Between Editions

Gustav, shown here in a satellite photo, is churning south of Cuba.

Hotels in South Arkansas and northern Louisiana are completely booked today as nervous residents along the Gulf Coast are planning escape routes north.

Calls to area hotels confirmed that no rooms are available. The nearest available rooms, according to the desk clerk at the Econolodge on Junction City Road, are in Hot Springs and Little Rock.

Our local Red Cross unit has sent its emergency response unit to Baton Rouge.

More to come.

A Dallas County jury convicted Lavelle Evans, 30, of capital murder this afternoon in the retaliation killing of former El Dorado resident Crystal Jenkins, who was set to testify against him in a 2006 drug case, the Dallas Morning News reports.

Click here for more from the Dallas Morning News.

Look for more in Friday’s El Dorado News-Times.

Murphy Oil says it will evacuate its non-essential personnel in the path of potential hurricane Gustav in the Gulf of Mexico, according to the business blog Talk Business out of Little Rock.

No mention of the number of employees to be evacuated was made.

Murphy says that the evacuation should have no impact on output. The El Dorado-based oil and gas company has major exploraton and drilling infrastructure in the Gulf.

According to the Dallas Morning News, jurors began deliberations at 10 a.m. inside a Dallas courthouse.

Click here for more.

The New Orleans Times-Picayune writes today that the city’s defense against flood waters is still a patchwork quilt. Some areas are ready, many are not. It’s been four years since Katrina devastated the Big Easy and Biloxi, Miss.

In four years, it should have been completely fixed.

Click here for more.

Here’s the latest track on Gustav, courtesy of the National Hurricane Center:

Although some prediction models have changed a bit since yesterday, residents in Louisiana and Mississippi are preparing for the worst. Click here for more.

No word yet on evacuees heading our way. I was told yesterday that some hotels in Monroe had seen mild booking from folks in south Louisiana. It’s probably too early to tell.

We’ll keep you posted.

Watching Bill Clinton tonight, I realize how much I wish he were still our president. Alas, he cannot be. Barack Obama can be. Change is ahead if we choose it. Please, choose change.