Text The Times.

Text The Times.

Good luck with your Christmas light projectors. Mine were stolen last night and I know some more in town were stolen too. Who steals CHRISTMAS LIGHTS??? SMDH [ Editor’s Note: I thought maybe “ SMDH” stood for “ Steal My Decorations, Huh?” but the Internet tells me different. But yes, there are people out there who are uprooting those projection lights and… what, selling them, I guess? Who would buy an unboxed, obviously stolen projection light? And it’s not like they’re terribly valuable.

They range from less than $ 20 to around $ 50 for the fancier ones. Well, I guess if you can sell one for five or ten bucks that’s five or ten buck you have without having to, you know, work for it. I know the Marion police caught one guy the other night, but something tells me there’s more than one upstanding citizen out there doing it]

*** Wow, 10-50,000 people coming to Angelo Grove for a festival would be great. The way the Marion traffic lights are synchronized, some people would get there just as the festival is ending. Tell jack, we leave at 5…tell Tyler to come see me. [ Editor’s Note: Having grown up in Marion, I am old enough to remember when the population was well under a thousand folks, when a trip to Walmart ( way over on Broadway in West Memphis) was a big deal, and when the city really did seem almost straight out of Mayberry. There are still plenty of folks from the generation before me that wish that had never changed and don’t really want to see the kind of development that could potentially turn Marion into the next Southaven ( or whatever). I’m not saying that’s even a bad line of thought.

There’s something to be said for small- town living. However, over the past 20 years, that population has exploded to more than 12,000, with the community becoming a sprawling patch- work of neighborhoods interspersed with some retail and industry. So, the decision needs to be made as to whether it’s time to finally embrace the expansion and become a “ big city,” with significant retail, tourism, special events and such, or to not. I’m going to assume you were being smart- allecky with your comment about the traffic, but you’re right. Marion isn’t set up to invite a large influx of visitors. The new hotels will give them a place to sleep, but the roads are still in “ small town” condition.

These are all things that city officials and economic developers will have to be cognizant of as Marion goes forward. As for your last part, I don’t know Jack or Tyler, but if I see them, I’ll pass along the message]

*** I hope I am not the only one who hates the new way the Evening Times is printing the TV guide in the paper. Please go back to the old way!!! [ Editor’s Note: So, based on recent Text the Times activity and several phone calls, what I’m hearing is that people aren’t expecially fond of our new TV listings. Just to quickly recap, “ American Profiles,” the company that produced our old weather and TV spots, no longer does it.

We’re looking for alternatives, but for now, what we’ve got is what we’ve got.

To quote Cool Hand Luke, “ I don’t like it any more than you men.”] *** Another car in the wrong lane getting off I-55 in Marion. Someone is going to get killed. [ Editor’s Note: No argument from me that it is a problem spot. Just as much of a problem as drivers getting off the Interstat and going into the wrong lane is the way other drivers, mostly local folks who should know better, I imagine, who whip around the exit area impatiently instead of waiting for a more reasonable opening. They pull ot in front of exiting drivers, make U- turns, run that stop sign next to the Flash Market and perform all sorts of interesting maneuvers. If I had a better solution other than better signage or bigger, brighter markings on the road, I’d offer one, but that’s about all I’ve got]

870-225-1456

Here’s what everyone is talking about this week: