Opinion

Icovered my first high school basketball game in 1985. That’s more than 37 years ago.

As this column is written, on Sunday afternoon, it is the eve of the first day of Arkansas’ 94th General Assembly. It’s going to be an interesting session, with a slew of new legislators and, more importantly, a new governor.

Qualifier: I am an independent. I have been elected to public office as an independent (city council post) and as a Democrat (justice of the peace) and announced for state senator as a Republican (forced to drop out after a medical issue).

At precisely 5:00 on the afternoon of December 31, a certain state government (“arkansas. gov”) email address expired, went dark, no longer worked. Messages sent thereto were, within a second or three, returned as “undeliverable.” It was of no moment to the public at large and, as the New Year was only hours distant and there was no breaking story demanding information or comment from the statewide law enforcement agency, likely not a soul in the news racket paused to note it. In the days ahead, however, surely any number of reporters and editors would, from habit, send a cyber question to that email address (or touch their speed dials) and then, only then, remember that Bill Sadler had retired.

As the new year begins, let’s talk about the pros and cons of the Electoral College, shall we? Pros: There aren’t any. Cons: Where to start? As a former history major and a reader of all genres of historical literature, I thought I knew a thing or three about the hows, whys and so-forths of the Electoral College.

The year is at its end. Ergo, our quarterly examination of the mail, cyber and surface. Reader feedback — complimentary or, more often than not, critical unto condemnatory. For example, writing about the cost of being “tough” on crime, as is occasionally done in this space, invariably brings a zinger or nine.

As 2023 begins, it’s a time to look forward and think about some of the things we’d like to accomplish in the next 365 days. With that in mind, here’s a look at some of my New Year’s Resolutions, in no particular order. Some of them are more serious than others, but I’ll leave that for you to judge.

Sunday will mark the beginning of a new year and, in many ways, a new start for this newspaper. The Carroll County News has been owned by out-of-state corporations for decades, but Sunday will be the official beginning of its return to local ownership.

The first time I got paid for writing a newspaper story, I was 16 years old. I wrote sports stories for a weekly newspaper in Pine Bluff that has long since closed its doors. I was paid 25 cents per column inch — about $15 to fill up half a page.