Page 32 - Rex Nelson News Today

Dozens of commercial real estate agents are packed into a conference room in what once was part of the Alltel complex in Little Rocks Riverdale neighborhood. The subject is Arkansas capital city--where things stand now and where theyre headed. Those in the audience have a vested interest in how the states largest city performs economically.

"I could stay here for days," I think to myself as I sink into one of the chairs in the lodge at Potlatch Cooks Lake Nature Center. The lowlands facility in Arkansas County is surrounded by the Dale Bumpers White River National Wildlife Refuge.

Research candidates

Victoria Ramirez joins Rex Nelson to talk about the much-anticipated reopening of the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts on this week’s episode of the Southern Fried Podcast.

Were making our way across the flat fields of the Grand Prairie on this Tuesday morning. At the wheel is Deke Whitbeck, president of the Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation. Along for the ride with Whitbeck and me is Austin Booth, director of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.

I walk into Overstreet Hall, which holds so much of the history of whats now Southern Arkansas University at Magnolia. The three-story building was constructed from 1941-43 with assistance from the federal Works Progress Administration. SAU was founded by the Legislature in 1909 as one of four district agricultural schools and has never forsaken its roots.

A new training mission for fighter pilots is the talk of Fort Smith. And should be. To quote Ron Burgundy in "Anchorman," its "kind of a big deal."

Im touring the Southern Arkansas University campus with Trey Berry, the SAU president and a friend since childhood. When youre the head Mulerider in Magnolia, you drive a pickup, of course. Berry steers his truck down streets, through parking lots and even down trails so I can witness what I refer to as "the SAU miracle."

Im touring the Southern Arkansas University campus with Trey Berry, the SAU president and a friend since childhood. When youre the head Mulerider in Magnolia, you drive a pickup, of course. Berry steers his truck down streets, through parking lots and even down trails so I can witness what I refer to as "the SAU miracle."

I vowed several years ago to take up the mantle long carried by Paul Greenberg, waxing poetic about one of the finest things this state has ever produced. Yes, were talking about Arkansas tomatoes.