The line is open. Finishing up:
* DAILY DOONESBURY GOING ON HIATUS: This will come as unhappy news to many. The daily Doonesbury comic strip (you can find it buried in the D-G classified pages) is going on an open-ended and long-term hiatus Feb. 24. This is so creator Garry Trudeau can devote time to Alpha House, the Amazon-marked TV series about Washington politics starring John Goodman. (Good stuff, I can say, on the first season.) Re-runs of Doonesbury will be offered daily. He'll continue to produce a fresh Sunday strip.
* TOAD SUCK DAZE TO LOSE 'STUCK ON A TRUCK': The annual Toad Suck Daze will no longer include a contest sponsored by a local bank to give a truck to the person who could stand with a hand on the truck the longest. Last year's winner kept a hand on for 93 hours. It's said the event was dropped to provide space for emergency services. I just wonder if anybody had some of the same uneasy feelings I had about this contest. Sort of like those marathon dance contests during the Depression. "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?"
* ADVANCED PLACEMENT SCORES RISE: Arkansas continues to improve on Advanced Placement test scores, the state Education Department announced today. More students are taking the test and more are scoring at 3 or higher, the level at which a student is considered to have mastered a subject at the collegiate level. Here's the Arkansas section of the national report.
* CONDOLEEZZA RICE TO VISIT FAYETTEVILLE: The former secretary of state will appear in the UA distinguished lecture series at 7 p.m. March 5 at Barnhill Arena. Free and open to the public. She'll get $170,000 for expenses and the lecture. That cost might cover an assistant(s).
* FORESTRY COMMISSION PLANE CRASH SITE FOUND: Reports say searchers have found the crash site of a Forestry Commission plane missing since Jan. 31. It was piloted by Jake Harrell, 34, on a routine flight over rugged terrain in Montgomery County. Responders are en route. Forestry Commission statement here. UPDATE: Harrell did not survive.
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