Friday funday

The lighter side of local government.

It's been so hot and humid lately in London, I practically feel like I'm back in the South. So this weeks Friday Funday pieces come from my home state of Tennessee and hot and sticky Mississippi.

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Although many in Britain don't really know where it is, a lot of people think it's in the Deep South. Nope. And it's not in the Mid West either. It's in a place that we Tennesseans call the MidSouth. But wherever you think it is, it's foresquare in the middle of the Bible Belt.

Take our attitude to alcohol. You can't drink it 'til you're 21 and after that you should keep it quiet. And state legislators are serious about keeping booze out of the hands of youngsters - they've passed a law that requires anyone, and I mean anyone to show ID. Head full of gray hair, walking with a cane and saying things like "Why I remember when you could by a six pack for a dollar and a quarter," won't cut it. You've got to show ID.

I think it's a silly law, but not only that it takes some of the fun out of visiting home. When I have been carded (asked for ID), I'm flattered - it means I look under 30, the usual visual guideline. I usually respond with "Aren't you sweet?" Now I know they say that to all the girls.

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Insurance is a gamble. But down in Biloxi, they played the game and came up lucky. Well, not lucky exactly...

If you remember, Hurrican Katrina famously wiped out much of New Orleans, but it actually hit the Gulf coast of Mississippi and Alabama even harder. The town of Biloxi receives much of its local revenue through levies on gambling and casino income to the tune of around $20 million dollars a year. When Katrina tore up the casinos (literally) it also tore through a big portion of the city council's revenue budget.

Fortunately, Biloxi's mayor had just bought a "business interuption policy" in June, covering $10 million in casino revenues for the bargain price of $92,000 - that they cashed in, in August.

(Story tips thanks to Governing's blog: the 13th Floor)

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