It was a good week for …
SEN. BLANCHE LINCOLN. She surprised national pundits with a decisive victory over Lt. Gov. Bill Halter in the runoff for the Democratic nomination for Senate. She immediately began distancing herself from President Obama and dancing around her vote for health reform legislation.
SEN. JOYCE ELLIOTT. A black woman is the Democratic nominee for 2nd District Congress, a step toward a potentially historic election.
It was a bad week for …
FLOODING. A torrential rain caused a 20-foot rise in the Little Missouri River and the rampaging river tore through the Forest Service’s Albert Pike Recreation Area, killing 20 campers caught unaware during the night.
LT. GOV. BILL HALTER. Leading in the polls, he had to be surprised by Tuesday’s loss, which abruptly ended his political career in Arkansas. He did little to exit with good feeling when he withheld a perfunctory promise of support for the Democratic nominee.
The CITY OF LITTLE ROCK. It can’t afford to give police and firefighters promised pay raises. City leaders hope to work something out with unions on finding new revenue and cutting unnecessary expenses.
The LITTLE ROCK ZOO. Its leaders snubbed Mayor Mark Stodola and declined to establish a no-smoking policy. Its Board opted instead to set up three smoking areas and decreed that it doesn’t intend to discuss the subject further for a year.
A SOUTHWEST AIRLINES freight handler. He opened a mislabeled box and discovered 40 to 60 whole and partial human heads inside, en route to a medical company in Texas.
The OSAGE BAPTIST CHURCH. Somebody put a bomb on a desk in the church, near Alpena, while the church was being used as a polling place. It didn’t detonate.