BITS & PIECES: Is it luck?

Last week we shared information with our readers about the new online questionnaire potential jurors are required to fill out during the qualification process. On Friday we opened our mail to discover that — surprise! — we have been selected for jury duty. This marks the second time in our 20 years of adulthood to receive a jury summons. First time, we were reporting for the Daily Siftings Herald and therefore knew a little too much information about any upcoming criminal or civil proceedings to sit as an active juror. We have our doubts that any attorney or judge will want us now, as publisher of arkadelphian.com, to sit on a jury panel. But we shall see in the weeks to come. We can report, however, that filling out the questionnaire online is a simple process that only takes a minute or two to complete.

We personally would not be opposed to Goodman Properties LLC, owned by Mary & Martha’s Florist & Gifts proprietor David Goodman, purchasing more commercial space in Arkadelphia. The Goodmans have done wonders to the old garage where the florist shop now operates, and we applaud the facelift to the former quilt shop at 8th and Caddo streets.

Our copy editor, Ozzy the Chocolate Chihuahua, failed to catch a typo before our latest Dispatch Desk was published. No one was arrested for pubic intoxication. Ozzy regrets his error, thanks reader Antonio for catching it, and begs your forgiveness:

We were on the phone with our friend and Southern Standard publisher Joe May late last week, discussing how darn slow the news had been. We abruptly ended the conversation to take an incoming call from a reader who tipped us off that Arby’s had just been struck by a vehicle. Our work has been nonstop since.

We learned Friday afternoon that a young lady we wrote about last summer died in an ATV accident in northern Arkansas. When we spoke to her last summer, she was recovering from a snakebite. Our heartfelt condolences to the Vann family.

It’s easy for one to communicate their ideas of what should be done to improve our community, but it sure is difficult to recruit folks to serve alongside their fellow residents in civic clubs that actually roll up their sleeves for the community’s benefit. We can count at least four local organizations who do great things for the community, and they all need active, young members. If you’re interested in being more actively involved or doing something good for the community, then we implore you to consider joining Lions Club, Kiwanis Club, or one of two Rotary Clubs.

The Spouse rarely pays a visit to this website (can’t say we blame her since she listens to us yammer on and on about work), but she learned from a story we shared last week that invasive giant apple snails is now a species of concern among conservationists in Arkansas. Her curiosity was piqued by the image we posted of the critter, the empty shell of which we’re fairly certain we collected (and thoroughly cleaned) while vacationing in Florida last fall.

News is news. Although we don’t like reporting sadness and tragedy, it is part of the job.

Joel Phelps is publisher and editor of arkadelphian.com. Opinions expressed in this column are his own. Contact him at editor@arkadelphian.com. The hook brings you back. Doesn’t sound as good on paper, does it?