Saturday Weekend after the election

I've had this one circled for a while. Unlike 300,000 other Arkansans, I won't be in a deer stand this morning. Lori's in Little Rock, so I'm going to straighten up my end of the closet, finish up my to do list at the office, close down the local party HQ in my downtown building, and get a head start on preparing for the upcoming session. I'm going to Conway this evening to have supper with the Wills and others, and then I'm in need of spending time preparing for church since I'll be the lay speaker on stewardship in the morning. Right now, though, I'm going to lace 'em up for a 10-miler.

There is a lot going on in the district:

(1) We're finalizing our "package" as a community to try and keep Cooper Tire and its 1,400 jobs here in Texarkana. We're on a tight time frame, and it's been fascinating to see different sectors of industry and the community come together for the workers and the company.

(2) As is the case with border cities, we often find ourselves competing with the Texas-side of Texarkana for business (and a larger tax base). This one's been brewing for a while, but it finally hit the front page this morning. A developer that has been in discussions for over a year to build a hotel and convention center on the Arkansas-side has pulled up stakes and will now build it on the Texas-side.

Here's the front page headline. Now the Arkansas-side has to determine whether to recruit another developer and to consider a competing convention center on this side of the state line.

(3) Rep. Johnnie Roebuck (D-Arkadelphia) is in the district today to lead a class on leadership for the school district (updated with pic).