Tonight I’m waiting for the results of a special election in Lyon County, Iowa, to see if developers can proceed with a $90 million casino and resort project.

The polls closed about two minutes ago, but I still have no idea if people will support it or not. It’s the classic battle between those who claim gambling will cause crime and other moral ills to burden the community and those who are willing to overlook that to get jobs and economic development.

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Politicians have been slinging mud back and forth about the “troopergate” scandal of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, but very few have actually said what the scandal is about.

The issue is whether or not Palin attempted to influence Alaska state officials to get her former brother-in-law dismissed from his job as with the Alaska State Patrol.

I haven’t been paying attention too closely to the broadcast reports (I find it annoying how they attach “gate” to everything), because it sounded pretty boring.

Wrong. It involves booze, a cop allegedly zapping his ex-wife’s kid with a Taser and an illegal moose hunt.

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It seems as though a group of Sioux City adults are back in high school.

Since coming to this town, I’ve noticed that we can’t write any story about a high school student without somebody posting a whiny comment on our web site (See examples A, B and C). Why are you only picking on this school, they complain, when the kids at the other schools are doing the same things.

Some posters seem to be especially sensitive, believing the newspaper has hidden high school agendas when choosing what crimes to write about.

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Police officers receive some of the weirdest calls you can imagine.

About 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sioux City police were called to 3540 DuPont St., for a verbal disturbance. No big deal, right?

According to police, the reason for the call was for a “verbal disturbance over a toilet being clogged.”

What was so bad about this situation that it caused an argument that was heated enough for someone to call authorities? I won’t speculate, but this kind of call practically begs for more investigation.

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This Associated Press story isn’t exactly about crime, but it is kind of funny. 

Duck Stamp error sends callers to sex line

By FREDERIC J. FROMMER, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — People calling a federal phone number to order duck stamps are instead greeted by a phone-sex line, due to a printing error the government says would be too expensive to correct.

The carrier card for the duck stamp transposes two numbers, so instead of listing 1-800-782-6724, it lists 1-800-872-6724. The first number spells out 1-800-STAMP24, while the second number spells out 1-800-TRAMP24.

People calling that second number are welcomed by “Intimate Connections” and enticed by a husky female voice to “talk only to the girls that turn you on,” for $1.99 a minute.

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