Fluffy, Spot To Help Tyson's Bottom Line

Nightbird Books on the Move

by Daddy Warbucks

Looks like Tyson Foods is going to start feeding more members of the family now. Let’s hear a healthy “meow” and “arf” from the pets at home.
To bolster its bottom line and cash in on some of the $17 billion, yes Billion with a B, pet food market, Tyson is going to enter the fresh and refrigerated pet foods market.
Can you feel the stock price rising? Let’s hope so. Daddy hears a former member of the Tyson team, out of retirement mothballs, Leland Tollett is pushing for the move.
Fresh pet foods can run from the fairly reasonable to the pricey. From low end at about $2 a pound ranging up to about $15 a pound for those finicky pets and pet lovers who want the best. Have you looked at pet food lately to see what you’re paying per pound? It’s interesting. Lots of pet lovers want Fido and Fluffy to have the best and Tyson is betting on that. Bon appetit.

Big Question
What percentage of American women say they still have romantic feelings for an “ex” they let get away?

On The Move
Fayetteville’s independent bookstore, Nightbird Books is headed to Dickson Street. A good move. The shop will be in the old Ozark Mountain Smokehouse location and there will be a new little gourmet restaurant sharing the space. Nightbird will be closed at its south Fayetteville location Sunday, Monday and Tuesday and will open its doors on Dickson Street on April 1. Since April is poetry month, if you recite a poem at checkout, you’ll get 5 percent off your purchase. No fooling.

A Penny Gone
The Arkansas Legislature has delivered on Gov. Mike Beebe’s promise to cut a penny off the state sales tax on groceries. Did you notice it on your recent grocery bill? Why, of course not, it hasn’t happened yet. But did you notice the cut last year? Well, smoke and mirrors is an old political trick.

Wal-Mart Bonus
The story about Wal-Mart’s bonuses is an old story each year. Just before tax day the big shots at Wal-Mart get bonuses. Don’t believe the company line that the average bonus for the average Wal-Mart worker was an average of $161. Ask any greeter, sacker, produce boy or floor sweeper if they got an extra 20 bucks and they’ll tell you. But ask the fat cart in the home office, well that’s personal.

Wine Permit
Evan James McDonald is asking for an on-premise wine permit for the Pecan Tree Dining Club/Big Smoke and Barrel Tavern down at 324 W. Dickson St. Check it out.

Give A Buck
Or more like $1.89 from every man, woman and child in Arkansas to help Arkansas dairy farmers keep pulling on udders. That’s what the legislature did with the Dairy Preservation Act this week. And just in time. Only 140 active dairy farms survive from a last reporting of 2,000 back in 1985. We might have to start drinking, can I say it, Texas milk. Yuck.

Open House
The new University of Arkansas for Medical Science’s NWA Satellite Campus is set to open in July. Six medical students will begin classes that day. The school eventually will serve third- and fourth-year medical students, third-year pharmacy students and masters’ level programs in nursing and allied health. A large contingent of elected officials will be on hand for the opening, but the question is will some like state Sen. Bill Pritchard, R-Elkins, who voted against the tobacco tax be there? Probably so, says Daddy W. Sen. Pritchard is one of those who thinks the public forgets a vote faster than he does.

Big Answer
A whopping 37 percent of American women say they still have romantic feelings for an “ex.”