Heat, hills make for a tough run

In retrospect, perhaps last Saturday wasn't the best day to set out to run 6.2 miles through a hilly neighborhood in Bartlett, Tenn.

But that's the day that was scheduled for the UPS Ultimate 10K run, so that's where I was Saturday morning, along with 290 other foolhardy souls.

Overall, it went well. I finished, which was my one and only real goal for the race. Since I've started doing some running these past few years, my motto when it comes to races is that's it's better to finish dead last, than not to finish; and it's better not to finish than not to try.

That said, I was satisfied with my overall performance. My time was pretty much right on target, and my place was in the middle of the pack, which is where I generally belong.

It was more than a bit on the toasty side, however. Luckily, there were water stops located at several points along the route, as well as one stand that was simply handing out wet, ice-cold rags, which offered a little bit of relief.

The course snaked its way through the upscale Davies Plantation subdivision, and many of the homeowners along the route had set up their sprinklers along the roadside, aiming the water into the roadway. You could always tell when there was a sprinkler up ahead, because the runners would cross to that side of the road to run through the refreshing mist.

It was also hillier than I was used to. I'd done my share of training over the past few months, but it's hard to simulate rolling hills here on the flatlands of the Delta. Perhaps next time I'll need to run up and down the levee a few times to get myself better prepared.

I think my favorite part about a road race like this one is the people. In this case, there were hundreds of people joined together in the same recreational pursuit. From a tight pack that crowds the starting line, the runners soon spread out, but there are always others nearby. There's always someone running the hills with you. There's always someone burning up with you. There's always someone struggling to keep on going with you. And there's always everyone back at the finish line to celebrate in the accomplishment with you. Though I didn't know another soul in the race, there was a camaraderie to be treasured.

My running hobby started a few years ago when I simply got tired of wasting away on the couch. I still remember my first run — I got about four houses up the street before I felt like I was going to die. But I stuck with it, and to date, I've run three 5Ks and one 10K. I'm sort of in the midst of an informal four-year plan, that began last year with the 5K, continuing this year with the 10K. If I keep up with it, next year could be a half-marathon, with the big enchilada — a full marathon — coming the year after that.

But I've got time to worry about all that later. For now, I'm just going to spend the next few days enjoying my latest accomplishment — and recovering from it. But I'm sure I'll enter at least a couple of more 5Ks before the year is out — they're too much fun to stay away.

One of those 5Ks will likely be the United Way Chili Cookoff 5K Run/Walk set to be held Oct. 16 here in Blytheville. In it's inaugural year in 2009, several dozen fun- and fitness-loving souls braved the chilly morning to take part, and had a good time. It's a great opportunity for anyone interested in joining with a few friends and neighbors in pursuit of physical fitness, whether you want to walk it or run it.

If nothing else, at least by mid-October, we won't have to be worrying about the heat index anymore.

I feel the need, the need for ... movie quotes

Upon returning from an air show in Cape Girardeau, Mo., over the weekend, my brother-in-law, Tony, commented on the experience via a Facebook posting.

"Went to the air show for a little bit and now I can't stop quoting 'Top Gun' for some reason," he wrote.

Well, given an opening like that, I was more than happy to oblige.

"Your ego's writing checks your body can't cash," I retorted in the comments section, quoting one of my favorite lines from the movie. This of course set off a "Top Gun" quote-off, that went on for several hours.

"Turn and burn," Tony shot back.

"That's a negative, Ghost Rider. The pattern is full," I added.

"It's time to buzz the tower," Tony threw in.

"Slider ... you stink," was added by someone named John Long.

"Crash and burn, eh Mav?" was my last response.

It was good fun, and it proved two pretty obvious things:

The first is that we are huge geeks. But I think everyone who knows us pretty much already knew that.

The second, is that "Top Gun" is clearly among the greatest movies of all time.

Now sure, snobbish critics with their noses in the air will almost never list "Top Gun" among the cinematic masterpieces of the modern era. They'll say it's predictable and formulaic — that its dialogue is campy. They'll say that the romantic scenes are laughably bad.

And they're probably right.

But "Top Gun" is still a great movie for the response it elicits; namely, grown men quoting lines back and forth on Facebook for several hours on a Sunday afternoon. That's something you'll never get from so-called greats like "Lawrence of Arabia" or "Schindler's List."

Sometimes, when ranking the greatest movies of all time, folks rely too much on vague ideas like "plot" or "character development" or "cinematography." But give me a good quotable movie, and I'm happy almost 100 percent of the time.

This got me thinking of other movies that rank among the all-time greats, at least in terms of being ripe for Facebook quote-offs. Here are some that I came up with:

— "Office Space." Bored at work? Try starting a conversation about "TPS reports."

— "The Princess Bride." Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.

— "Monty Python and the Holy Grail." Ask a buddy to cut down the largest tree in the forest with a herring, and he will know what to do. Just hope he doesn't say "ni" at you.

— "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure." Post a picture of a Circle K convenience store on Facebook with the caption, "strange things are afoot at the Circle K," and you are sure to generate at least three or four "likes." (And at least one person who will comment, "what am I missing?")

— "Airplane." From Peter Graves' "Joey, have you ever been in a Turkish prison?" to Barbara Billingsley's "I speak jive;" surely, this is the most quotable movie of all time. (Don't call me "Shirley.")

This isn't to say that a movie must be highly quotable in order to be great. There will always be a place for heartwarming tales, buddy flicks, action-adventures and even smartly done romantic comedies. And it's always nice to watch movies that are visually stunning, or compelling in the emotions they evoke.

But there is a special place in the annals of moviedom for films that offer nothing more than ample lines for fans to memorize and quote verbatim at the drop of the hat. It takes a special movie to achieve that. And movies that do deserve to be called great.

Who is the ideal candidate for mayor?

With filing coming up in a couple of months for the local municipal elections, and with open races anticipated for the Blytheville and Gosnell mayoral positions, it's worth a look at the type of qualities needed in the ideal mayor.

In the coming weeks, topics such as road conditions, police protection, job creation, grant applications and recreational facilities are sure to dominate the discussion when it comes to picking a new mayor. And well they should. But the success any candidate will have tackling those issues will be directly related to the skills and experience he or she brings to the table.

So what skills should mayoral candidates bring to the table? Here's a few I would like to see:

— The ideal mayor should have experience in a government setting. Whether it's a city council, a school board or a state legislature, government doesn't always work like the real world. There's a host of regulations and red tape, and there's almost always a political component to everything you do. A mayor's success will be linked to his or her ability to understand these intricacies.

— The ideal mayor should have experience in the private sector. Running a city is a lot like running a business. There's income and expenses that must be balanced. There's personnel issues that must be properly handled. There are deadlines and commitments that must be met. Any candidate who has worked in the private sector with any degree of success has a leg up on his or her rivals.

— The ideal mayor should be smart. One need not necessarily be a rocket scientist or a Nobel laureate, but a mayor's got to have some street smarts and a lot of common sense. He or she must be able to process information and make logical decisions. Citizens deserve to have the best and brightest the community has to offer serving in leadership positions — mayors should never be likable folks who just couldn't make it in the "real world."

— The ideal mayor must be a uniter. We live in a diverse community. We are black. We are white. We are rich. We are poor. We are old. We are young. We are of all levels of education. We need a mayor who can connect with everyone and build strong coalitions. The various candidates considered to be candidates for mayor all have their own constituencies which will follow them loyally. But that's not enough. To be a successful mayor, one must be able to reach out to different groups of citizens, and unite them behind a common cause.

— The ideal mayor must be a good ambassador for the community. Whoever is elected will be called upon to represent the city in any of a number of public settings. Sometimes the only impression an outsider to the community will get will be from the mayor. We need someone who will represent the community well.

— The ideal mayor must be honest. It sounds like a no-brainer, but anyone who has followed the news knows that many communities have struggled with this. The mayor must be absolutely steadfast in following the law, and in conducting city business in an open and ethical manner. The needs of the citizenry must outweigh the seduction of cronyism.

— The ideal mayor must know the community. One need not be a lifelong resident, but anyone running for mayor ought to have lived here long enough to know the Rotary Club from the Boys and Girls Club. They've got to have an understanding of the area's history — its successes, and its failures. After all, those who don't know their history are doomed to repeat it.

— The ideal candidate will have spent part of his or her adult life living outside Mississippi County. Seeing how different communities have operated in different places can provide a mayor invaluable perspective in finding new approaches to old problems.

— The ideal mayor will be a good organizer. He or she must be able to effectively maintain the vast amount of information needed to keep the city running. We need a mayor who can keep the i's dotted and the t's crossed. The mayor must be able to delegate authority.

— The ideal mayor will be a visionary. It's not enough to know where we've been or where we are. The mayor must be someone who can see where we need to go — and figure out a way to get there.

Do any of the candidates running for mayor meet all these qualities? Probably not. But some of the candidates possess some of these characteristics. The trick for voters will be determining which candidates bring the most to the table, and making the informed pick on election day.

Is county sales tax building prosperity?

When it comes to the county's half-cent sales tax for economic development — slated to go before voters for renewal on Aug. 10 — there are two absolute certainties.

First, the tax has been a huge success at creating new jobs in Mississippi County. From Roll Coater, to Aviation Repair Technologies, to Lowe's, to Beckmann Volmer, there are thousands of jobs available in Mississippi County that can be traced directly the the existence of the economic development sales tax. Those jobs came both via new industry, as well as through expansion of existing industry.

Second, it is absolutely vital that the county remain aggressive in its pursuit of economic development. No county can afford to rest on its laurels, satisfied with what it already has. This is especially true in counties like ours, where poverty and joblessness have long be a problem.

That said, I think it's worth a look at the big picture before automatically renewing the sales tax.

At the end of the day, the purpose of this sales tax — or any tax, really — is to promote the prosperity of the community. And I think it's important to ask whether or not the prosperity of Mississippi County has improved since the tax was implemented in 2003.

There are any of a number of ways to measure prosperity, and none of them are perfect. One way is with unemployment figures. A year or so before the economic development tax as implemented, the county's unemployment rate topped 15 percent, and was the highest in the state. According to the USDA, unemployment the year the tax began was 11.8 percent. That figure dropped as low as 7.1 percent in 2007, before jumping back up to 13.1 percent in 2009, in the midst of the nationwide recession.

Another way to measure prosperity is with population. Where there is prosperity, the population generally goes up. Where prosperity is elusive, the population generally shrinks. Until the 2010 Census is complete, we won't know exactly what the area population is — most of the numbers out there are mere estimates, based on 1990 and 2000 numbers. But it's been assumed by many that communities like Blytheville will have lost residents in the last decade. With new housing development in places like Armorel and Manila, it's possible that the county, as a whole, has held steady or seen marginal growth. But it's hard to know for sure.

A third way to measure prosperity is simply by looking around. It's a subjective measurement, to be sure, but it's hard to drive down East Main in Blytheville these days, seeing the absence of such places as Mazzios, Bonanza, Pizza Inn, Stage, Crossroads and Starbucks — all having closed in the last decade — and not feel like prosperity is lacking.

One of the problems with the economic development sales tax is that many of the jobs being created are not held by people who live in Mississippi County. To some degree, our economic development efforts in Mississippi County are being used to create jobs for people who live in Dyersburg, or Jonesboro, or Kennett, or West Memphis. Indeed, I was once told that the largest employer of Kennett residents was then-Maverick Tube, east of Blytheville.

I don't want to discount the diligent efforts put forth for our county's economic development team. Again, when it comes to job creation, anyone who complains is simply not paying attention.

But I'm not sure that job growth should be the only goal in mind. Efforts also need to be put forth to make Mississippi County a quality place to live. We need good roads, nice parks, quality health care and safe neighborhoods. We need nice places to shop and dine. Somebody needs to show me how our current economic development efforts are leading to those things.

If approved by voters, the economic development sales tax will be in place until 2023. That's a long time. Perhaps before we embark on another 13 years of the same strategy, it would be prudent to take a step back, evaluate our goals, determine the best path forward, and see if there aren't some ways to be even more successful in our economic development efforts.

Anti-incumbent mood felt locally

The buzz in the national media this political season has been all about the "anti-incumbent" or "anti-establishment" mood among American voters.

Looking at the results of last month's Preferential Primary Election, it looks like that mood is alive and well in Mississippi County.

Among the three most high-profile races — county judge, State Senate and sheriff — there wasn't an incumbent in the field. All three were open races.

All the same, the two candidates most closely associated with the current regime of local leadership were both soundly defeated.

One of those was Barrett Harrison, the current Blytheville mayor who was seeking the District 15 State Senate seat being vacated by Steve Bryles. Harrison lost to retired judge David Burnett. Harrison managed only about 36.4 percent of the vote over the entire district, which includes Mississippi and Poinsett counties. He fared somewhat better in north Mississippi County, but still only managed to secure about 44.7 percent of the votes.

The other candidate shouldering the burden of incumbency last week was John Alan Nelson in the race for county judge. Nelson is a longtime member of the Quorum Court, where he chairs the Finance Committee. During the campaign, he was labeled as the hand-picked successor to retiring County Judge Steve McGuire. In losing to Randy Carney, Nelson's vote totals were similar to Harrison's: He got 38.5 percent of the county vote, and 43.8 percent of the north county vote, Nelson's "home" territory.

With both Harrison and Nelson losing in pretty much every voting precinct in the area, it's pretty easy to conclude that local voters are in the mood for a change in direction.

While the primaries are over, this sentiment could continue to play a major role in this fall's elections, with major mayoral races and a tax referendum headed for the ballot.

With Gosnell Mayor Dick Reams retiring and Blytheville Mayor Barrett Harrison not expected to seek re-election, there will be no true incumbents in the field.

In Blytheville, Councilwoman Carol White and local businessman Tommy Abbott have formally announced their candidacy for mayor. Outgoing Sheriff James Sanders is also on the campaign trail, and school board member Tracey Ritchey has signaled interest in the race.

In Gosnell, meanwhile, city council members Tammy Fulks and Don Marshall, along with police chief Fred Roberts, have thrown their hats into the ring.

It will be interesting to see which, if any, of these candidates come to be seen as the "establishment" candidate, effectively shouldering the burden of incumbency. Neither Harrison nor Reams have publicly indicated any plans to endorse a potential successor, but given the current political climate, such a move might not be the kind of support candidates hope for.

Efforts to extend the county's economic development sales tax could also be affected by the anti-incumbant mood. Quorum Court justices agreed Tuesday to put the issue before voters on Aug. 10. Though the tax has been hugely successful at creating jobs across the county, the prevailing anti-establishment, anti-tax sentiment might give local leaders an added challenge when it comes getting the tax renewed, especially considering the tax passed by only 63 votes when it was originated in 2003.

Of course, predicting local elections is mostly a crapshoot, and there's no telling what will happen in the coming months to influence voters. But there's no doubting that local politics has been a source of high intrigue this year, and that intrigue looks to continue until November.

A blitzkrieg of posts

It seems that I've been a bit lax in updating this blog of late.

I will remedy this with a torrent of new postings.