Drum roll please. . . And the number is...

The Arkansas Times Blog reports the city’s population at 52,262 people, a 21% growth from 2000 and doubled since 1990. This would mean that Mayor Townsell’s term as mayor will be 2 years longer as well as 4 “lucky” alderman. The Times Blog writes,

The new number means an additional $2.8 million in state turnback funds for the city between now and 2010. More significantly, a source at Conway City Hall says it will automatically extend Mayor Tab Townsell's term by two years. He was scheduled to run for re-election in 2006, but Arkansas law ties elections in cities with over 50,000 people to presidential election years.
City council terms will go from two years to four years for the same reason, but four of the eight current council members will have to run for another two-year term, and they will draw lots to determine who that will be.

I wonder who will be holding the lots…

Speaking of the Arkansas Times an anonymous poster at this blog who is disgruntled over a deleted post claims to have had lunch with Max Brantley of the Times and discussed the entertaining quality of this blog. While we’d have to say we didn’t think this was true, we did find it funny that a person would actually do something of that nature. Boy it really does get crazy in this blogspere doesn’t it. By the way Mr. Brantley says that it was news to him…