They’ve taken down our expensive Christmas decorations and it’s time to get started on 2023.
I drove home at 5 p.m. sharp the other day and had to wait my turn at several intersections between the office and my easy chair. It was good to see traffic in downtown Clarksdale and people driving home from a day at work.
I saw where 65,000 people attended a NBA game in San Antonio last week. Maybe COVID really is over.
We have had unseasonably warm weather, so maybe Spring is on the way.
Washington was touting a 1-percent drop in prices this week, so maybe this inflation thing is headed in the right direction.
Construction Season
In another lifetime I worked in construction and the winter could be hard on a young man trying to get the bills paid and rainy weather having a direct impact on my paycheck.
I hope you take a good look at the photo on Page One today.
There is a lot of construction going on in Clarksdale right now. The work on Delta Avenue will be a nice addition to downtown.
The cinder-block walls are going up at Tiger Mart and that new store will do a lot to improve the appearance of the world famous Crossroads.
We need a grocery store
Your Clarksdale Press Register did a survey in 2018 asking people where they shopped, did they want a new grocery store and their views on shopping for meat and produce in Clarksdale.
Of the 503 responses given, all said they wanted another grocery store.
The bad news was 79-percent of respondents said they were regularly shopping for groceries outside of Clarksdale.
There are people looking at us as a possible location for a new grocery store. We missed an opportunity with the opening of Jeffcoat’s in Marks. Piggly Wiggly was a pipe dream, but I have talked to people who say they are still interested, but want a new direction.
And without tipping my hand, there is a third grocery chain interested in Clarksdale.
I hope these potential grocers will contact the powers-that-be and simply tell us what they want. There are those around here who will be glad to help make it happen.
Help for hospitals
Your Clarksdale Press Register has been reporting on the changes at your hospital since the day I got here almost four years ago.
It’s good to see state lawmakers and even the folk in Washington suddenly open their eyes and seek solutions to the problems of rural healthcare.
The mess we are in right now is not our fault. Changes in Medicare and Medicaid have squeezed small hospitals across this great country. COVID, inflation and new a labor market (think doctors and nurses) that travels anywhere to find better pay and opportunities have wounded us deeply.
This hospital was once a thriving business and a major employer in this town.
I am a newspaperman and I can fix newspapers, but I tell people I don’t have the answers to our healthcare crisis.
I will say it all about dollars and until we get a new business model that is backed by state and federal government it won’t get fixed.
Sadly, Washington and Jackson will take two or three years to figure this out.
Figuring out inflation
Inflation is like the weather: Everybody talks about it, but no one seems able to do anything to change it.
They call it inflation, but I see it simply as a price increase.
We have all seen that price increase at local restaurants, cars, houses, construction material and, yes, even advertising.
This fall your Clarksdale Press Register implemented its first price increase in 10 years. Our advertisers frowned and I want to thank those who stayed-the-course.
This is a business and to stay in business you sometimes have to do the hard thing.
I’m proud to say subscriptions are up and we are making money. Talk to us about advertising and we’ll help you make money, too.
Floyd Ingram has been in the business of newspapers since the tender age of 10. Call him at 627-2201 and let’s talk business.
