Fort Smith residents have filed a lawsuit over chemical contamination of the groundwater in the neighborhood of Whirlpool's now-closed refrigerator factory in Fort Smith.
Good article in Wall Street Journal about Fort Smith's reaction to Whirlpool's plan to close its refrigerator factory, which will put the 1,000 remaining employees out of work.
Columbia Journalism Review, in its The Audit feature on business journalism, gives a stinging review of the Fort Smith Times-Record coverage of the news last week that Whirlpool would be closing its refrigerator factory in Fort Smith, putting 1,000 people out of work.
Whirlpool, which once employed as many as 4,600 in Fort Smith (now about 1,100), may be heading to zero as it evaluates continued production of side-by-side refrigerators.
Citing low demand for major appliances, Whirlpool in Ft. Smith announced today that they'll be laying off or offering early retirement to 20 to 25 salaried workers there by the end of the year.