Washington, DC, USA. Vermont’s governor unexpectedly gets pie in the eye. Ohio State University, a runner-up in football and basketball, earns a dubious top ranking in something else. And the National Football League raids the Pennsylvania State Police for talent. In case you missed those stories this week, Worth Noting fills you in.

 

Was it at least Boston cream? Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas (R) encountered an unexpected slice of Americana as he marched in Montpelier’s Independence Day parade — a pie between the eyes. Douglas, who is running for re-election in November, was not injured and finished the parade, the Rutland Herald reports. The pie-thrower was charged with assault. It wasn’t the first time a Vermont politician has been creamed on the Fourth of July. In his unsuccessful 2006 campaign for the U.S. Senate, Republican Rich Tarrant was struck with a pie in the same parade.

 

Ohio State University (OSU) failed to reach No. 1 in basketball or football in 2007-08, but the school is tops for something — music piracy. The Record Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) reports Ohio State received 2,336 letters about students illegally downloading music last school year, according to The Columbus Dispatch. Its closest competitor, the University of Central Arkansas, acquired 1,811 reprimands. Rounding out the top five: Michigan State University (MSU) with 1,539 letters; the University of Hartford with 1,467; and the University of Texas at Austin with 1,451.

 

Voters in several Florida towns cast mock ballots for, well, the best mocker of all. More than 800 people tested new optical scan voting machines by selecting their favorite late-night comedian, an effort to increase public confidence after controversial Florida elections in 2000 and 2006, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel writes. The returns pegged NBC’s Jay Leno as King of Late Night TV with more than half the votes. CBS’ David Letterman got 36 percent, and Leno’s designated successor, Conan O’Brien, garnered 10 percent.

 

The National Football League draft is finally finished. The NFL’s latest addition is police Col. Jeffrey B. Miller, leader of the Pennsylvania State Police, who will become the league’s first director of strategic security. Miller, who gained recognition for his handling of the 2006 Amish schoolhouse shooting, is being hired to keep watch over fan behavior and stadium security and to prevent another “Spygate” — the New England Patriots’ signal-stealing scheme last season, The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

 

It’s no secret anymore. Fans of the University of Colorado (CU) and 33 other colleges nationwide can now show team spirit with the help of lingerie giant Victoria’s Secret, The Rocky Mountain News writes. CU, home of the Buffaloes (aka Buffs), will earn at least $10,000 a year under a licensing agreement that allows the school logo on garb from pants to bikini panties. A CU spokesman said the loungewear line appears to be in good taste, nothing “alarming or terribly risqué.”

 

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