in the 1980s.
Cottingham’s look back came after a new crop of Arkansas legislators prepared to welcome Buster’s new incarnation, Dave & Buster’s, to Little Rock at the Gateway Town Center. The Legislature voted to raise the cap on how much a player of arcade games can win in order for the chain, which now offers food and drinks along with arcade games and billiards, to set up shop in Arkansas.
Other stories hit on familiar themes that remain popular with Arkansas Business readers: the intrigue that surrounds companies in trouble, big commercial real estate deals and local celebrities in business.
A simple update on construction at the new Lewis Crossing retail development in Conway drew thousands of views as it was shared widely on social media. Friedman’s update on the collapse of Turner Grain included new details from the bankruptcy hearing testimony of one of its former owners, Dale Bartlett, who claimed not to know what happened to the giant grain dealer.
Readers were also curious about disagreements among the partners in former Razorbacks quarterback Clint Stoerner’s insurance agency. The agency’s partners had removed Stoerner from his job at the
Stoerner & HaVas Insurance Agency Inc. claiming Stoerner did not do his job at the company, and Stoerner sued. The partners eventually settled out of court.
The 10 Most-Read Stories on ArkansasBusiness.com in 2015
- Sibling Dispute Leads to Sale of Farm & Hunting Land in Delta
- Sheriff Confirms Petit Jean Remains Are Those of John Glasgow
- 14 Most Expensive Home Sales of 2014 in Pulaski County
- DAV Construction Searched by Federal Agents
- George Dunklin the High Bidder in Auction of Arkansas, Jefferson County Land
- Little Rock's Original Fern Bar: How Buster’s Birthed Dave & Buster’s
- Turner Grain's Dale Bartlett Claims Ignorance in Company's Collapse
- Site Work Begins for Lewis Crossing in Conway
- Million-Dollar Dream Home in Hillcrest Focus of Lawsuit
- Former Hogs QB Clint Stoerner Tangles with Former Business Partners