• When we checked in on them last Wednesday, Matt “Fiddy” Fidler and Scotty MacDonald of hitch50.com fame were somewhere between Boise, Idaho and Salt Lake City, Utah, which would be their thirty-third state. Since then they have visited Helena, MT, Bismarck, ND, Pierre, SD, St. Paul, MN, Madison, WI, Lansing, MI and Indianapolis, IN, for a total of 40 state capitals in 37 days. They appear to be on track to hit all 50 in 50 days as planned, unless it takes more than three or four days to swim to Hawaii.

An interesting coincidence is that Scotty and Fiddy’s ride from Bismarck to Pierre was the Aune family, Jeff and Lisa and their children, Josh (9) and Karsen (6), who live in the North Dakota capital. Lisa is the former Lisa Neumann from . . . (drum roll) . . . Kipling. The whole family got in on the traditional “jumpshot” (picture of them airborne) in front of the capitol building in Pierre. It can be seen on hitch50.com

• Get well wishes to two of our news correspondents, Theresa Kearns of Windthorst and Doreen Cancade of Kennedy. We miss you, gals!

• We had the rather unnerving experience Monday evening of crossing the new intersection of Highways 1 and 9 north of Whitewood. In the eyes of this fairly experienced driver, it needs work! There didn’t appear to be any indication that what one was about to cross was a divided highway. The distance between the east- and westbound lanes is very short with neither lines nor signs to indicate which lane to use. Once between the two, the “Yield” sign is far from a driver’s line of sight. It is dangerous, as witness what we understand have been a number of accidents in the first few weeks of its use. It must be a nightmare for semitrailer units as well as for anyone following them, particularly any travelling straight through from either the north or the south. It was downright scary! Beware.

• What is it with traffic planners these days? There is yet another set of traffic lights on the stretch where Highway 1 becomes Victoria Avenue in east Regina, as that area sprawls ever nearer to Emerald Park. There must be a half dozen lights to contend with now before even reaching the city bypass south or the ring road north. Bet the semi drivers love that setup, too.

Michael Kearns