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Rex Nelson

Rex Nelson

Arkansas Online

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After years of decline, UALR basketball rescue on the way

After years of decline, UALR basketball rescue on the way

I was assistant sports editor of the Arkansas Democrat in the winter of 1986, and University of Arkansas at Little Rock men's basketball was all the...

latest 2

Arkansas Online

Rex Nelson

The Southern Fried Podcast: Talking maternal health with Dr. Manning of UAMS

The Southern Fried Podcast: Talking maternal health with Dr. Manning of UAMS

In this week’s episode, Rex Nelson talks with Dr. Nirvana Manning, head of Obstetrics and Gynecology at UAMS, about maternal health in Arkansas.

yesterday 3

Arkansas Online

Rex Nelson

Arkansas data centers and the social media feeding frenzy

Arkansas data centers and the social media feeding frenzy

The social media feeding frenzy has become a staple of American life. People see misinformation on social media, believe it and then share it. They...

wednesday 10

Arkansas Online

Rex Nelson

Column: Union County's black gold

I'm in my room at The Haywood, one of the state's finest hotels, and I have two books to keep me company.

07.06.2026 20

El Dorado News Times

Rex Nelson

A downtown stroll

A downtown stroll

In December 1843, a 160-acre tract in the pine woods of south Arkansas was named El Dorado. Matthew Rainey had set up a retail store there, and area...

07.06.2026 20

Arkansas Online

Rex Nelson

Union County’s black gold

Union County’s black gold

I'm in my room at The Haywood, one of the state's finest hotels, and I have two books to keep me company.

06.06.2026 10

Arkansas Online

Rex Nelson

Still MAD in El Dorado

Still MAD in El Dorado

Almost nine years after it was conceived, El Dorado's Murphy Arts District (commonly known as MAD) is still going strong. The idea behind MAD was...

03.06.2026 20

Arkansas Online

Rex Nelson

A stronghold insouth Arkansas

It's early on a spring morning in downtown El Dorado, yet things already are hopping at Off the Rail Cafe. The restaurant is in a rail car that was...

31.05.2026 20

Arkansas Online

Rex Nelson

Arkansas’ best downtown

I love baseball, so it's safe to assume that I smile whenever I see a ballpark being built. I'm also an advocate of downtown revitalization, so it's...

31.05.2026 20

Arkansas Online

Rex Nelson

Not putting restraints on voucher scheme a disaster in the making

It has been more than three years since the Arkansas Legislature approved the LEARNS Act, a bill that contained Gov. Sarah Sanders' voucher scheme. It...

30.05.2026 30

Arkansas Online

Rex Nelson

The Southern Fried Podcast: Part 2 of Talking Public Education with Dr. Glen Fenter

This week’s episode is the second half of a conversation between Rex Nelson and Marion School District Superintendent Glen Fenter about public...

29.05.2026 8

Arkansas Online

Rex Nelson

Arkansas should buck lame duck on education

With the Arkansas General Assembly having completed its work for the year (unless Gov. Sarah Sanders finds a reason to call another special session),...

27.05.2026 20

Arkansas Online

Rex Nelson

Opinion: Searching for truth on Arkansas data centers, electricity

Few things annoy me more than a social-media feeding frenzy. It's particularly annoying when I see normally calm, thoughtful people who are...

24.05.2026 10

El Dorado News Times

Rex Nelson

A better way

I'm not opposed to Gov. Sarah Sanders' voucher scheme because I dislike the idea of school choice. I've long been supportive of public charter...

24.05.2026 20

Arkansas Online

Rex Nelson

Searching for truth on Arkansas data centers, electricity

Few things annoy me more than a social-media feeding frenzy. It's particularly annoying when I see normally calm, thoughtful people who are caught up...

23.05.2026 20

Arkansas Online

Rex Nelson

Countering the alarmists on Arkansas data centers

The Washington Post published a story several months ago with this headline: "There's a reason electricity prices have been rising. And it's not data...

20.05.2026 40

Arkansas Online

Rex Nelson

Arkansas’ school people

In their early years as a married couple, my parents were "school people." That's what we always called them in our family. The word you hear these...

17.05.2026 20

Arkansas Online

Rex Nelson

Back to Entergy’s early roots in Arkansas

In Wednesday's column, I wrote about Entergy Corp.'s plans to build a natural gas-fired power plant in Hot Spring County to replace the company's Lake...

16.05.2026 20

Arkansas Online

Rex Nelson

The Southern Fried Podcast: Talking Public Education with Dr. Glen Fenter

This week’s episode is the first of a two part series in which Rex Nelson talks with Marion School District Superintendent Glen Fenter about public...

15.05.2026 10

Arkansas Online

Rex Nelson

Utilities working to power Arkansas’ data-center boom

The Arkansas data-center boom has begun. And despite what alarmists say on social media, energy providers have plans in place to supply the power...

13.05.2026 40

Arkansas Online

Rex Nelson

Arkansas’ data race

In the race to build data centers across Arkansas, the Google campus at West Memphis has taken the lead. Google is already hiring electrical engineers...

10.05.2026 20

Arkansas Online

Rex Nelson

Schools serving entire region of southeast Arkansas

In a series of recent columns about southeast Arkansas, I've stated that the two most significant institutions in the region are the University of...

09.05.2026 30

Arkansas Online

Rex Nelson

Exploring the roots of UAPB

To use the term that was popular in Arkansas during Reconstruction, John Middleton Clayton was a carpetbagger. Born in October 1840 on a farm near...

06.05.2026 20

Arkansas Online

Rex Nelson

The data centers

During a special meeting last month, the board of the Economic Development Corp. of Clark County voted to sell a 991-acre tract known as the Southwest...

03.05.2026 20

Arkansas Online

Rex Nelson

Opinion: In Senate race, memories of incumbents and dead ducks

With the agricultural sector in crisis, Hallie Shoffner picked a good year to run for the U.S. Senate. Of course, Shoffner is running as a Democrat,...

02.05.2026 20

El Dorado News Times

Rex Nelson

In Senate race, memories of incumbents and dead ducks

With the agricultural sector in crisis, Hallie Shoffner picked a good year to run for the U.S. Senate. Of course, Shoffner is running as a Democrat,...

02.05.2026 20

Arkansas Online

Rex Nelson

The Southern Fried Podcast: Wine and Dining with Red Oak’s Maître D' Ken Lipsmeyer and Saracen’s Carlton Saffa

In this week’s episode, Rex Nelson talks with Saracen Casino’s Chief Marketing Officer, Carlton Saffa and Red Oak Steakhouse’s Maître D', Ken...

01.05.2026 10

Arkansas Online

Rex Nelson

The Shoffner Factor in Arkansas’ U.S. Senate race this fall

I've written that we're at least several years from even the best Democratic candidate being able to win statewide office in Arkansas. That's how...

29.04.2026 30

Arkansas Online

Rex Nelson

Whither southeast Arkansas?

More than 200 business and civic leaders from across southeast Arkansas will gather at Grand Prairie Center in Stuttgart Thursday to talk about the...

26.04.2026 20

Arkansas Online

Rex Nelson

The impact of UAMS

We live in a small state. Dr. Lowry Barnes, chancellor of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, and I have known each other since we were...

26.04.2026 30

Arkansas Online

Rex Nelson

Column: South by southeast

I'm often asked to speak about economic development in Arkansas. There was a time when my speeches focused on northwest Arkansas and how that...

25.04.2026 20

El Dorado News Times

Rex Nelson

Renaissance man John Olin in Arkansas

John Olin was born into a wealthy family in November 1892 in Alton, Ill. These days, Olin Business School and Olin Library at Washington University in...

25.04.2026 30

Arkansas Online

Rex Nelson

Even in the offseason, Arkansas’ Greenbriar hunting club stays busy

Southern food and culture expert John T. Edge recently made his way to the Arkansas Grand Prairie with a team of six people to prepare an episode of...

22.04.2026 30

Arkansas Online

Rex Nelson

South by southeast

I'm often asked to speak about economic development in Arkansas. There was a time when my speeches focused on northwest Arkansas and how that region's...

19.04.2026 30

Arkansas Online

Rex Nelson

Arkansas duck hunting found west of Morrilton

Many Arkansans are aware of the Blackwell Bottoms even if they don't know what the area is called. It's the flat Arkansas River bottomland that one...

18.04.2026 20

Arkansas Online

Rex Nelson

The Southern Fried Podcast: Saracen’s Carton Saffa and the gamble of opening a casino

In this week’s episode, Rex Nelson talks with Saracen Casino’s Chief Marketing Officer Carlton Saffa about his journey and how the casino came to be.

17.04.2026 10

Arkansas Online

Rex Nelson

A statewide restoration plan for Arkansas’ wetlands

Though recent columns focused on efforts to restore the renowned green-tree duck hunting on the George H. Dunklin Jr. Bayou Meto Wildlife Management...

15.04.2026 30

Arkansas Online

Rex Nelson

The BoDirt administration

Trey "BoDirt" Bohannan represents our political situation here in Arkansas. Yes, he was wiped out in the March GOP primary by state Sen. Ron Caldwell,...

12.04.2026 40

Arkansas Online

Rex Nelson

Column: Arkansas works to save green-tree reservoir hardwoods

When I lived in Washington, D.C., in the 1980s, my favorite way to start each morning was with a cup of coffee and a copy of The Washington Post. If...

11.04.2026 20

El Dorado News Times

Rex Nelson

Arkansas works to save green-tree reservoir hardwoods

When I lived in Washington, D.C., in the 1980s, my favorite way to start each morning was with a cup of coffee and a copy of The Washington Post. If...

11.04.2026 20

Arkansas Online

Rex Nelson

Preserving duck hunting’s crown jewel in Arkansas

As outlined in a series of recent stories and columns, the attempt to save the green-tree reservoirs (GTRs) of Arkansas for public duck hunting is...

08.04.2026 10

Arkansas Online

Rex Nelson

Action at Bayou Meto

When the Action at Bayou Meto is mentioned by Arkansas historians, they're not talking about duck season at the world-famous George H. Dunklin Jr....

05.04.2026 20

Arkansas Online

Rex Nelson

Column: Dreaming of Bayou Meto, a paradise for hunters and birders

Because of the quality of public duck hunting it offers, Arkansas' George H. Dunklin Jr. Bayou Meto Wildlife Management Area might be the most...

04.04.2026 30

El Dorado News Times

Rex Nelson

Dreaming of Bayou Meto, a paradise for hunters and birders

Because of the quality of public duck hunting it offers, Arkansas' George H. Dunklin Jr. Bayou Meto Wildlife Management Area might be the most famous...

04.04.2026 20

Arkansas Online

Rex Nelson

The Southern Fried Podcast: Mental health for Arkansas mothers with Dr. Coker and Dr. Ray-Griffith of UAMS

In this week’s episode, Rex Nelson talks with a psychiatrist at the UAMS women’s mental health clinic, Dr. Jessica Coker and the UAMS outpatient...

03.04.2026 10

Arkansas Online

Rex Nelson

From river to ridge: The story of Arkansas’ WMAs

What are now known as state wildlife management areas (commonly called WMAs) were first described as game farms or game refuges. The Arkansas Game and...

01.04.2026 30

Arkansas Online

Rex Nelson

Green-tree resurrection

Outdoor writer T. Edward Nickens does an excellent job describing the thrill of hunting ducks on a green-tree reservoir in Arkansas.

29.03.2026 30

Arkansas Online

Rex Nelson

Maintaining a sense of awe

For decades, the flooded green-timber reservoirs of east Arkansas have attracted duck hunters from across the country. They still do.

29.03.2026 40

Arkansas Online

Rex Nelson

Arkansas’ early conservationists fought to save game, fish

I've written a lot about Arkansas conservationists in recent weeks. I've written about Arkansans such as Dr. Neil Compton and Dr. Rex Hancock, who...

28.03.2026 30

Arkansas Online

Rex Nelson

The great Arkansas slaughter and early conservation efforts

The winter storm came in late January, stranding me high atop the hill where I reside. I didn't leave the house for nine days.

25.03.2026 40

Arkansas Online

Rex Nelson