Oops! Etched in indelible Georgia granite in front of Atlanta`s Chamber of Commerce is a world-class typo. On the city`s recently dedicated Atlanta Celebrity Walk is a bronze-and-stone plaque honoring Jimmy Carter, the 36th president of the U.S. Problem is, Carter was the 39th president. ”Somebody made a boo-boo,” admitted project organizer Ralph Vaughn, who says the wording was correct originally but was changed after the chamber double-checked with the nearby Carter Presidential Center. ”We called the Carter library to verify and found one person who said emphatically that Carter was the 36th president.” But the Carter center isn`t taking the rap. ”Carved in stone on our wall is, `Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the United States,` ” said library director Don Schewe. ”The only people who answer questions here are the archives staff, most of whom have PhDs-and can count to 40.” By the way, Lyndon Johnson was the nation`s 36th president.
RIDING HIGH IN N. DAKOTA On another political front, Mischelle Christensen is being seen in a lot of places that might be considered a bit unseemly for an employee of a U.S. senator. But her boss doesn`t mind at all. The 25-year-old aide to Sen. Quentin Burdick (D-N.D.) is a poster girl for Roughrider beer, which is brewed in Burdick`s state. Christensen, who works in the 82-year-old senator`s Fargo, N.D., office, was named ”Miss Roughrider” early this year. She won $2,000, jewelry and a ski trip from the contest, which was held in a bar called Old Broadway, said a spokesman at Dakota Brewing Co., makers of the beer. She contracted to do a poster for Roughrider Light. An early release of the Miss Roughrider poster already hangs on the wall of Burdick`s office. ”Anything I can do for my state, I will,” Christensen says.
GATLIN BROTHERS TO QUIT The Gatlin Brothers, citing health problems, rising business costs and
”new hat” country performers, will break up when their tour ends next year. ”I want us to go out with some style, with some dignity, with some class,” Larry Gatlin said. ”So, for the time being, adios, no hard feelings.” Gatlin and his brothers, Steve and Rudy, haven`t had a major hit record in four years and face a music scene dominated by newcomers like Clint Black and Garth Brooks. ”We`re kind of old hats, and the new hats are happening,” said Gatlin, the group`s lead singer and songwriter, to The Tennessean in a story published Sunday.
A REALLY BIG, BIG BURRITO The place and time seemed to be right. So Hector Placencia made his grab for glory. During a hectic hour Saturday, six employees of the La Perla restaurant in Phoenix put together Placencia`s brainstorm-the world`s largest burrito. It took 900 tortillas, 200 pounds of ground beef, 75 pounds of cheese, 60 pounds of lettuce and 66 pounds of potatoes, carrots and onions to make a burrito that came out an inch shy of 432 feet. ”I thought, here we are in the Southwest, with many residents of Hispanic origin, so this really fits the community,” Placencia said of the attempt to get into the Guinness Book of Records. ”I`m going to eat it,” said 10-year-old Kevin Coupe. ”It`ll take a week to eat it. That`s one huge burrito, man.”
PROTEST IN VENICE Hundreds of gondoliers and other Venetian boatmen took to the Grand Canal on Sunday to protest a plan for sharply increased taxes on boats, which are the lifeblood of Venice. Last month, Italy`s Cabinet endorsed a package of so- called luxury taxes, either imposing or raising taxes on items ranging from portable telephones to shoes to four-wheel-drive vehicles to boats. The aim is to increase revenue, chipping away at an Italian budget deficit projected to soar to above $110 billion this year. The decree, which Parliament has yet to enact into law, would provide for an increase in annual taxes on boats to $6.25 from 30 cents per quarter-inch of boat length. The Venetian protesters want the tax to apply to the value of the boat, not its length.