ECONOMICS 101

The bad news is that Boulder's Crossroads Mall has been half-empty for months. The good news is that because of its sorry state, the new FlatIron Crossing mall in Broomfield will have only half the impact as originally predicted on the shopping center. ...

HIKERS BEWARE

A note for you hikers out there who love roaming about Boulder open space trails: We're told many of you fear running into mountain lions on your treks, but that should be among the least of your worries, says the mountain lion foundation. In the last 100 years in the nation, 13 people have died from mountain lion attacks. During the same period, 4,000 were killed by bees, 10,000 by deer and 1,300 by rattlesnakes. ...

HERE AND THERE

Seven out of nine Boulder residents, participating in a focus group conducted by the city of Boulder, say they buy groceries from Costco and Sam's Club in Superior and Louisville. Does this suggest that Boulder missed the boat by snubbing the big-box monsters, which are also huge sales-tax generators? ... Boulder City Councilman Gordon Riggle has asked the city to examine how serious a problem uninsured drivers are creating in town. Recently, Riggle was stopped at a traffic light on South Boulder Road at McCaslin when a motorist rear-ended him, causing $2,000 in damage. The driver was not insured, declared bankruptcy and left Riggle holding the bag. That caused Riggle to wonder how Boulder drivers are faring. ... Louisville's Judy McKeever tells of a panhandler who walked up to a woman and said, "Lady, I haven't eaten for four days." To which she replied, "My, I wish I had your willpower." ... The school board had an amiable, substantive, two-day retreat with new superintendent George Garcia . One thing the board made loud and clear is: "You, George, run the district — puh-leeze. Let us get back to setting policy." ... Clerks at the downtown Boulder post office take pride in their speed. They have posted a sign which promises that customers will wait in line no longer than five minutes. Louisville residents tell us they wish that kind of spirit would catch on at their city's new post office. They claim you can almost read a whole novel while waiting in line. ... We were struck by Billy Langfeldt's letter to the editor in which he said he and his wife, Lucille , have attended 50 of the last 51 Fourth of July fireworks shows at Folsom Field. How did they happen to miss the one they did? "Oh," explains Langfeldt, "we went to my high school reunion in La Junta." ... Boulder High grad Richard Rosner got the home folks excited Sunday night by doing well on the TV show "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" However, our guy ran into rough sledding Tuesday night, leaving with just $1,000. Rosner is the son of Fred and Ruth Kahn , who years ago owned a clothing store on what is now the Downtown Mall.... Boulder's Ted Manning writes, "My junk mail today contained a solicitation from the National Audubon Society. It was signed by its appropriately named president, John Flicker ." ...

WORST JOKE OF THE WEEK

(From an east county reader) A minister told his congregation: "Next Sunday I am going to preach on the subject of liars. To prepare, I would like each of you to read the 17th chapter of Mark." The following Sunday, the minister asked all who had read the chapter to raise their hand. Nearly every hand went up. "Ah," said the minister, "you are the very people I want to talk to. There is no 17th chapter of Mark." ...

Please send your tidbits, jokes and observations to Talk of the Town, Daily Camera, P.O. Box 591, Boulder, CO 80306. Fax: (303) 449-9358. E-mail: Hartmanb@thedailycamera.com.