The Tuesday night line commences. Finishing up:
* NO WAY TO SLICE IT/BAD NUMBERS FOR DUSTIN: Public Policy Polling released today the cross-tabs on its 600-person sample of an Asa Hutchinson/Dustin McDaniel gubernatorial matchup. When an anti-abortion gun nut outpolls you among women, you are in deep trouble indeed. And when a Democrat can get only 63 percent of the black support against a retrograde Republican, again, that Democrat has problems. Note again that a union group, undoubtedly inclined in favor of Bill Halter as a Democratic nominee, paid for this poll. Even with his current low numbers, McDaniel's work with the Democratic establishment probably makes him the favorite over Halter in a Democratic primary. Unless Halter people, through strategic polling and pumping of the Andi Davis story, can drive McDaniel out of the race entirely.
* ABOUT THOSE MUGSHOT WEBSITES: What could be wrong about running jailhouse mugshots — public information about people arrested for a variety of offenses? Funny you should ask. A report here on a lawsuit about how that information on suspects lingers on the Internet, even when charges are eventually dismissed. It can be a hassle for people trying to get work down the line. Or so says a lawsuit suing outfits that charge big prices to remove mug shots from their galleries.
* ELECTORAL COLLEGE RIGGING: Increasingly marginalized as a Southern party, the Republican Party, writes Josh Marshall, apparently may embark on a plan to rig the electoral college. It would get Republican legislatures to enact proportional electoral college voting in states — think Ohio and Pennsylvania — where it would be useful to them. In other words, they'd kind of favor one-man, one-vote — at least in states where it would help them. Otherwise, not so much. Would the electoral college abolutists still be with them? Since they are mostly Republicans, probably.
* THE CITY VS. WINTER, PART I: Little Rock City Hall reports:
Due to a collapsed drainage pipe, a portion of River Mountain Road in Two Rivers Park will be closed off to vehicle, pedestrian and bicycle traffic effective immediately until further notice.
This part of the road is located at the bottom of the hill headed east. There will be no access from the west side of Two Rivers Bridge. The expected repair time is approximately 8-10 weeks.
Until repairs are completed, the Two Rivers Bridge may be accessed through Murray Park via Rebsamen Park Road. We apologize for any inconvenience.
* THE CITY VS. WINTER, PART II: Today's snow further disrupted city of Little Rock efforts to clean up after the Christmas storm. It interrupted normal waste pickups today. The city's report:
Public Works Crews are spreading sand and salt on Little Rock streets today to help maintain safe driving conditions. As of now, the plans are to send those crews back to collecting storm debris tomorrow— both from what may occur today and from the Christmas storm. They are gathering approximately 130 tons of fallen tree limbs and bushes per day. These crews continue to work six days a week, ten hours a day in every ward.
“Safety is always our number one concern. Our Public Works crews need to sand and salt our roads to decrease dangerous driving situations,” said City Manager Bruce Moore. “We are closing City offices at 2:00 p.m. and cancelling our regularly scheduled Board of Directors Agenda Meeting. We encourage our residents to stay off the streets as much as possible until this wintry mix leaves our area.”
Solid Waste crews were able to complete most of their routes today, however they were pulled in early. Public Works would like residents to please put their garbage carts and yard waste at the curb according to their regular schedule. They expect to be caught up by the end of the day tomorrow. Also, Waste Management says any recycling that wasn’t picked up today will be included in Wednesday’s route.
Forecasters say this line of weather will leave Little Rock by tomorrow. If any resident sees storm debris in a street they may call 311 or go to www.LittleRock.org and click on the blue 311 logo in the right hand corner of the home page to report it on line. All storm debris will be picked up in due time whether a 311 call has been made or not. However using 311 can alert City crews to a situation that needs immediate attention.
The City of Little Rock will be able to hire independent contractors to help with the cleanup if FEMA declaration is signed. It’s hoped this will happen in a week to ten days. It’s estimated there is 22,000 tons of storm debris in the City of Little Rock. So far City crews have collected 2,200 tons and brought it to the landfill.