Did you know there is a lake in Arkansas named Peckerwood Lake? I have no idea if it was named for former President Bill Clinton or not, but according to The Courier (your messenger for the Arkansas River Valley) the lake is clear and the catfish are biting yo-yos and just about anything else thrown at them. I'm no fisherman, but aren't yo-yo's a type of Little Debbie cakes?

I love reading local rags. I pick them up just about every chance I get. I lifted this morning's paper from the breakfast room at the Hampton Inn in Russellville, Arkansas, just off I-40 west. Like all the rest of you, I read the online news, but if you don't subscribe to your own local newspaper you are missing some noteworthy tidbits. Such as, did you know that Arkansas Tech is considering a name change for its Golden Sun basketball team and Wonder Boys? Coach Pinton McNabb isn't any too happy about it either. She blamed the math teachers at AT:

"I have a real problem with outsiders making decisions that affect past, present, and future student-athletes," she said. "If you didn't play or you didn't graduate from AT, I have a real problem with you making decisions that directly affect those that do, because it's different. I don't try and go tell a math teacher how to do their job. I have a hard time with those people trying to come in and say 'hey, we don't like this anymore ...'"

Those people, it seems, would be the academic community worried about the image that Golden Suns & Wonder Boys present. Which is kind of confusing for me. It ain't like they are called the Savages. McNabb said, "Students are students at AT, and that's great, but the players are the Wonder Boys and Golden Suns."

Well, that's a load off, given I went to OSU where the mascot is a Beaver. I'm glad to know I'm not being associated with as a oval-shaped creature with a furry butt and buck teeth.

And for you hunters out there, give it up. The tags for the upcoming alligator hunt in September have been issued. If you don't have one by now, you're SOL. Outdoor columnist Joe Mosby warns that alligator hunting isn't as easy as you might figure. All hunting is held at night. The minimum length is four feet, and you must trap them first.

The folks at the Game and Fish commission use a wire snare, looping it over the gator's head, pulling it tight, then working carefully to secure the jaws. I'm glad Mosby noted that it was important to be careful while securing the jaws of a big ass gator. If you get that down without losing any genitals or other important body parts, you can wait till you get the gator on dry land before securing the tail.

Once the gator's been secured, hunters are advised to use a bang stick to finish the job. We ain't talking just any bang stick here. These aren't the kind of bang sticks you and your brothers picked up out of the backyard and used as long-rifles in the trees. Nope. This bang stick is a short gun that employs a 12-gauge shotgun shell. If I ain't mistaken this is what my kinfolks referred to as "Daddy's sawed-off shotgun." Bang stick doesn't sound nearly as messy, does it?

Ahh, lawd. I love Arkansas. There was a neon sign welcoming us to Little Rock last night. It was in front of a church the size of the U.S. Capitol building. It also flashed a message about the camp meeting in progress. I have no idea who was speaking but if I had to guess, from the looks of the parking lot and the cars lining the roadway for 3 miles, I'd say it must've been Jesus. I really wanted to go, just to check it out, but daughter Shelby said we weren't dressed for a camp meeting. I don't know whyever not, given that we were about the sorriest looking we've been the entire two weeks of cross-country travel. I figure it's sorry folks who need the camp meeting message, not the cleaned-up folks.

Speaking of that, Sunday's Courier headlines was about a trial in which a man was acquitted of murdering his 19-year old girlfriend. A teacher at the local high school, who served as one of the jurors, explained why the jury reached the decision despite police evidence that included a bloody palm print that matched the accused.

"It's been reported that God led us, and that's true," the juror said, citing the mutual faith, or "right-mindedness" she shared with other jurors. Besides, she noted, "There were some older people who said he did not act one bit different in the afternoon than he did everyday of his life. I just don't believe those people would've lied. For example, his grandmother. She seemed like a very Christian lady. I can't believe people who are Christians will lie."

Somebody ought to get that poor woman a copy of Scott Peck's People of the Lie.

See what happens when you don't read the news? You end up believing everything you hear, and trusting anybody. That might help explain our current political woes better than anything else.

Kind of makes you itch to take a few people gator hunting at Peckerwood Lake, don't it?