It was a good week for …

LITTLE ROCK. Some 4,000 people walked and ran in the Little Rock Marathon, with thousands more cheering them on. It’s a class event.

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KEVIN BROCKMEIER. The Little Rock writer was named to the Best Young American Novelists list by the British literary magazine Granta.

STAN HEATH. The Hogs’ upset of ranked Vanderbilt blew a little life into the presumed terminal condition of his career as UA men’s basketball coach.

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LITTLE ROCK. It has vowed — again — to get tough on parking violators. If it consistently enforced collections, scofflaws wouldn’t run up thousands in unpaid tickets knowing that they expire on a yearly basis.

FLIP-FLOPS. Gov. Mike Beebe, near flawless in his first weeks as governor, first said a highway bond program could wait, then said well maybe not. Not a big deal, but a sign of Beebe’s propensity to let others form a majority coalition before he steps into the fray. Sometimes, people crave leadership. And, clearly, we need expect none from Beebe on the nut legislation filed at the deadline — gay-bashing, anti-abortion and school-prayer measures.

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It was a bad week for …

MIKE HUCKABEE. His presidential candidacy fared poorly in straw polls in South Carolina and at the Conservative PAC conference in Washington.

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SEN. SHAWN WOMACK. Once a Senate committee killed the crackdown on predatory payday lenders, Womack couldn’t wait to race into the arms of the shylocks to promote a bill that would save face for the check cashers. Do you think maybe he expected this outcome all along?

The DELTA. Nothing good came of Toyota’s decision to build a new plant in Mississippi. What did Toyota mean when it talked about getting workers who’d understand the “Toyota way” in Mississippi? Did the company really mean to suggest they were better suited for the jobs and even more ethical? Inevitably, some wondered if the big difference in racial populations in the two areas might have made a difference.

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