On the bench again: Oregon Willie is back on the bench at the northwest corner of University Avenue and Center Street.
Willie, a Willie Nelson look-alike, grudgingly left the bench two weeks ago because he believed Los Hermanos restaurant called the cops to run him out. He vowed never to return to the spot. Willie has been playing his guitar and singing on the corner for at least the past five years.Two weeks ago, a man in a brown uniform with a badge told Willie he was detracting from the looks of downtown. A small crowd of transients often gather around Willie to talk and sing.
Restaurant owners Craig and Lisa Witham said they didn't call the police.
Willie said he now believes them. "That's why I'm back. I've had to eat my words. Tell them I apologize," he said.
He also has a new sign on the bench reading "Willie and the boys." Beneath that it reads, "Good old country music."
Sounds like ol' Willie's back in the saddle again.
Hands-on treatment: Doug Nordin and his 14 employees can't keep their hands off workers at Nu Skin and Western WATS. Nordin, owner of Tension Relief Center, has contracts with the two companies to provide on-site massages for their employees once a week.
Nordin said as far as he knows, his is the only such business in the area. In 31/2 years, it has grown from one person doing four hours of massages a week, to 15 spending 100 hours rubbing 800 necks and shoulders at Nu Skin alone.
Nordin, who trained at the National Holistic Institute in Oakland, Calif., said massages reduce companies' health-related costs and boost employee morale.
How would it be to have a massage therapist rub your back while you sat at your desk? "Everybody loves it," said a Nu Skin employee.
No doubt.
Scanner chatter: Overheard on the police airwaves: One officer telling another last Tuesday's shooting of a Utah Highway Patrol trooper near North Salt Lake was all a set-up. (The trooper shot himself in the hand on I-215 to apparently win back the affections of his girlfriend.) "It must be tough working for the Highway Patrol," replied the second officer.
Kindergarten or cops: Provo School Board members this month moved their bond election from November to September to avoid competing with the Utah County Jail bond election.
"If I had a choice for a jail or a school, I know which one I'd vote for," board member Ken Clark said.
That prompted a woman in the audience to say, "Depends on how recently you've been robbed."
Like father, like son: Dick and Rick Hoyt, a father-son cycling team, passed through Provo last Thursday en route to Boston from San Francisco. The trek is unusual because Rick, the son, has cerebral palsy. He rides on a seat attached to the front of his father's bicycle. The pair plan to traverse the country in 45 days to raise money for and call attention to disabled people.
The Hoyts, of Westfield, Mass., don't confine their athletic activities to cycling. Dick has pushed his son through more than 40 marathons and triathlons.
Their athletic career began after their first race in 1978 when Rick typed out on his computer, "Dad, when I'm out running, I feel like I'm not even handicapped."
License plate o' the week: LUNY 2NS - Spotted on a green Ford Explorer on I-15.
("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.)