7:15am: It Never Happened, But If It Did It Wasn't True...
CARLSBAD, N.M., April 5 - The New York Times reported today (All Fiction, and All-Clear) that New Mexico Gov. Gary E. Johnson had issued a statement prior to NBC's Wednesday night broadcast of "The West Wing" to reassure residents that the episode, which depicted the crash of a truck carrying uranium fuel rods in an Idaho highway tunnel, was purely fictitious. The statement said the transportation of radioactive material is "well planned between state and federal agencies," and that officials were "trained to deal with any possible problems."
In a sidebar, members of the governor's staff were huddled with FCC advisors late Wednesday to ascertain whether a broadcast involving radioactive materials would have any known side effects when carried over television airwaves. "I don't think so," an FCC spokesman said. "They have separate ratings."
After hearing of the episode, Officials from the Department of Education dispatched three fifth graders to New Mexico with a truckload of Maps of the United States for state officials. When asked if they knew where Idaho was, a governor's spokesman replied "Of course we do, that's the one with the face." Another shipment was being scheduled for the state's public schools.
In a related story, the state of Montana lodged a protest on Thursday morning, complaining about being mistaken for Idaho. "We're the one with the face!" it read.
The Department of State issued this response to the protest: "Well, there is no Idaho, really; there never has been. We don't know how it got on the map. A commission is being formed to look into it."
Posted by cronish at April 06, 2002 07:47 AM