The Big Thaw Begins

I’m liking this week much better than last week, thanks to the end to our deep-freeze. Thankfully, we don’t have to suffer through these extended sub-freezing stretches very frequently, but – when we do – it hurts! Pipes freeze and, in at least two occasions, somebody tried to thaw them with a blowtorch and set fire to a building. It happens every time we get an extended cold snap! But, for now, we’re back on the “good side” of the freezing point. Consider the temperature reported on my desktop at 9 am this morning:

And high temperatures all week are projected to be well into the 40’s to near 50.

Next stop? Arkansas politics. Blogger Jason Tolbert reported over the weekend that a NINTH person is set to join the race for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate.

Randy Alexander Could Be the Ninth Republican Senate Candidate

An absurdly crowded Republican field for the nomination for U.S. Senate could get a bit more crowded this week as Randy Alexander from Fayetteville will make some sort of announcement on Tuesday. An email sent to area tea party activists this past week says that Alexander will be making a “new candidate announcement” on Tuesday, [...]

NINE people! Do you know what a nightmare that creates for news organizations? Nine candidates who all want attention; nine candidates who flood newsrooms with press releases; nine candidates who have supporters who each think their candidate should get the most attention. Throw in the fact that staffing has been cut at most of the major news operations and you can see how this could be a real headache. Here’s a suggestion: let’s see how much information we can glean from social media – from Twitter, in particular. I’m proposing using our Twitter hashtag-#TRIR- for information about all of these candidates and the Democrats, too.

While we’re talking about online news sources, a quick tip of the hat to our old friend, Pat Lynch. He continues to stay on top of everything important to Arkansas and publishes a great summary of the big news every day.

Monday Arkansas summary

Record-setting quarterback Ryan Mallett will forego the NFL and play another year at the University of Arkansas. Gov Beebe says officials should see if lottery sales are cutting into general revenue by taking spending from other goods and services. State lawmakers this week will start to lay the groundwork for their first “fiscal session” by starting budget [...]