There’s a chocolate bar knocking at your door. Jelly beans are whispering your name. Nonpareils are texting you.

Hey, why fight it? Have some candy. It’s all good. You won’t get fat and you won’t get sick. Really. There’s a study that says so.

Here’s the word from a news release about the data:

According to a recent data analysis published in the April 30th issue of Nutrition Journal, adults who consume candy at least every other day are no more likely to be overweight nor have greater risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) than moderate consumers (about once a week) or even less frequent candy eaters (less than 3 times per month). … This study found that frequency of candy consumption was not associated with the risk of obesity.

You could probably guess, but the release is from the National Confectioners Association, which also “supported” the research.

To be fair, the association isn’t arguing that you can just load up on Hershey bars, Tootsie Rolls and Gummi Bears with no consequences (though this is where I think of Matthew McConaughey saying, “It’d be a lot cooler if they did”). The NCA suggests “moderation.”

“There is a place for little pleasures, such as candy, in life. A little treat in moderation can have a positive impact on mood and satisfaction, and as emerging research suggests, minimal impact on diet and health risk,” said Laura Shumow, director of Scientific and Regulatory Affairs for the National Confectioners Association.

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Just before the official opening of beach season on Memorial Day weekend, two popular Delaware beach motels in bankruptcy were recently sold for $3.8 million.

SeaEsta III and SeaEsta IV in Dewey Beach and Rehoboth Beach, respectively, sold to Forgotten Mile LLC of Newport, Del., officials at at auction Sperry Van Ness – Miller Commercial Real Estate in Salisbury said Friday.

The motels, owned by Ocean Breeze LLC, had filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in January 2012. Since then, the motels had operated under the management of Salisbury-based Marshall Hotels and Resorts Co.

SeaEsta III is located on U.S. Route 1 in Dewey Beach and SeaEsta IV is located just south of Rehoboth Beach.

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The historic Senator Theatre in North Baltimore is set to reopen in expanded and upgraded digs in July, owner James “Buzz” Cusack said this week.

The 74-year-old movie house has been undergoing a gut rehab for the past several months under the direction of Cusack and his daughter, Kathleen Lyon.

When it opens, patrons will be able to see the changes steps past the ticket booth: The entrance space and its rotunda will hold a custom-made Art Deco-style chandelier, and the main theatre will boast a new custom-made concession stand, stadium seating and upgraded bathrooms. Additions include three smaller theatres inside the complex and a 75-seat wine bar facing York Road.

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It’s always interesting when a package addressed to a reporter shows up in the newsroom’s mail drop-off. The boxes are usually sent from public relations departments and include all manner of tchotchkes and curios somehow related to a news announcement but designed to pique our interest.

Past treasures have included flower-printed muumuus, sponge hair curlers and unidentifiable edible treats.

On Wednesday, I received a shopping cart.

Not a full-blown, play-bumper-carts-with-your-colleagues-size shopping cart, but one that would be just right for, say, an American Girl doll. (I put a box of tissues next to it in the picture to give you a frame of reference for its size.)

Graciously sent by the folks at Food Lion, a North Carolina-based grocer with supermarkets in 10 states, the mini yet fully functional cart symbolizes the changes being unveiled at the company’s 178 mid-Atlantic stores, which includes a broader selection of fresh produce, lower prices on 6,000 items, more store-brand products and — you guessed it — new shopping carts.

Was sending the cart a bit tacky? Yes. Gimmicky? Absolutely, but it got me to read the accompanying press release and now you’re thinking about Food Lion.

The poor rattling thing must have been tired from its long, bumpy ride —no bubble wrap! — but it’s been the center of attention all day. It’s carried messages from cubicle to cubicle. It’s been picked, prodded and marveled at. It almost took a tumble down the stairs.

But beyond the novelty factor, what could this noisy, steel contraption possibly be worth?

THAT’S WHERE YOU COME IN!

I am officially putting out a Request for Proposals. In the comment section, post your ideas for other possible uses for the cart.

(The creative juices are already flowing in The Daily Record newsroom. Editor Barbara Grzincic suggested turning it into a movable planter box that could be rolled to the perfect sunny spot spot throughout the day. Reporter Melody Simmons suggested using the cart as a fruit bowl on the counter — tres industrial chic!)

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What would Earl Weaver think of this?

A former Hagerstown resident, Jerry Spessard, has invented the Eagle Eye Electronic Home Plate for baseball. It takes the human umpiring element out of calling balls and strikes via an electro-optical system that will track each pitch.

Spessard, who relied on technical expertise from the University of Maryland and elsewhere, plans to begin manufacturing Eagle Eye at a plant in Hancock by the fall, The Herald-Mail of Hagerstown reports. Some units will be used by amateur teams this summer.

How exactly does it work?

“Coca-Cola has its secret formula and we have ours,” Spessard told the newspaper.

If there is one part of Eagle Eye that is a bit clunky for the moment, it’s the requirement to measure the strike zone — from chest to knees — for each batter and input the information before a game. Spessard speculated that computer chips in uniforms could someday provide the same data for batters.

The unit has been tested by University of Maryland baseball players, so Eagle Eye’s plate has shown itself capable of holding up when stomped on, slid across or surrounded by wet ground.

Which also means that when a manager — like Weaver, the late Orioles skipper — doesn’t agree with Eagle Eye’s calls, the plate can stand up to having dirt kicked all over it.

But, just think, we wouldn’t get to see an umpire emote like Leslie Nielsen in a “Naked Gun” movie.

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AT&T has been producing a delightful series of “It’s not complicated” commercials with a suit-and-tie-clad moderator presiding over groups of wonderfully uninhibited kids answering questions about doing two things at once or whether faster is better than slow or bigger is better than small.

The moderator’s name is Beck Bennett, and he tells E! News that those spots are just kids being kids. The commercials have scripts, but they almost never use them.

“It’s pretty much all improvised,” Bennett said. “They start with the basic questions … and each one of those principles has one or two scripts, just in case, because you want to have a safety in case these kids don’t say something fun or interesting. But they always do.”

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Construction along Boston Street of the new Canton Crossing development is progressing at a fast pace, with workers molding a new Target, Harris Teeter, Michaels, Old Navy and other stores there that should begin opening in October.

And Chesapeake Real Estate Group’s Neil Tucker said this week that another tenant has been signed: DSW Shoe Warehouse.

The 19,500-square-foot facility on the waterfront will be the first location in Baltimore for the mega store that sells shoes, boots, handbags and accessories.

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A few weeks ago in this space, there was speculation T. Rowe Price could be leaving its Pratt Street headquarters.

But should the company leave its current home, it won’t be going too far: Chairman Brian Rogers said Wednesday night the company would stay in downtown Baltimore, our friends at the Baltimore Business Journal reported.

While Rogers didn’t explicitly say the company would stay at its current location, he noted “its clients and employees enjoy the vibrant downtown culture and that its employees sit on almost every charitable and nonprofit board in the city,” according to the BBJ.

Rogers made his remarks during the Greater Baltimore Committee’s annual meeting.

(Photo: Columbia Property Trust)

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It’s yellow. It’s six stories high. It’s occupying a harbor. And it makes everyone smile.

A huge rubber duck, a creation of Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, is floating in Hong Kong’s harbor these days, having been showing up around the world since 2007. The duck, made of PVC material by a company that builds sails, has also visited Australia, Brazil, Japan and New Zealand.

You know what we’re thinking, right? That duck needs to come to Baltimore. Put it smack dab in the middle of the Inner Harbor.

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Cushman & Wakefield this week said it had recently sold a property at 7600 Assateague Drive, in the Maryland Wholesale Food Center in Jessup.

The 775,000-square-foot, 60-acre property, formerly owned by Giant Food of Landover, was bought by a joint venture consisting of New York Life representing unnamed institutional investors, and Mosaic Realty Partners. The facility is near Interstate 95.

Cris Abramson, Brian Kruger, Nick Signor, Michael Elardo, Jared Ross and Michael Kimmel of Cushman & Wakefield helped to broker the deal. The sale price was not disclosed.

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