I hope those greeters are keeping warm

You may recall that we poked a little fun at one side of the campaign here in northern Arizona regarding a big box store referendum, noting their press release was crafted from the "Nanny Nanny Boo Boo" School of headline writing.

The 19 Minutes staff is nothing if not an equal opportunity nitpicker, which is why we were interested to note the fine print on the yard signs distributed by the "No on [Proposition] 100" campaign: "Paid for by Wal-Mart Stores, Bentonville, AK".

[Note for the Postal Abbreviation-impared: That'd be Alaska. Wal-Mart is actually based in Bentonville, Arkansas.

Color me reactionary, but it does make one want to read the rest of the details in their campaign literature more closely.


Meanwhile, the Arizona AP this morning reported the following story:

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) _ A 25-year-old political novice plans to seek the Republican nomination for governor.

Scottsdale resident Teresa Ottesen says she's going to file paperwork this week to make it official for 2006, and will run using public campaign funds.

Ottesen says Arizona is ready for a young G-O-P governor.

A quick Googling of the young Ottesen reveals no campaign website yet. But a self-penned profile appears in the alumni section of the Maricopa Community Colleges website, and includes the following illuminating passage:

I have lived in Arizona all of my life and have been to every city in the state except for one border city down south.

Which, if nothing else, demonstrates a firm grasp of Arizona geography, or at least a knowledge of where the border is.


And finally this afternoon, this information from the crack Duh Squad of the Beaver County (UT) Sheriff's office, via the Utah AP:

MINERSVILLE, Utah (AP) _ Burglars knocked out service to 15 hundred telecommunications customers when they cut lines in a utility box before stealing an automated teller machine at a Minersville gas station.

An undisclosed amount of cash was in the teller machine, which was stolen about 2:30 a.m. yesterday.

Beaver County sheriff's Sergeant Cameron Noel said the crime was believed connected to a string of burglaries over the past 18 months.

Obtaining cash is the main objective, and more than 100 thousand dollars has been stolen to date, Noel said.

What would really mess up the investigation is the possibility that the burglars are actually just taking the ATMs to add some ambiance to their basement gameroom, along with the pinball machines and disco balls.