On the road again: Longtime downtown fixture Oregon Willie, the Willie Nelson impersonator, might be moving on because he's offended.
Willie has strummed his guitar while sitting on a bench at the northwest corner of University Avenue and Center Street for years.Last Thursday night, he said, a man in brown uniform with a badge told him his presence in front of Los Hermanos restaurant made downtown look bad. So Willie moved across the street to Tabernacle Park, vowing never to return to the bench.
"There was something said that I was attracting too many people there," Willie said. "Some said they were riffraff off the rails. I can understand their point of view. But I can't understand why I have to leave after five or six years on the bench."
Los Hermanos owners Craig and Lisa Witham said they don't mind Willie and didn't call the cops.
But "when it gets to be a big gang of transients with sleeping bags and water bottles it doesn't look good," Lisa Witham said.
Willie's leaving grudgingly.
"I wasn't bothering a soul there, man. I'd say I'm trying to make Provo a nice town," Willie said. "But if they have the attitude `who cares what old Willie does' then I'll give them what they want. When I get mad, that's it. I pull the plug."
"I've been called the landmark of that corner. All of a sudden they don't give a damn whether I come here or not. I'll go back to St. George; I don't need Provo."
Taking Nu Skin by storm: Nu Skin officers are always tight-lipped about the big-name speaker they invite to their annual convention in Salt Lake City. Last year's guest was Ronald Reagan.
So much for secrets.
Retired Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf will speak to some 4,000 Nu Skin distributors Friday night.
Well-read, well-fed: Delegates to the Republican state convention are being deluged with political propaganda. Delegate Mitch Haws has a 1-foot-high stack of papers, videos and books. He gets a new piece of mail every day. He has been polled seven times.
Richard Eyre's book "Utah in the Year 2000" makes up a sizable portion of Haws' stack. Eyre mailed autographed copies of his book to all 2,500 state delegates.
Besides reading material, candidates are using food as a lure. Delegate Malcolm Nash got four invitations last week for breakfast or lunch.
License plate o' the week: WP. IS EZ - spotted on a vehicle on State Street in Orem.
Speaking of WordPerfect: WordPerfect is charting a new course. Next week the company will unveil its new corporate strategy during press conferences in New York and San Francisco.
East Coast media will board a yacht and sail around New York Harbor. Their West Coast counterparts will tour San Francisco Bay aboard the Empress Hornblower.
Invitations sent to media included a letter printed on a simulated nautical map and a fake compass. WordPerfect, we assume, is guided by more seaworthy instruments.
Like I said: A pair of billboards along I-15 at the 1600 North exit in Orem is drawing chuckles.
One of the side-by-side billboards has a "Mike Stewart for governor" announcement. A small blurb at the top of the sign says "Performance, not promises." The other billboard carries a new ad for David Early Tires. It says "Lasts longer than a politician's promise."
Stewart said the David Early billboard couldn't have been better placed. "I've been making the same point. I say read my record, not my billboard, video or book."
Loose Change appears in the Deseret News on Mondays. To reach Dennis or Brooke, call 374-1162 or send us a fax at 377-5701.