Name Change for I-69

Is Indiana Congressman John Hostettler really introducing legislation to change the name of Interstate 69 to Interstate 63, because religious groups feel that I-69 is too risque whereas I-63 is more 'moral sounding'? Of course not. But the story has spread pretty far by now. When I first saw the headline linked to on Blogdex, I assumed it was real after glancing at it quickly. I should have known better. After all, the story comes from the Hoosier Gazette, which is becoming well known as a source of news hoaxes. Check out this article at Indystar.com about Josh Whicker, the creator of the Hoosier Gazette. He's already scored three successful hoaxes before this one. There was the one claiming that a five-year study at Indiana University had discovered that new parents often experience a sudden loss in IQ (that fooled MSNBC). There was the one claiming that Purdue University had given a basketball scholarship to the wrong Jason Smith (to a 5'6" Jason Smith computer geek, not 6'6" Jason Smith point guard). And then there was one about a guy who won the lottery two days after his divorce was final. As for the I-69 name change thing, it's already been picked up as real news by the Sierra Times, and reportedly, according to the Courier Press (requires registration), Hostettler's congressional office has been fielding outraged calls about the issue all day from people who don't realize the story was a joke.

Journalism Sex/Romance

Posted on Tue Nov 16, 2004



Comments

The exit I take off I-75 north of Detroit when I'm going home from work is Exit 69. Interestingly, the street name of Exit 69 is Big Beaver Road. To my knowledge, no-one has ever suggested changing it.
Posted by Jon  on  Tue Nov 16, 2004  at  03:06 PM
Change the name? Why mess with perfection?
I just want one of the signs for Exit 69 to Big Beaver Road!
Posted by Big Gary C  on  Tue Nov 16, 2004  at  05:15 PM
You need not register to enter the Courier Press site. There's this great site called bugmenot.com that stores usernames and passwords for thousands of sites. Here's a working username and password for courier press:
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
evansville
Posted by PlantPerson  on  Tue Nov 16, 2004  at  06:59 PM
There use to be a Rt #69 in Nrw Jersey. Several years ago it was changed to Rt #31. The reason being people were always stealing the road signs.
Posted by Bill Fielding  on  Tue Nov 16, 2004  at  11:27 PM
I'm not aware of anyone stealing the Exit 69 Big Beaver Rd signs. It's an urban area, and the signs are overhead and hard to reach. There's a little town off I-94 in western Michigan called Climax that I believe has had this problem. Those signs are accessible from ground level.
Posted by Jon  on  Wed Nov 17, 2004  at  12:42 PM
In Florida, private roads have orange signs...there was a road called Harley Davidson Rd on an orange sign, & after 6 replacements, the guy finally named the road after his wife...Marge Owens Rd.
Posted by Maegan  on  Wed Nov 17, 2004  at  01:50 PM
I know where there is sign that says "Filmore ##" and underneth "Beaver ##". I wonder if anyone has every read the disclaimer at the bottom of the Hooiser?
Posted by Wes Rains  on  Wed Nov 17, 2004  at  02:29 PM
I think there ought to be a strip club on Big Beaver Road at exit 69.
Posted by D-Menace  on  Fri Nov 19, 2004  at  11:32 PM
The Hoosier Gazette has collected some of the better response to them...good for a chuckle...
http://www.hoosiergazette.com/News/Nov2004/news004.htm

(Looks like you scooped Snopes, Alex- their information just went up)
Posted by Karen  on  Mon Nov 22, 2004  at  06:04 AM
Huh,

Didn't see this when it first posted... will have to admit though I'm guilty of the whole sign stealing thing. (In my youth of course) Of course, the sign still hangs in the garage. 😊
Posted by Mark-N-Isa  on  Sun Apr 10, 2005  at  01:01 AM
How to reach Climax in Canada...

look in the lower left corner...

It appears as though I'm only aboot two hours from Climax at any given time. Of course, if Climax is always two hours away, I'd wear a lot of women out. 😊
Posted by Rod  on  Sun Apr 10, 2005  at  01:29 AM
I work on Big Beaver right off of Exit 69 Big Beaver Rd... The whole reason I found this conversation is because a friend in Texas wants a picture of the road sign. I was hoping that some other fool has stopped and took one as opposed to me having to do it!
Posted by ???  on  Thu Mar 23, 2006  at  08:17 AM
There isn't a strip club off exit 69 on big beaver road but there is a Hooters.
Posted by cody hecht  on  Sat Jan 05, 2008  at  12:09 PM
There's a town in Austria called "Fucking" and they've had huge issues with sign stealing. The only reason I know that is because our tour group went there last summer just to see it and take pictures in front of one of the signs (yes, we're all college students...)
Posted by Anthony  on  Tue Apr 28, 2009  at  09:48 PM
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