Wouldn’t it be nice to have a crystal ball to see into the future? Think of all of the mistakes we could each avoid if we were able to see the consequences of an action before the action was taken.

Unfortunately, the ability to see into the future only exists on Hollywood silver screens.

But we do know a little about what will affect our community this year, based on some of the movement started in the previous years.

Lots of economic development possibilities still exist from the opening of a second and third casino in Natchez to the possibility of Rentech getting going, too. Each would have significant impact economically, but each also faces many, many “what ifs” that could further delay their opening.

Perhaps the biggest item of impact for our area may wind up being a simple count. The U.S. Census data from the 2010 annual population count may wind up changing our community’s political representation that could have massively long-lasting effects.

Many municipal projects, from the Natchez Trails Project and North Natchez Drainage Project to recreation and municipal projects in Concordia Parish are expected to be completed in 2011.

We hope to add to that list the Ferriday water improvement projects and the Natchez-Adams County recreation complex, too.

Both are public projects that are long overdue and much desired by taxpayers.

Of course, lack of following through on the completion of popular public projects can also have long-lasting effects when voters choose to select different representatives to office. That’s easy to see, even without a crystal ball.