Time for Council to push Ctrl-Alt-Delete

When it comes to the efforts to put Carol White on the Blytheville City Council, it's time for all involved to push Ctrl-Alt-Delete.

White, of course, is the Blytheville/Minnesota resident who was recently appointed to fill the term of James Sanders, who resigned from the Council after being appointed Mississippi County Sheriff. White has been embattled in controversy since the night she was appointed in a 3-2 vote of the Council. From being labeled a "troublemaker" the night of her appointment by one city councilwoman, to the revelation that she never got local car tags and failed to register to vote until after her appointment, it's pretty clear that this was not a selection that was meant to be.

When your computer goes haywire, locks up, or it becomes clear that it's just not working, it's time to reboot. You hold down the Ctrl-Alt-Delete keys, shut down, and start over. And that's what the City Council needs to do.

Mayor Barrett Harrison took a step in that direction Friday, when he declared that since White had not been a legal candidate, that her appointment was null and void, and the seat was vacant. City Council members should follow suit, and support the mayor. Likewise, White has a chance to show her commitment to community by quietly accepting the decision and stepping away, at least for now.

There should be no shame for those who initially supported White. She had a resume that included an assortment of public service activities, and on paper, she seemed well-qualified. Could the three City Council members who voted in favor of her appointment have known she was not even a registered voter in Arkansas? Probably not.

That said, there have been plenty of "d'oh" moments to go around among City Council members through this entire ordeal. From Councilman Mylas Jeffers' insistence that the nominee be a "person of color," to the mayor's failure to properly vet the applicants to ensure their legal qualifications, to Councilwoman Connealy's "troublemaker" barb, there has been a clear shortage of leadership from our city elders these past few weeks. These aren't the acts of community statesmen, loyally serving their constituents. They are the acts of lawmakers bent on their own petty political self-interest.

And any move by White or her backers (on the Council and off) to prolong this mess would only be more of the same.

In short, it's a mess that needs to end. It's time to reboot.

If you look around Blytheville, there are plenty of worthwhile things for our City Council to worry about. We've got police and fire departments to run. We've got streets to repair. We've got a recycling program to kick off. We've got ice storm reimbursements to track down. We've got parks that need to be rejuvenated. We've got businesses and citizens reeling from the recession that need attention. We've got visitors coming to town for car shows and baseball tournaments. We have a need to remain vigilant in our economic development efforts.

We simply don't have time to spend weeks slogging it out over a council seat. Our city has spent far too much time mired in the muck through the years. We need to be moving forward, and political fights like this can only hold us back.

Besides that, there's nothing stopping Carol White from reapplying for the still-vacant seat. Or, she can get on the City Council the old fashioned way, and run when the seat comes open for election. Perhaps that would be best — let the people of Ward 1 decide, rather the whims of five people, four of whom don't even live in that ward.

Either way, at the present, it's time for this community escapade to end. With blame to be shared by pretty much every player involved, all we can do is wipe the slate clean and start over.

Ctrl-Alt-Delete.

A new look, Twitter ... the changes around us

It seems like an appropriate time to take a few moments to talk about some of the changes we’ve had here at the Courier News over the past few weeks, and then some.

Perhaps the most notable, at least recently, has been our new look. The redesign debuted April 14, and has generally been received very well.

We’d been wanting to launch a redesign for a few years. Like any product, newspapers get a little stale if they don’t change their look every now and then. You see the same thing in everything from cars to telephones to fast-food restaurants — if you don’t modernize, you’re going to start losing customers. And newspapers are no different.

There’s two parts of the redesign that I’m most excited about. One is our new community events listing, which appears daily on Page 3. Back with the old look, we’d run three to five “briefs” down the side of Page 1 each day. Our new approach allows us to list nearly 20 events each day. And now, they’re in chronological order, which I think provides a better context for people who are trying to find out what’s going on. The Courier News has always been the premier place to go to find out what’s happening around town, and I think we’re now doing a better job of doing this.

The second new component I really like is our new stock market modules, which appear daily on Page 7. This is something we have access to via our membership in The Associated Press. Our market modules provide and in-depth glance at what is happening in the world of money, with special emphasis on stocks of local interest. The modules are customized by AP for our readers. In these days of uncertain economic fortunes, I think this is vital information to provide for the community.

And, of course, as many readers have noticed, the paper is a little narrower these days. This is something that is becoming the industry standard. Paper costs more money these days, and newspapers are looking to cut costs by buying narrower rolls. Many papers have already made the switch; those who haven’t will likely soon. Personally, I like the narrower paper. It’s easier to hold and more reader-friendly. Besides that, here at the Courier News, we’ve expanded the number of pages in our base paper from 14 to 16 pages, so there’s more or less a net gain in the amount of news in each edition.

But the changes around here go beyond the redesign. Most recently, the Courier News has entered the world of online social networking via a Facebook site. The plan for now is to use Facebook as a way to connect with our readers. We’ll post occasional news about the paper, and promote a few upcoming projects. If you’re on Facebook, we’d love to have you on board as a fan.

And your truly is now experimenting with a Twitter account. I’m not too sure what to think of this service, but if you’re on Twitter, I’d love to have you as a follower. We’ll have to see where this one leads us.

One change that is now months old that has not been real popular has been our decision to drop the Monday edition. And let me say that I empathize with those who are disappointed. A wise person once told me that a daily newspaper is like a friend, who comes to visit you in your home every afternoon. So naturally, when your friend stops visiting every Monday, it’s hard not to be a little disappointed. But the Courier News has not been immune to the financial difficulties that have affected everyone from the local steel mills to the Main Street merchants, and difficult decisions sometimes have to be made. Honestly, the Monday paper was never a strong edition, in terms of advertising or news content; and though it might not be obvious, I am confident that our remaining daily editions are now stronger with the added attention we are able to give them.

One of our goals here at the Courier News is to one day publish the perfect paper. We haven’t done it yet, but we try every day. We have a small, but devoted and hard-working staff that is striving every day to meet our readers' information and advertising needs. Maybe we’ll get that perfect paper someday.

Until then, I’d love to hear from you. Check us out on Facebook, head to Twitter and follow @andy_weld, or visit my blog at thefasttalker.blogspot.com. For that matter, a good old letter to the editor is also still welcome any day.

I thank you for reading this column, and for reading the Courier News.

CN recognized for General Excellence

MOUNT MAGAZINE — The Blytheville Courier News received 16 total awards — including first place for General Excellence — at Saturday's annual awards ceremony conducted by the Arkansas Associated Press Managing Editors.

The ceremony took place during the organization's annual meeting, held at The Lodge at Mount Magazine in Mount Magazine State Park.

The Courier News edged out the Searcy Daily Citizen for the top award, earning the General Excellence win for the fifth time in nine years.

Contest judges had high marks for the newspaper's news content.

"Blytheville felt like a good reflection and partner with the community," judges said. "Stories were written so that a non-local reader understood the consequences of the big news. There was a nice mix of commentary. Headlines are clear, with good specifics in a few."

In addition, the Courier News received five other first place awards. Last year's special edition, "Snapshots," which spotlighted the community's rich history, took first place in the Special Project/Community Service category. Judges praised the use of photos, as well as the project's use of new media.

Other first place nods went to Managing Editor Mark Brasfield, who took first in Sports Column for a piece on Blytheville basketball coach David Hixson, and first in Column-Lifestyles/Human Interest for a column about positive aspects of Blytheville.

Staff writer Donna Loyd Hilton took first place in Non-Traditional News Item for a tongue-in-cheek mock interview with "Tom Turkey."

And editor Andy Weld won first place in Graphics for a Blytheville timeline project, which appeared in the "Snapshots" special section.

Other award winners are as follows:

— Hilton and staff writer Rick Harris shared a second place win in Spot News Story for coverage of the fire and shooting at Ace Glass.

— Harris, Brasfield and former staff writer Christie Zolman won second place in News Coverage for stories about last year's Holiday Inn fire.

— Brasfield won second place in Beat Reporting for articles about Blytheville police officers' salaries.

— Hilton won second place in Education Reporting for an article about the decline in use of chalkboards in area schools.

— Brasfield won second place in Sports Story for an article about last year's playoff run by the Blytheville girls basketball team.

— Weld won second place for Page Design for a collection of editions.

— Harris won third place in Spot News Story for coverage of the Holiday Inn fire last year.

— Harris won third place in Spot News Photo for a photo of a burning home.

— Weld won third place in Column-Hard News for a piece critical of the YMCA for pulling out of Blytheville.

— Former staff writer Jenni Betts Deming won third place in Business Reporting for a feature story on crop dusters.

"I hope Blytheville citizens realize what a good job our news staff does on a day-to-day basis," noted Courier News publisher David Tennyson. "It's easy to take things for granted sometimes, but first place in General Excellence five years out of nine pretty much says it all to me."

The Courier News competes in Division I, which includes the state's small daily newspapers.

Also Saturday, Weld was elected as APME president for 2009-10. Weld replaces David Bailey of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Rick Fahr of the Log Cabin Democrat in Conway was elected the group's vice president.

The greatest sports movies of all time

I'm almost embarrassed to have watched any television at all last weekend.

It was the first really warm weekend of the year, and I did spend a little time outside, at least enough to get the lawn mowed, play some ball with the kids, and get a nice little sunburn.

But it was also a good weekend to watch some TV, especially for anyone who is a fan of sports. There was the NFL draft, covered in minutia by ESPN, a couple of Cardinals-Cubs games, and a mini-marathon of sports movies on the AMC cable channel.

I stayed up way too late Saturday night watching AMC. First was “Rudy,” then came “The Rookie.” Both are fine sports movies.

I think anyone who is a fan of sports is a fan of the sports movie. Sure, there’s been a load of duds. But there’s also been a whole lot of winners, the kind of films that capture the essence of the game, tell a good story and are worth watching over and over.

All this got me thinking about the greatest sports movies of all-time, and I decided to come up with a list of my personal favorites.

But there are a couple of caveats. For one, there are a few sports movies considered among the all-time greats that I just haven’t seen. This includes movies like “Pride of the Yankees” and “Raging Bull.” They may be great, but I just wouldn’t know.

Then, there are those so-called classics that I’ve seen, but only long after their original release, when the magic was no longer there, at least for me. This would include flicks like “Rocky” and “Chariots of Fire.” Both are fine movies, just not films I would rank among my favorites.

So what follows is what I would consider my list of the greatest sports movies of all-time (or at least of “Andy-time”). It was too hard to cut it to 10, so I'm presenting a top 12, in descending order:

12. “Seabiscuit.” The horse-racing movie, starring Tobey McGuire, is often forgotten among top sports movies, but it’s a good one nonetheless.

11. “Hoosiers.” A great underdog story, a tale of what a team can do, working together.

10. “The Rookie.” Another great underdog story. The father-son angle offers added meaning for me.

9. “Miracle.” Based on the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team, this movie is special, as it is framed around one of my earliest sports memories.

8. “A League of Their Own.” As the father of a little girl who plays ball, I have to include this one. But I always find myself rooting for the little sister, rather than the Geena Davis character. Perhaps this is because I, too, am a younger sibling, and can relate to being in an older sibling's shadow.

7. “Jerry McGuire.” Really more of a romantic comedy than a sports movie, but a good supplier of catch-phrases, if nothing else.

6. “Remember the Titans.” The struggles of race relations are played out on the football field. Movie is still poignant today.

5. “Major League.” A great cast, and a very funny movie. The scene near the end when Charlie Sheen walks out as the whole stadium sings “Wild Thing” is great cinema.

4. “Rudy.” The “underdog” theme continues. It would be ranked higher if it wasn’t Notre Dame. I can’t stand Notre Dame.

3. “The Sandlot.” A story about baseball in its purest form. A great coming-of-age movie.

2. “Field of Dreams.” As a native Iowan, I obviously have an affinity for this one. Besides that, I’ve even been to the actual field. It's still there,, and it’s open to the public. You can even bring your bat and glove, and hit a few balls between the corn fields. It's not heaven, it's Iowa.

1. “Bull Durham.” This movie has it all. Great characters. Great comedy. Great storylines. It captures the essence of that wonderful world known as minor league baseball, and tells a great story along the way. I watch this one every time it comes on.