Play ball.
Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke is a co-chairman of a council of mayors trying to save the minor league baseball connections to their cities.
Times Free Press business reporter Mary Fortune shared the details earlier this week.
My thought on this: These cats are somewhere in the echo chamber between Don Quixote and his windmill walkabouts and the vote pandering of keys to the city or citations for a middle school band being invited to the Macy's Day parade.
In the grand scheme of things, this truly feels like the scene in "Blazing Saddles" in which the governmental officials decide to give the governor a hearty "Harrumph!"
And know this: The folks involved in baseball know that if all these mayors want to truly offer a meaningful grandstand, it comes with a new stadium around it.
Sleep talking
The lullaby that has been the Senate chamber impeachment hearings has produced a number of stories of strange side activities for Republicans this week.
Naps. Crosswords. Marsha being Marsha.
In truth, it's an understandable reaction, don't you think? Seriously, other than the expected outrage from each side of the aisle and the angst or defense from the folks already galvanized on one side or the other of Trump, this thing is a snoozer.
So how can the Democrats stay awake through the counter points in the days ahead?
Bernie Sanders swimsuit calendar? Elizabeth Warren's pamphlet called "Chicken Soup for the Socialist Soul" maybe? Hillary's "How I got away with everything and still claim the victim role" screenplay?
All of those are excellent choices.
Or maybe just a good ol' fashioned game of Pin the (Tired) Tale on the Donkey.
Who knew?
Apparently Miss Utah will be the first openly bisexual contestant in the Miss USA pageant.
"As an openly bisexual woman, Rachel Slawson being crowned Miss Utah is a huge win for LGBTQ visibility," Anthony Ramos, GLAAD's head of talent, told Yahoo Lifestyle. "Rachel's presence on the Miss USA stage later this year will most definitely send a powerful message to LGBTQ Americans and Utahns, especially those in the bisexual+ community, who feel like they have not seen themselves represented in that space before."
Well, there you go. Seriously?
I mean, I thought for sure it was Utahians, but it actually is Utahns. Learn something new every day, I guess?
World's worst cat
Wow, the folks working at animal shelters have impossibly tough gigs.In every possible way.
Then there is the story of this North Carolina shelter which was looking for a home for a stray cat, according to Yahoo News.
From the Yahoo story: "Perdita, we thought she was sick. Turns out she's just a jerk," the Spruce Pine-based shelter captioned pictures of the 4-year-old black and white cat they took on Christmas Eve following the death of her owner.
The post, of course, is going viral, and has generated an ad that offers descriptions that the cat likes "staring into your soul until you feel as if you may never be cheerful again," "lurking in dark corners, being queen of her domicile" and "fooling shelter staff into thinking she's sick."
And if you think this is being overstated, well ,here's what office manager Brittany Taylor told ABC News: "She pretends like she wants you to pet her and love on her. As soon as you pick her up, she starts growling. She will swat you. She definitely makes you laugh. One minute she wants you, and one minute she's over it."
I'll pass, thank you very much.
Obit observations
We have been away for a while, and I truly appreciate all the nominations readers have passed along.
Today, though, we'll pause and say so long to Alma Jeffries of Ooltewah, who died Wednesday at the tender age of 101.
Think of the changes she has witnessed in her life: She was about two weeks from her 102nd birthday; she would have been 11 when the stock market crashed in 1929, or was seven years removed from high school when Pearl Harbor was bombed.
Nevermind the history lessons, how many Almas - or Docks or Esthers, Alma's parents - are around these days?
That's a full life, friends. Rest easy, Alma.
Jay GreesonContact Jay Greeson at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com.