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Twinkie lovers may want to stock up on their golden Hostess treats. This time it is not the food police who are threatening the yummy cakes. ABC News says teamsters are making strike threats to Hostess, which is in an operational bankruptcy at the moment. If there is a union strike, production of Twinkies will cease

The maker of snack cakes including Twinkies, Ho Hos, and DingDongs has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. But a company spokesperson has assured that production of the famous cream-filled treat will continue as usual for now.“Throughout the proceeding, we’re going to operate business as normal,� said Hostess spokesman Erik Halvorson, according to CNNMoney. “They’ll keep making Twinkies.�Hostess declared bankruptcy for the first time in 2004, and didn’t emerge until 2009, an unusually long time for the situation. Even more unusual is the second Chapter 11 filing (or “Chapter 22,� in some legal circles) so soon after.Hostess blames unions and...

Hostess Brands Inc. is preparing to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as soon as this week, said people familiar with the matter, a move that would mark the second significant court restructuring for the Twinkie and Wonder Bread baker in the past several years. The privately held Irving, Texas, company, which employs roughly 19,000 people and carries more than $860 million in debt, has been facing a cash squeeze amid high labor costs and rising prices for sugar, flour and other ingredients, according to people familiar with the matter. Those costs together have proved higher than the company's roughly...

A man who admits he killed his own father will see no jail time after a judge found him not guilty by reason of insanity. An expert has said drinking Red Bull was one of the things that led to the crime. Stephen Coffeen admits he smothered his father Robert with a couch cushion two years ago. He originally claimed was he was defending himself. His defense Wednesday was temporary insanity. And Wednesday, Judge Nancy Moate Ley accepted a deal worked out between his lawyers and the State Attorney's Office. Under the deal, in six months, Stephen Coffeen could go...

To ring in 2011, let’s raise a toast in unison to proclaim the most frequently made New Year’s resolution. Then promptly break it. Yes, it’s the season for the annual American vow to lose weight. But first, let’s argue about just how much leverage the government should exert to squeeze us back into our skinny jeans.(snip)Being poor does not have to equate so strongly with obesity. It didn’t used to.

The Trojan Twinkie caper BY DAVE BARRY I'll tell you when I start to worry. I start to worry when ''officials'' tell me not to worry. This is why I am very concerned about the following Associated Press report, which was sent to me by a number of alert readers: 'RICHLAND, WASH. -- Radioactive ants, flies and gnats have been found at the Hanford nuclear complex, bringing to mind those Cold-War-era `B' horror movies in which giant mutant insects are the awful price paid for mankind's entry into the Atomic Age. Officials at the nation's most contaminated nuclear site insist...

CHICAGO - Twinkies, they're not just for dessert anymore. The new "Twinkies Cookbook" has recipes for everything from a Twinkie Burrito to Twinkie Lasagna. Theresa Cogswell compiled about 50 recipes for the book. Many were submitted to Hostess, as part of Twinkies' 75th anniversary celebration last year. Cogswell tells Illinois' Daily Southtown newspaper that one of her favorites is a berry-laden Patriotic Twinkie Pie. It's red, white and blue. Cogswell says it makes a great centerpiece for a Fourth of July picnic, which you can also eat for dessert.

The front page of Saturday's Style section in the Washington Post carried an article on commencement addresses by Don Oldenburg. But the really amazing nugget came about 25 paragraphs in: Most universities settle for small-splash speakers such as state politicians or captains of local industry, but others aggressively enter the celebrity lottery. Generally this means bestowing an honorary degree and covering travel expenses, rather than paying a fee...But some offer big bucks. Katie Couric, the soon-to-be CBS anchor, will receive $110,000 to speak at the University of Oklahoma's commencement -- all paid for from private funds, the university emphasizes. Often,...

BLUE HILL, Maine Aug. 12, 2004 — A Twinkie standing the test of time on the edge of a blackboard may be a retiring science teacher's lasting legacy. Roger Bennatti developed a reputation as an innovative teacher during his 31-year career at George Stevens Academy, using new methods to introduce students to subjects he loved. But the legend of the Twinkie looms over all. Speckled with bits of mold, the bright yellow cake still adorns his lab, but Bennatti only vaguely remembers why he kept the Twinkie so long. "We wanted to see what the shelf life of a Twinkie...

Right-wing pundits play doctor; diagnose Gore as "insane" Responding to former Vice President Al Gore's May 26 speech (sponsored by MoveOn.org and delivered at New York University), in which Gore called for the resignation of six top Bush administration officials, right-wing pundits seemed to read from the same anti-Gore script: resorting to satirical speculation about his psychiatric state -- in one case, attacking the speech itself as "hate speech" and, in another case, as eliciting "the biggest cheers ... from caves in Afghanistan and diehards in Fallujah." Charles Krauthammer, on FOX News Channel's Special Report with Brit Hume, on May...

SFGate.com, the Web site of The San Francisco Chronicle, suspended three staffers for a column that the site's boss said was "grotesquely outside the standards that we have." Robert Cauthorn, vice president of digital media for The Chronicle, suspended writer Mark Morford, news editor Vlae Kershner and features editor Amy Moon for a week for their role in the incident.

"Lammentations of a Dieter" Posted by Doc Farmer < http://www.chronwatch.com/site_search.asp?auth=90 > Saturday, May 24, 2003 I've made no secret of the fact that I'm fat, bald, and ugly. For those who think I'm putting myself down, though, I'm not. There's a difference between that and simple honesty of self. If I can't be honest with myself, how can I be expected to be honest with anybody else? That said, though, I don't like being fat. Bald is okay, mind you (thank God for the Gillette Mach 3) and ugly keeps me from being mistaken for a Hollywood type. But fat...