Zaharis Elementary's Lemonade Club presented $414 to Academy Award winner, author and musician Jeff Bridges, international spokesperson for Share Our Strength: No Kid Hungry, last week. Principal Mike Oliver shared this story:

A bankruptcy judge has approved the sale of Twinkies to a pair of investment firms.

The experts are giving it little chance of passage, but H.J. Resolution 15 is stirring a lot of talk.

Let's not panic. We all know that Twinkies, Ding Dongs, Wonder bread and the rest of Hostess Brands' oddly everlasting foods aren't going away any time soon, even if the food culture that created them is gasping its last.

A few off-hand thoughts from a man who had too much pumpkin pie …

At the risk of raising ire from fans and lovers of Hostess snacks, I have to confess: I have never been a fan of Twinkies, Ho Hos, Ding Dongs, Zingers or Suzie Q’s. And I would say, outside of eating a package of powdered-sugar doughnuts on rare occasion, I haven’t touched a Twinkie or Hostess cake in more than 30 years. They were just too sweet for me, and I never liked the taste of them.

“The people who call Thanksgiving Day ‘Turkey Day’ must not have anything to be thankful for.”

DETROIT — Twinkie lovers, relax.

The Twinkies shelves are quickly emptying across Arizona after Hostess announced it was going out of business.

Alessia’s Ristorante Italiano (5251 E. Brown Road, Mesa [480] 396-2888). Unassuming from the outside, this authentic Italian gem offers a cozy, romantic setting on the inside, and it recently expanded into the former insurance suite next door to create a new entrance, bar and waiting area. Owners Jonathan and Shari Carr prepare every dish from scratch, making the food the true star here. $$

The news is packed with headlines aghast at the recent report that Americans waste 40 percent of their food. Many are springing into action to connect food banks and shelters with restaurants, or find creative ways to compost or biofuel the leftovers. I’ve also seen reminders to “eat what you purchased.” Consumers are feeling guilty and to blame.

Matthew McConaughey has enjoyed a bit of a reinvention over the past year or so, casting aside eager-to-please roles in forgettable romantic comedies for dark, serious work in films with more shading and complexity to them.

Contradictory messages are flying at us left and right: we're starving, we have a hunger epidemic, we're obese, diets don't work, but lose weight, but we're starving. Plus, we've got doctors afraid to tell patients they're fat, and fat people getting fatter (yes, I used the socially unpopular word).

Contradictory messages are flying at us left and right: we're starving, we have a hunger epidemic, we're obese, diets don't work, but lose weight, but we're starving. Plus, we've got doctors afraid to tell patients they're fat, and fat people getting fatter (yes, I used the socially unpopular word).

The end of the Space Shuttle program last month brought a nostalgic mood to my house. Generations of us were molded by the attainment of the impossible. My grandparents' generation experienced the first airplanes, jet travel, rockets orbiting the earth, humans walking on the moon, and landing a reusable spacecraft like an airplane. It seemed that as humans dreamed it, we did it.

The end of the Space Shuttle program last month brought a nostalgic mood to my house. Generations of us were molded by the attainment of the impossible. My grandparents' generation experienced the first airplanes, jet travel, rockets orbiting the earth, humans walking on the moon, and landing a reusable spacecraft like an airplane. It seemed that as humans dreamed it, we did it.

Danny Tyree

Shannon Sorrels