It’s nothing to worry about, but there are reports that Hostess Brands could be selling

By JOEL PHELPS | arkadelphian.com

The key phrase here is could be. General Mills and Hershey Co. are among the companies reportedly salivating over the potential deal. Because Hostess is the mostest exciting thing in years to happen for Clark County, news of a potential sale definitely raises eyebrows, and rightly so. Clark Countians are generally a little gun-shy when good fortune is on the horizon, and taxpayers fronted $2 million to incentivize Hostess — or Project Cupcake, as it was known to the EDCCC board members when they rolled the dice on this deal. We see no cause for alarm, even in the event of a sale, as we’ve seen the massive sign on the old Danfoss building, we’ve seen the Hostess employees out in force at community events, we’ve devoured the snacks they give out, we’ve seen and heard firsthand the commitment Hostess has pledged to Clark County. Still, we’re pesky reporters who nose around in other people’s business, so we asked the company’s public relations for comment about the potential sale (specifically, we asked if a sale would affect the new jobs Hostess recently created for Clark County). We got the no comment response we expected, but in a few more words: “As a matter of company policy, we do not comment on rumors or speculation.” Fair enough. For the record, though, we trust that news agencies like Reuters would not feed us information based on speculation and rumors. Then again, we can wait on official word of a sale so long as the Donettes keep coming.

Saturday is a big day for avid hunters in Arkansas. It’s the dove season opener. Tempting though it may be, don’t shoot doves on power lines. Fiber optics are now part of many lines, and damaging them may cause Internet outages.

Now that we know the make and model of some of our readers’ first vehicles, let’s set one thing straight: We don’t ask our readers personal questions for deceptive reasons, although there could be (there’s that phrase again) bad guys out there watching and taking note. Be mindful of the information you put on social media. When we ask the Question of the Week each Sunday on Facebook, we’re simply making conversation with our audience. We have neither the time nor the intelligence to commit identity fraud. But we do love this lyric: I got your number/I steal your thunder/I got your mother’s maiden name tattooed on my arm!

We had our eyes on the skies Wednesday night for the blue Harvest moon, but from our vantage point in Arkadelphia we were unable to see much beyond the cloud coverage. There was hardly a cloud in the sky in August until we wanted to look up. Fortunately, our readers helped us document this rare Harvest moon. They were all fine photos, but here’s a couple of our favorites:

A recent reader poll says a movie theater is the most desired entertainment venue for Arkadelphia, although a current poll asking how often readers actually go to the movies indicates there probably isn’t enough interest to keep one operating. Interesting.

We predict there will not be another drop of rain until the Clark County Fair is open to the public.

Joel Phelps is editor of arkadelphian.com. Opinions expressed in Bits & Pieces are his own. Email him your thoughts at editor@arkadelphian.com. The universe needs more Nathan Chaney.