Slow morning, so some self-referential items:
1) Thanks to AP, which hustled to match our exclusive on the Andrew Golden gun permit, but which noted that it wouldn’t have been calling in the first place had we not broken the story. Shame on the TV stations that edited the AP account to omit the credit to us.
2) Amazing as it may seem, Blog readers sometimes fail to click on the wealth of print-edition Arkansas Times content arrayed on either side of the blog. Some opionizing worthy of your consideration this week:
* Our editorial opposes selling the city’s Ray Winder Field property to UAMS for a parking lot. If you do that, you might as well pave the entirety of War Memorial Park and be done with it.
* My column explains why the city should approve the Aloft Hotel in the River Market District. If it’s defeated, it will be on account of economic protectionism for rich people, namely the Stephens empire. (Don’t confuse my kind words for NLR Mayor Pat Hays in this column with approval of his wild and I believe illegal plan to round up school property taxes from unconnected plots all over downtown to build a parking deck for his own would-be hotel development plan.)
* Ernest Dumas compares Herbert Hoover and George W. Bush. Herb is looking better all the time. Plus, he never tortured anyone.
* Also, Mara Leveritt is provocative as ever. Her cover story on “race” labeling has already prompted a big response and I expect more to come. As expected, some are unhappy by our use of Obama’s own word, “mutt,” to affectionately describe those of mixed heritage.