The Southern Fried Podcast | Remembering U.S. Sen. David Pryor with Skip Rutherford
Skip Rutherford, former Dean of the University of Arkansas' Clinton School of Public Service and friend of the program, stops by this week to remember beloved …
Stories by Rex Nelson
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | REX NELSON: Sensing the forest
We're in the woods near Hot Springs, and Don Bobbitt, president of the University of Arkansas System, notices the difference. Bobbitt talks about the pace he e…
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Subscriber ExclusiveGaming areas, a luxury hotel, a spa and an event center contribute to the evolution of Oaklawn from a racetrack to a destination resort
Louis Cella sits in the lobby of the hotel at Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort in Hot Springs, watching as visitors check in on a busy Thursday afternoon.
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | REX NELSON: Oaklawn’s big gamble
Eric Jackson, who served for three decades as general manager of what's now Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort, vividly remembers a trip across Chesapeake Bay. It wa…
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | REX NELSON: Gracious in defeat
I was at my grandparents' home in Des Arc on June 11, 1972, when the much-anticipated debate between U.S. Sen. John L. McClellan and U.S. Rep. David Pryor took…
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | REX NELSON: Arkansas came first
My best days on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., in the 1980s were the slow days.
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | REX NELSON: Time to go big
It's time for those who make public policy in Arkansas to follow the example of billionaire John Tyson and go big. Along with the eclipse, the top story in Ark…
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | REX NELSON: The McRaes of Prescott
I drive slowly through the small Arkansas towns that are losing population. Their downtown buildings are largely empty, and their cemeteries are full. I look f…
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The Southern Fried Podcast: Little Rock’s litter and graffiti problem with Capi Peck
Restauranteur and Little Rock civic leader Capi Peck joins Rex on this week’s episode to discuss, most notably, the litter, trash and graffiti problems that pl…
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | REX NELSON: Presbyterians in Prescott
As towns across rural Arkansas continue to bleed population, the most obvious victims often are the churches. I recently saw an online plea for funds to help k…
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | REX NELSON: Transforming a party
In his new book "From Blue to Red," political scientist John C. Davis of Fayetteville identifies three generations of the modern Republican Party in Arkansas.
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | REX NELSON: The lithium boom
The lithium boom is going to happen in southwest Arkansas. I no longer have any doubt about that. Just don't expect it to happen quickly.
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | REX NELSON: Eric Jackson’s journey
I met Eric Jackson in the winter of 1979. I was a college student at the time. I was also sports editor of the Daily Siftings Herald at Arkadelphia. That meant…
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | REX NELSON: Switching from blue to red
It doesn't matter if one is a Democrat, Republican or independent. If you love Arkansas history and politics as much as I do, the speed with which Arkansas mov…
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | REX NELSON: Achieving its potential
I'm having lunch at Big Bad Breakfast on Main Street in Little Rock and thinking about all that downtown has going for it these days. This block, pretty much d…
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The Southern Fried Podcast | Outdoor amenities and quality of life with Samuel Ellis
Former professional whitewater raft guide in Colorado and native Arkansan Samuel Ellis joins Rex on this week’s podcast to discuss a variety of outdoor recreat…
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | REX NELSON: Hyperpartisan hyperventilates
In a letter to the editor of this newspaper back in February, one writer had this to say about me: "I don't resent his commentary about Gov. Sarah Sanders, for…
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Subscriber ExclusiveOut of the shadows: Morrilton's energetic, innovative leaders are intent on raising their city’s visibility
For decades, Morrilton was the place in between. To the west on Interstate 40 is Russellville, home of Arkansas Tech University. Russellville saw its populatio…
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | REX NELSON: Conway County’s politics
In the summer of 1993, I was political editor of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. I was a "writing editor," which meant I wrote stories in addition to supervisin…
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | REX NELSON: Peetie and Sister Rosetta
I've devoted several recent columns to dying towns in the Arkansas Delta and the talented people those towns produced. The most famous folks to escape the cott…
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | REX NELSON: Cotton Plant luminaries
In a March 2018 story for The New York Times, Richard Fausset wrote about the slow death of Cotton Plant.
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | REX NELSON: Cotton Plant blues
I was a teenager in the 1970s and just beginning my love affair with rural Arkansas. During visits to my grandparents' home in Des Arc, I enjoyed going on long…
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | REX NELSON: Our legislative dupes
The New York Times focused on our state last month due to the ongoing disaster known as the Arkansas Legislature. It published a major story about Bitcoin oper…
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The Southern Fried Podcast | Little Rock's parks and recreation with Leland Couch and Mason Ellis
Leland Couch, the Director of Little Rock Parks and Recreation, and architect Mason Ellis, board member and past president of Preserve Arkansas, join Rex this …
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | REX NELSON: Princeton in the pines
I'm in Princeton, the first county seat of Dallas County, but there's not much to see. In the 2020 census, there were 13 residents.
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | REX NELSON: Tulip in the spring
The great Mississippi writer Willie Morris once used a term that I think about on days like this: "the last of the desultory Southern drivers."
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | REX NELSON: Dallas County day trip
Like most counties in rural Arkansas, Dallas County has been bleeding population for decades. In 1930, there were 14,671 residents. By the 2020 census, that ha…
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | REX NELSON: The road to Dalark
Growing up in Arkadelphia, I came to realize that I was on the edge of two worlds. I could head west into the Ouachita Mountains. There were hills, lots of roc…
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OPINION | REX NELSON: My trip to Bountiful
It was 1985. I was 26, single, living in the state's largest city, serving as assistant sports editor of the Arkansas Democrat, covering Dallas Cowboy home gam…
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | REX NELSON: Jamming at the Knob
Bald Knob is a surprisingly good place to dine for a town of 2,500 residents. There's the Bulldog, a past inductee into the Arkansas Food Hall of Fame. There's…
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The Southern Fried Podcast | Arkansas' timber and paper mill industries with Ray Dillon
This week, Rex sits down with one of The Natural State's leading authorities on the timber industry, Ray Dillon, who formerly served as President and CEO of th…
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | REX NELSON: Marion Burton’s dream
As a trustee of the Winthrop Rockefeller Charitable Trust, Marion Burton had a dream. Burton, who died in late January at age 93, dreamed of Winthrop Rockefell…
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | REX NELSON: The waterfowlers’ state
Former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour once described duck hunting this way: "The camaraderie and collegiality you get in duck hunting is totally different from…
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | REX NELSON: The Arkansas aviator
During the decade I worked in the governor's office, I looked forward to trips when Marion Burton was flying the plane. Burton, who died in late January at age…
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | REX NELSON: A tale of two towns
I'm having lunch with Woodruff County Judge Michael John Gray at Smokin' Joes BBQ along U.S. 64 in McCrory, and it seems he knows everyone in the room. That's …
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Subscriber ExclusiveAmerica’s Amazon: Interest in Woodruff County is rising with the recent addition of goose hunting to its other outdoor recreation opportunities
The phone rang early one morning back in 2018. On the line was the man who at the time was chairman of the Arkansas Democratic Party, Michael John Gray of Augu…
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | REX NELSON: The leaf munchers
It wasn't duck season yet, but I was like a child on Christmas morning when Woodruff County Judge Michael John Gray took me to the lodge for the Coca Cola Wood…
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | REX NELSON: Saving a river
At the urging of Arkansas agricultural interests, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers proposed a project in the 1970s to dredge and straighten several miles of th…
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The Southern Fried Podcast | Trail development and architectural restoration with Mason Ellis
On this week’s episode, Rex speaks with Mason Ellis of WER Architects, an Arkansas firm that specializes in historic preservation and restoration.
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | REX NELSON: Coffee in Cave City
The interview I was conducting in Bald Knob ended more quickly than I had anticipated that July day. So I called Cave City Mayor Jonas Anderson to tell him I m…
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | REX NELSON: The local level
James and Deborah Fallows wrote one of my favorite books six years ago. It's titled "Our Towns: A 100,000-Mile Journey Into the Heart of America."
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | REX NELSON: Dinner with the mayors
It was an honor to be asked last month to speak at the opening dinner for the annual winter meeting of the Arkansas Municipal League. It's one of the largest c…
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | REX NELSON: Romantic Calico Rock
When I noticed that Valentine's Day fell on a Wednesday (a column day for me), I began thinking about romantic getaways that Arkansans might not know about. I …
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | REX NELSON: Memoir of endurance
I became convinced that God has a sense of humor when my oldest son was a distance runner.
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | REX NELSON: A night at the inn
I'm sitting in the living room of the Calico Riverview Inn at Calico Rock, visiting with sisters Tracy Owens and Cathy Beard. The sisters were born six years a…
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The Southern Fried Podcast | Tackling litter and pollution with Suzanne Hirrel and Norm Berner
On this week’s episode, Rex sits down with Suzanne Hirrel and Norm Berner of Keep Little Rock Beautiful to “talk about trash.” The primary topic of discussion …
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | REX NELSON: Parris’ Walmart words
When Stan Parris retired as a full-time Baptist minister in Arkadelphia in November 2016, he told his wife he would like to take on the responsibility of groce…
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | REX NELSON: Arkansas is calling
The first time I was made aware of April's total solar eclipse was during a 2021 trip to De Queen. On that trip, I visited with civic leaders like Suzanne Babb…
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | REX NELSON: Arthur Stilwell’s railroad
If you like Arkansas towns near the Oklahoma border such as Mena and De Queen, you have Arthur Stilwell to thank.
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Subscriber ExclusiveOPINION | REX NELSON: The demagogues reign
Since entering Congress in January 2011, U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford has been about as much of a nonentity as one can imagine on Capitol Hill.
