Friday, August 12, 2005 - The past week has been full of sweeping changes affecting all of Nassau West. As a result, this weekend will be a "down" weekend, with which the Nassau West National Security Council hopes to put things back together.

Effective last Friday night when Nassau West President Kelly K. Bartram was in Phoenix, it was learned that Xochi Republic President Chris Walsh's love interest (Debbie) has been exiled. Normally this would not be a concern for Nassau West, but she was our Attorney General.

Of course, upon learning of her status with the Xochi Republic, President Bartram immediately relieved her of her duties as Attorney General. This, in turn, created a void in the Nassau West Department of Justice. Currently, the position of Nassau West Attorney General is available to qualified candidates.

This was not the way to start the weekend, which was to get worse. After the overnight stay in Phoenix at the Xochi Republic Capitol, Presidents Bartram and Walsh departed for Huddleston International Airport in Tucson, where they left Walsh's vehicle. The Presidents then left Tucson for a Nassau West Department of Labor delivery to Willcox, AZ.

After completing President Bartram's obligation, the pair headed through the wilderness, and quite a rain storm, to Tombstone for a summit meeting. And a what a meeting it was, that is after traveling at least fifteen miles on a bumpy dirt road to get there.

The two meandered about town, stopping into the local watering holes occasionally to quite literally wash down some trail dust. Well, as time went on, they considered returning to the Nassau West Capitol at Benson, but opted to stay on a bit longer in Tombstone at the Crystal Palace Saloon to see Bartram's favorite band, Train Wreck.

During the evening of music, Bartram spent $50 on raffle tickets to win a 27" TV/DVD/VCR combo unit that was being offered to benefit Train Wreck's lead singer, Sean Trachtman, who will undergo ablation heart surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, AZ, on August 31. We wish him good luck and a speedy recovery.

Once Train Wreck had finished their set the two Presidents, in the company of Nassau West Tombstone Ambassador Carey Granger, departed for Vogan's Alley Bar cross Allen Street. At this point, Bartram realized he just might have had too much to drink. So, he ordered onion rings and a final beer.

He finished the onion rings and passed on the beer, which was donated to Granger. For some reason still unknown to Bartram, he and Walsh went outside Vogan's and talked to a young man, whose name apparently was never learned, sitting outside the bar.

According to Bartram, in a sworn affidavit given to the Nassau West Sheriff's Department after his return to the Capitol, moments after speaking with the youth, who Bartram guessed to be about 16, a man and a woman exited Vogan's and confronted him with great hostility.

"A woman who I did not and still do not know came right up to me and rudely asked me, 'who the hell are you?' I replied, 'I'm the guy that's talking to this kid.' I didn't mean to be a smart-ass, but the man she was standing with I knew from another bar in town and I thought they were kidding at first," stated Bartram.

After having a very brief conversation with the pair, which evidently were the parents of the boy, Bartram was cordially invited by the man to "keep walking," which at first, he did. Bartram said, "I knew he could kick my ass as he's much bigger than myself, and I walked off. Then, I decided it wasn't worth the humiliation and returned to the bar."

"I was basically just telling the kid that he was doing a good job, since he had told me that he doesn't smoke, drink, or do any drugs. I think that's great. The parents, without even asking, decided I was harassing or perhaps trying to proposition their kid, and got angry and rude with me. I did nothing wrong, and I refused the invitation to leave," Bartram added.

I walked back into Vogan's, got an evil look from the man with the invitation, and stopped and talked to Carey, who was unaware of the hostile situation. He told me that the man and I were both drunk, and not to worry about it. I was furious and ordered our departure," Bartram continued.

To make a very long story as short as possible, Bartram and Walsh returned to the Nassau West Capitol. Both have stated on the record that Walsh was the one in control of the vehicle. However, an anonymous source with Nassau West International Airport has attested that Bartram was the pilot of Nassau West One.

Bartram was given, and failed, a field sobriety test by the Nassau West Sheriff's Department. Due to a lack of evidence that put him in control of the vehicle, no arrests were made. Bartram concluded the evening by having two more shots at the Spread Eagle Saloon in the kbartram.com Arena.

Bartram and Walsh traveled to Sierra Vista on Sunday to have Chinese food, and then returned to Tombstone briefly. Bartram conversed with Granger, who said that he had smoothed out the issue with the man from the previous evening. The Presidential Security Service has prohibited President Bartram from patronizing Big Nose Kate's Saloon, which is where the man works as a bouncer.

The Federal Republic of Nassau West is also currently without a Secretary of Defense, as the current occupant of that position, Danny Watkins, has vacated Arizona and returned to his home in Illinois. The Department of Administration was advised regarding Watkins' disappearance on Wednesday by President Bartram. This position, as well as the position of Attorney General, is available to qualified applicants.

In the interim, while replacements are found for these vacancies, President Bartram, who is Commander in Chief of the Nassau West Military Service, will assume the Secretary of Defense obligations. Nassau West Sheriff Kelly Bartram will be acting Attorney General, even though it appears to be a conflict of interest, until a qualified candidate can be located to fill the job.