We expect there is going to be an announcement soon — hopefully this week — about the Elks Lodge.

No one with the organization last week wanted to let any of the public know anything via the newspaper — phone calls not returned, interviews denied, stuff like that. But there sure are a lot of people with the organization letting the public know stuff via the grapevine. Rumors are rampant.

Wouldn’t it make sense to simply let the public know there is a deal being considered?

Why? Because there is.

The Elks leaders don’t have to let the public know intimate details of the negotiations, of course, but they should at least feed the public’s appetite for facts so to quell rumors. Simply confirm that talks are happening. Goodness knows they have told enough people or else the rumors wouldn’t be so widespread.

The worst kind of secrets are the ones everyone knows bits and pieces of, but there haven’t been words in the paper to clear matters up about what is, what isn’t, what could be and what shall be explained later.

We could share some of what we have heard: dollar amounts, new location, stuff like that. But we don’t want to do that. It could mess up the negotiations.

But sharing the fact that negotiations are happening won’t itself screw up the negotiations.

The Elks Lodge in Albert Lea has the largest membership of Elks chapters in Minnesota and is among the largest in the country. There is going to be a great amount of interest, and Elks leaders should’ve recognized that factor from the start.