Dear Mahatma: For a few blocks along Pleasant Forest Drive out west, cross streets are named for gems and minerals. Feldspar. Emerald. Marble. And "Flourite." I'll assume "Fluorite" is what was intended. Can this be fixed? I'm concerned about all those Chenal kids growing up misspelling one of my favorite minerals. -- Drew
Drew: Oh, the humanity. We agree about the Chenal kids. If the word appears on the ACT, they could be flummoxed, bewildered or discombobulated.
You speak, of course, about a mineral consisting of calcium fluoride that typically occurs as cubic crystals, colorless when pure but often colored by impurities.
We have passed along your observation to several people in Little Rock city government. If the signs change to Fluorite, please let us know.
On a personal note, we have worked with words for years. They can be a bogger. Or is that booger?
Dear Mahatma: I commute to Conway three times a week. It's nice to have three lanes each way, except that big trucks for some reason drive in the center lane instead of the right lane. This effectively reduces the lane count back to two. What's up with that? -- Cheers
Dear Cheers: A short while back we were asked if Interstate 40 between North Little Rock and Conway, now three lanes in each direction, would require big rigs to stay in the right two lanes, as is the case here and there on interstate highways. No, said the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department. The volume of truck traffic doesn't indicate a need.
Traffic may use any lane, with the admonition -- on interstate signs all over -- that slower traffic should stay to the right.
Chief Ron Burks of the Arkansas Highway Police added an interesting thought. Many professional drivers, he said, are taught to use, and prefer to use, the center lane. It provides options if evasive action is needed.
Greetings, O Wise One: Is the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department responsible for keeping interstate highway ramps clean? The very unattractive residue from a car fire has littered the southbound Interstate 430-Stagecoach Road exit for some time. -- Observant Driver
Dear Observant: Yes, the Highway Department gets the job of cleaning up the stuff that litters the interstate highways. And there's a ton of it. Because people are slobs, and they don't properly tie down the junk they haul. Lumber. Mattresses. High chairs. We've seen all that recently.
Here are a couple of things to do.
If the debris appears dangerous -- wooden pallets in the middle of the Interstate 30 bridge over the Arkansas River is an excellent example -- dial *55, which connects to the Arkansas State Police.
Otherwise, get home, then go to idrivearkansas.com, the Highway Department's driver information website. Upper right hand corner, click on contact. Scroll down to Report a Problem.
Vanity plate seen on a van in Little Rock: Ruh Roh.
Metro on 08/20/2016