Between Editions

Bill Clinton has always been a convention magic boy. When he walks out, his chin and lower lip clinch up and down, and he seems to make direct eye contact with everyone in the audience — at home and in person.

The chin movement is something I’ve watched closely for years. It’s a little tick, perhaps, a sort of trademark move signaling that the wheels of politics are turning mightily in his head.

Bill always steals the show.

His role tonight isn’t what he thought it would be, though. Bill no doubt felt that he’d be standing next to his wife introducing the Democratic nominee for president.

That didn’t happen, and nerves are still raw, especially considering the harsh banter Bill and Obama traded during the campaign.

At one point, Barack’s campaign suggested that some of Bill’s remarks may have had racist undertones. They were referring, of course, to Bill’s statement likening Obama’s impressive victory in the South Carolina primary to Jesse Jackson’s win in the state in the 1984 and 1988 primary season.

It was all blown out of proportion. Still, many surrounding Bill believe that he truly has a grudge against Obama because of this incident.

Tonight, Bill Clinton, like Hillary last night, will have a chance to do the classy thing and endorse Barack Obama with sincere words of praise.

I thought Hillary, orange power suit and all, presented herself better than I’ve ever seen her before.

In fact, I kept thinking throughout the speech that if she’d done this all along, then maybe she’d be the nominee instead of Obama.

She was genuine, spoke from the gut and held her head high with class and dignity.

Bill should rubber stamp that tonight during his speech. I have no doubt that he will send the rafters of the Pepsi Center in Denver into the stratosphere. Wherever he goes, whomever he meets, Bill is a charismatic political crooner.

And as soon as that bottom lip and chin begin to move together, look out.

I’m looking forward to it.

For just over $1 million, the federal building in downtown El Dorado could be yours. A coworker and I have been thinking what we’d do if we had possession of this 77-year-old beauty.

Oh, the many options. I’d put in a pool on the roof, make one of the courtrooms into a game room, add bowling alleys, a wet bar, etc.

What do you think should be done? All kidding aside, I do hope that someone will ensure that we get to keep our downtown post office, if not in this building, then somewhere. It’s such a pain to drive out to Timberlane just to mail something.

United States Postal Service real estate agent Tina Moyer said that the USPS is trying to find “suitable” locations for a downtown post office branch.

We’ll keep you posted on any developments.

Since I can’t be in Dallas to cover the murder trial of 30-year-old Lavelle Evans, who stands accused of killing former El Dorado resident Crystal Jenkins, I’ve brought you coverage from the Dallas Morning News.

We are planning a story in the News-Times once prosecutors in the case agree to speak with us. They’re not talking until the trial is over. I can tell you that they’ve opted not to seek the death penalty in the case.

Click here for more from Dallas.

Oh, and if you need a bit of background info, click here.

The cab of an 18-wheeler caught fire at approximately 1 p.m. today (Wednesday) at Chemtura’s facility near Parkers Chapel, according to Union County Emergency Operations Manager Yancy Kyle.

There were no reports of injuries, and there was no danger from hazardous materials, Kyle said.

Chemtura is a major manufacturer of bromine, which is used as an additive in consumer products like soaps, food products and fire retardants.

Look for more in Thursday’s News-Times.

Ideas are hard to come by. Great ideas, well, even harder. In an effort to keep Satire Wednesday at the “great” level, I’ve avoided writing pieces that I felt would be only mediocre.

A coworker and I are currently working on several ideas that should be over the top. So, stay tuned, Satire Wednesday will be back soon.

Sayeth Accuweather.com:

The National Hurricane Center, in their latest update, still puts the storm off the Louisiana coast by Monday.

**UPDATE** As of 4 p.m. Wednesday, Accuweather has revised their Gustav track to the following:

Times in this graphic are listed in the Eastern Time Zone.

…television news? And it’s not just because I’m in print media. To me, the only station that isn’t completely nauseating is PBS. The other stations — CNN, MSNBC, FOX News, etc. — seem to spoon feed viewer loads of crap that couldn’t possibly matter under any circumstances.

For example, endless analysis on why Hillary chose to wear an orange suit. Or speculation on what she meant when she said that she supports Barack Obama. Here’s a clue: journalists don’t speculate. We gather facts and report.

I’ve stopped watching television news all together, save for PBS. I listen to NPR, read the newspaper and visit selected web sites.

The absolute worst, though, is listening to Meredith Viera — a woman whose journalistic credentials are less than my cat’s — try to interview someone like Barack Obama. The Today Show, of all places, pretending to be a journalism source?

One minute they’re laughing at some corn-ball joke made by the weather guy, and the next they’ve got a live feed to a family whose daughter was murdered.

Okaayyyyy. That’s not in any chapter of my journalism texts.

Why do people actually watch and listen to these crackerjack reporters? I’ve stopped. And I feel so much better.

Residents in southern Mississippi are being asked to prepare as if Gustav were going to hit them directly.

The Biloxi Sun Herald reports:

The path and strength of Gustav will not likely be clear until this weekend, but Mike Womack, director of the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, said if people prepared for a storm as though it was headed for them, they will have a plan in place.

“If they don’t have a plan by now, then they’re foolish,” Womack said. “You need to be thinking that this is a Category 3 headed straight for the Mississippi Gulf Coast and know what you’re going to do if that happens.

“Anyone who lives near the beach and is susceptible to storm surge needs to know where they might evacuate.”

Click here for the latest from Biloxi.

The New Orleans Times Picayune reports today that if Gustav continues to head toward Louisiana, Governor Bobby Jindal on Thursday would exercise state contracts for up to 700 buses to assist with evacuations.

Assisted evacuations could begin as early as Friday and evacuations from hospitals and medical care facilities would begin Saturday. Evacuations by rail also could begin Saturday.

Contra-flow, in which all lanes of major highways would direct traffic away from the storm impact area, could begin Saturday or very early Sunday, Jindal said.

“These are the timetables as we see them now,” Jindal said. “We all hope this will be a false alarm.”

Gustav is currently a tropical storm but is forecast to strengthen into a hurricane very soon. According to the National Hurricane Prediction Center, the storm could be about 200 miles south of New Orleans at 1 a.m. Monday as a Category 3 hurricane with 120 mph winds.

The paper says that New Orleanians are perceiving the storm as a “major threat” to south Louisiana.

This is not good news.

Several hurricane prediction models bring Gustav ashore just east or west of New Orleans as a Category 4 hurricane after weakening from Category 5 strength, the paper reports.

Let’s hope for the best.

Oil prices have already reacted to Gustav’s presence. Gulf oil platforms have evacuated in anticipation of the storm, and oil prices closed at $115 a barrel yesterday. If any of these oil platforms are damaged, watch prices climb to astronomical levels. And if a refinery is knocked out… .

Well, you get the picture.

For more, visit the Times-Picayune Web site by clicking here.