NWA EDITORIAL | Thursday’s thumbs: After the motorcycles depart, businesses say rally experience was good overall

It’s Thursday and another chance to fire off a few up or down thumbs about some news developments in our neck of the woods and elsewhere:

[THUMBS UP] Well, the ol’ calendar on the wall (or on the phone) says it’s fall, but we’re not sure we believed it until this week. The trees and the Major League Baseball schedule certainly suggested it, but the temperatures in the mornings the last few days made us feel it in our bones. Everyone has their favorite season and Arkansas doesn’t disappoint in helping everyone to experience the one(s) they love.

[THUMBS UP] It’s great to hear from some of the businesses in Rogers that the Bikes, Blues and BBQ motorcycle rally was largely viewed as a successful event. It was the first time that Rogers served as headquarters for the rally. The rally originated in Fayetteville and was based there year after year, until changes in the downtown Fayetteville landscape necessitated a move. No doubt the rally will come roaring back in 2023, having learned a few lessons about how to put on a successful event in the new location. Business owners will also build on the lessons learned in 2022 so that they can maximize the local benefit of hosting all those thousands of motorcycle enthusiasts.

[THUMBS DOWN] It was hard to miss all the national news buzz Wednesday about a Massachusetts woman who, facing the service of an eviction notice by sheriff’s deputies, donned her beekeeping suit and shook up a bee hive. The result of the reverse-sting operation was a lot of angry bees swarming the law enforcement officers who were only doing their jobs. Thankfully, no one was seriously injured in the flap. Well, no human beings, anyway. What we didn’t hear was whether the deputies were forced to call in swat team reinforcements, although that would seem to make sense.

[THUMBS UP] Mike Pence was never a favorite of ours as Donald Trump’s VP, but he’s struck a chord in a recent talk in which he declared the Republican “movement cannot be led astray by the siren song of unprincipled populism that’s unmoored from our oldest traditions and most cherished values.” Who is he talking about? He didn’t name names, but it’s not hard to figure it’s a reference to the likes of Marjorie Taylor Greene, Hershel Walker, Lauren Boebert and similar right-wing candidates who lack much substance. It’s a message the party needs to hear, because Republicans deserve better.