I hope that everyone had a wonderful Independence Day weekend! I have spent the time with my family in Columbus. The previous week has been a difficult one, my car broke, my phone broke, and I became sick and unable to attend our Board of Alderman meeting on Tuesday. Since then I've been feeling better, replaced the car battery which was dead, and have a temporary phone so hopefully I can catch back up on the activities of the past week. Of particular interest to me is the Beautification Committee's interest in the revitalization of 182. I have heard from enough people who saw 182 as their first sight upon driving into Starkville and that is not the kind of impression we should leave with people new to the city. I plan to follow up with a more detailed series of suggestions to implement the recommendations of the Beautification Committee.