Week in review

• Sen. Larry Craig is inducted into the Idaho Hall of Fame, marking the Republican lawmaker's first ceremonial appearance back in his home state since his arrest in an airport bathroom sex sting became public in August. He also becomes the first person in Idaho to receive the prestigious Udaho award.
• Traffic jams plague Columbus when jaywalkers and pedestrians prove they can actually get slower crossing the street as they come to a complete stop. The National Guard is deployed to remove the stationary pedestrians. Families may go to the Government Center at 10 a.m. Tuesday to identify family members collected from the streets.
• A boy who was bitten multiple times by a Rottweiler running free on a Hawaiian beach is awarded $856,000 by a jury that concluded the dog's owner was negligent. Like every other owner of dogs who've mauled and bitten people, Mariko Bereday insists the dog is docile and not aggressive.
• Thousands of cash-strapped Hawaiians tie raw meat to themselves and taunt Mariko Bereday's Rottweiler.
• Boxer Evander Holyfield, 44, loses a unanimous decision to Sultan Ibragimov but insists he will continue pursuing the heavyweight title. Asked by a trainer following the fight, "How many fingers am I holding up?" Holyfield responds "1,347,321."
• The rivalry between Coke and Pepsi takes a physical turn when a Pepsi deliveryman allegedly punches his Coke counterpart in the face at a western Pennsylvania Wal-Mart. When the Coke deliveryman left the store, his counterpart allegedly punched him in the face three times, breaking his nose and giving him a black eye, police said. No charges have been filed, but police characterized the incident as a misdemeanor simple assault. Pepsi is expected to roll out its "Pepsi Packs a Punch!" ad campaign any day now.
• Thumper, a black Labrador retriever, is getting credit for saving a Greenville, Maine, man when a fire swept through his home. Thumper grabbed the sleeping Roland Cote by the arm to wake him. Cote said the fire marshal investigator believes the blaze was started when Princess, the family cat, tipped over a kerosene lantern. Cote says he and his pets escaped safely, but he says Princess did get her tail singed by the flames. Princess, however, has accused Thumper of staging the fire.

Crawling pilgrims

Why on Earth does Eufaula schedule its annual pilgrimage for the same weekend when everyone's heading to the beach for spring break? Does a massive traffic jam add to the ambiance of the whole event?

Somehow folks dressed in plantation-era outfits standing on the front porches of those beautiful mansions and homes doesn't capture a bygone era when they're waving at a miles-long line of SUVs, trucks and cars. And 99.9 percent of these vehicles are packed with luggage, coolers and beach paraphernalia -- meaning they're not there for the pilgrimage. They're on their way to the beach and saw Eufaula as nothing more than a dot on the map big enough for a pee break or a 10-piece McNuggets to go.

I got caught up in the traffic jam this weekend, though I wasn't on the way to the beach, merely a retreat near Lake Eufaula. It took about one and a half hours to cover a six-mile stretch of 431 heading into the historic district. If I hadn't known a couple of backstreets in Eufaula, it would have taken two hours. I feel for the people whose five-hour drives to the beach turned into seven-hour drives to the beach.

People's cars were running hot. Some were breaking down. I had my seat reclined and would ease up a few inches every now and then. The tags were mostly from metro Atlanta, and judging from their expressions, I'd say Eufaula's lucky these frustrated drivers didn't burn down the historic district on their way through. They're not interested in a bygone era; they're more interested in a bypass era, and Eufuala's desperately in need of one.

Don't get me wrong. I love Eufaula. I go there several times a year. I'm sure I'll be on the lake this summer. I love old houses. I used to live in a 100-year-old house, which instead of a carport or garage had a place to park your horse and carriage. And the historic district is beautiful ... except when it's set against the backdrop of a traffic jam.

I'm sure the businesses along U.S. 431 aren't interested in a bypass. But I think the city would be better served with a bypass than with thousands of drivers cursing it for bottlenecking their trip and turning a leisurely drive into a nightmare. And even when it's not spring break or the pilgrimage, that busy 431 really takes away from the historic district's atmosphere.