Fran Alexander

Columnist

Recent stories by Fran Alexander

OPINION | FRAN ALEXANDER: A (wrong) way with words … absolutely "Yeah, no, absolutely" is a response I've yet to translate into a logical answer for anything, but I'm trying. I understand that "yeah" means "yes," and the adver... May 23, 2023

OPINION | FRAN ALEXANDER: Retired naturalist, others dedicate themselves to resuscitating Ozark Chinquapin trees When he was a young boy, Fayetteville mayor Lioneld Jordan and his friends would collect the porcupine-like burrs of the Ozark Chinquapin and hammer the husks with the heels of their shoes to get the ... May 2, 2023

OPINION | FRAN ALEXANDER: Spring is a good time to devote energy to fight the invasion of non-native plants Invasive species: Any species not indigenous to a region, which becomes established and displaces native species.[LINESPACE]About this time each year, some of my friends start to tease me about my obs... April 11, 2023

OPINION | FRAN ALEXANDER: Alliance gears up for renewed battle against Forest Service’s shortsighted management Once upon a time in Arkansas there lived a political cartoonist named George Fisher. Proposals by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for damming (thereby damning) the Buffalo River secured a special pla... March 21, 2023

OPINION | FRAN ALEXANDER: Quarry disruptions difficult to withstand, residents west of Fayetteville say; battle over the future continues What to do when you want to dig dirt or blast rocks, and the neighbors have problems with that? Seemingly, politics to the rescue -- again.Back in 2009, I wrote about the residents just over the count... February 28, 2023

OPINION | FRAN ALEXANDER: Transexual students aren’t the ones to be feared as lawmakers attack When I was a kid, my mother showed no mercy if she construed I was staring at someone who seemed different or who had a disability. She would have taken our former president out behind the barn, likel... February 7, 2023

OPINION | FRAN ALEXANDER: Company seeks permit to spread waste on Washington County fields, raising questions about impact on watershed "From the free-flowing waters of the Buffalo River to the rolling hills of the Ozark Mountains, Arkansas is proud to be the Natural State and enjoy clean air, land, and water.....we must continue... January 17, 2023

OPINION | FRAN ALEXANDER: Giant trees survive thousands of years, but remain vulnerable in today’s climate Charred and hanging in downward cupped positions, like ballerinas expressing sadness or despair, the skeletal arms of the giant sequoias dangle on the hillsides and spread their grief to the stream be... December 27, 2022

OPINION | FRAN ALEXANDER: My mother, the queen — The underappreciated impact of a “royal” housewife My dad called my mother "Madame Queen," not in a teasing, chiding or derogatory way, but more to acknowledge her status in our family unit. There were only three of us, and since I was an on... November 15, 2022

OPINION | FRAN ALEXANDER: The “whackos” aren’t wrong: Earth is showing us the impacts of harsher conditions Once upon a time a frog sitting on a lily pad noticed it was getting larger, in fact doubling in size each day. His floating platform would cover the pond in 30 days, but on the 29th day the frog stil... October 4, 2022