My Arkansas News Bureau column takes a break from politics to talk about the best comeback made by a Ryan this year. Not Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett. Not Ryan O’Neal. (That’s a famous actor for those of you under 30.)

I’m talking about my neighbor, until recently, who also is named Ryan. Ryan moved next door to my house a few years ago, and of course we got to know each other. He was a dad with a wife, two sons, a job, college classes to attend – and with a past.

Ryan had been in jails in Mississippi and Arkansas for drug convictions, but he had turned his life around and was seeking a pardon from the governor.

He did get that pardon – and is about to get his college degree, in geology, which he’ll use to work in the natural gas industry.

I thought it was a story worth sharing about a guy who has made the most of his second chance. Here is the column.