Live from New York, uh, Jersey!

Live from New York, it’s … not really New York. Some New Jersey citizens have had it with major events that are held in their state but billed as being in New York, such as last weekend’s Live Earth concert focusing on global warming. One New Jersey lawmaker told the Associated Press he is exploring how to ensure that events at the Meadowlands Sports Complex – site of the Live Earth concert – be billed as being in New Jersey. Adding insult to injury: last week New Jersey enacted the country’s toughest law limiting greenhouse gas emissions. 

Now hitting the North Carolina airwaves is the catchy bubblegum-rock tune, ” Cherry Berry ,” dedicated to state Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry, whose picture graces inspection certificates in all the state’s elevators, The News and Observer reported. Ostensibly performed by “Tha Commissioners” (motto: “Rocking with the Dignity of Labor”), the singer croons lyrics such as “See the girl in the elevator / it’s Cherry Berry, oh, Cherry Berry / She’ll pick you up now and she’ll put you down later / Cherry Berry, oh, Cherry Berry.”

Beer-guzzling Homer Simpson is a proud Vermonter. In a contest to see which of 14 Springfields across the country can call itself home of the popular TV cartoon Simpsons family – and win the right to host the world premiere of “The Simpsons Movie” – Springfield, Vt., beat Springfield, Ill., by 700 votes, the Rutland Herald reported. Voting took place July 10 as thousands watched videos submitted by cities vying to be declared the Simpsons’ hometown. Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas (R) congratulated his state’s Springfield and quoted a famous phrase from the show: “To all the other Springfields, I say, ‘Don’t have a cow, man.'”

It was Bob Barker vs. Lassie, and Lassie won. A bill that would have forced California pet owners to spay and neuter their pets had former TV game show host Bob Barker making the rounds at the state Capitol in support of the bill, and canine film star Lassie – or Lassie’s owner, at least – walking the Capitol to rally opposition to the bill, the Los Angeles Times reported. Lassie won, as a barrage of opposition from pet owners and animal breeders helped kill the bill.

Some governors get no respect. When New York’s Eliot Spitzer (D) went to a child care center to read to preschoolers, he told them to call him “Eliot.” One boy refused, saying, “I want to call you, ‘clown,'” and three other children promptly agreed, according to a New York Post dispatch. Meanwhile in Illinois, state Rep. Rosemary Mulligan (R) forgot to cover her House desk microphone when she called Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) a “blithering idiot.” Only one of her staff members was meant to hear the remark, she told the Daily Herald .