Court Backs Police Search Method: Laxatives

Here, at last, seemed to be proof.

But the folks at Fort Sill aren't buying it: Geronimo's grave wasn't marked until sometime after the alleged theft, they say, so if the Bonesmen did rob a grave, it was probably somebody else's.

"There has never, ever been any indication that the grave has been desecrated," fort spokeswoman Nancy Elliott said.

-- David A. Fahrenthold

Big Winner on Election Day May Be a Voter

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What is one vote worth? Maybe a million bucks.

Supporters of an Arizona initiative that would award $1 million to one randomly selected voter after each state election filed to get the measure on the November ballot. If a majority of voters approve the initiative, it would go into effect retroactively, with the first winner drawn from the election that created the award.

The goal is increased voter turnout, said Mark Osterloh, a Tucson lawyer, ophthalmologist and former gubernatorial candidate who said he spent more than $200,000 supporting the initiative. "If we want true representative government and true democracy, we have to have everybody voting," he said.

The measure is likely to pass because there's no cost to taxpayers, said Kelly M. McDonald, an assistant professor of political communications at Arizona State University. Prize money would come from unclaimed lottery winnings, and the lottery commission would conduct drawings.

While McDonald supports Osterloh's goal of increasing political involvement, he doesn't agree with this method. "When we reduce voting to treat it like a game of chance or a lottery, we further diminish the expectations of an engaged and informed electoral process," McDonald said.

Osterloh, though, has heard these concerns before. "I just want to get [voters] to the polls, and everybody else can educate them."