It’s About Time Ollie Got a Salute

Ollie North now can be seen along a highway in Iowa. No, the former National Security Council aide whose testimony at the Iran- contra hearings grabbed America’s attention isn’t hanging out in the Hawkeye State these days. But he has inspired an effort to draw attention to the Keokuk County town of Ollie, population 230. Resident Francis Fye replaced the original directional marker along Iowa Highway 78 with two homemade signs that read “Ollie North,” referring to the town that is two miles north of that spot. Fye, whose signs are larger and easier to spot than the original markers, said he is glad the town of Ollie was able to benefit from the hearings. “Ollie usually doesn’t get a whole lot of notice. The hearings turned things around for us. We’ve had calls from all over the place, even from people wanting to know if the town was named after Ollie North himself.”

--Toni Seawright knows exactly why she was chosen Miss Mississippi: “Because I am the best.” And the fact that she is black and the first woman of her race to win the state pageant had nothing to do with it, she said. Nevertheless, Seawright, a 22-year-old graduate of Mississippi University for Women, said at a news conference the day after winning that she hoped her victory would inspire other black women. “I hope I’m seen as a role model,” she said. The crowd of 1,366 at the Vicksburg Municipal Auditorium Saturday night was initially stunned when Seawright was picked by the judges but then stood and enthusiastically applauded. She was the only nonwhite among the 10 finalists. Buddy Dees, secretary of the Miss Mississippi board of trustees, said: “We told the judges we wanted our strongest hand for Atlantic City (site of the Miss America pageant). As far as we’re concerned, they dealt it to us.”

--What you see is not always what you get. At least that’s the case with an ad promoting “The Real Kansas” in the July 13 issue of Business Week. The ad includes hot-air balloons, a freckled-faced Little Leaguer and a Beech airplane, all of which actually can be found in the Midwestern state. But the 60-story skyscraper and an elk featured in the ad are another story. The state’s tallest building is the 22-story Epic Center in Wichita. “It’s kind of a representative indicator that we do have urban areas,” Bill Thompson, acting director of industrial development for the Kansas Department of Commerce, said of the ad. “We couldn’t find a picture of an urban setting in Kansas that satisfied us.” And what about the fact that hunters are more likely to find deer than elk in Kansas? Well, Thompson said, the animal is supposed to be a deer.