Red (state) Scare: Just a Good Ol' Girl Boy, Never Meanin' No Harm

We have not seen Leslie around downtown in a couple of weeks. He will often disappear from time to time, but not one sighting in two weeks? That's odd.

Well, not as odd as what he is up to, as it turns out. According to the Statesman's John Kelso, Leslie is on vacation, headed to Colorado. And he's taking quite the circuitous route. Proof: the cross-dressing downtown fixture was arrested two weeks ago in Ottumwa, Iowa. First Willie releases a gay cowboy song, now this. The Heartland is probably suffering Cheney-esque chest pains. We love it.

Apparently Leslie was out having a few (dozen) drinks. After a brief conversation with John Q. Law he got in a cab and was allegedly reparing to his hotel when he decided he needed another shot. We feel ya, Les. When he finally did return to the hotel he was greeted by a team of cops who took him to jail on charges of public intoxication. The best part, he was dressed in a Star Trek costume. As he told Kelso, it was cold out, so he had to put the outfit on over his "regular clothes."

Leslie was held for nearly 9 days in the county jail but handled his stay with aplomb. Speaking to Kelso about his conditions in jail, he said, "Man, it was like being in the royal suite by comparison [to Austin's jail]. Instead of those funky, dinky, old dilapidated mattresses, they've got these really nice, cushiony things that have the pillow built into it."

Now there's a glass half-full man for ya.

We hope Leslie gets home safely from his trip to Colorado, where he says he plans to buy horses and carriages for a friend who is starting up a horse ranch down here. Um...ok, Les.

*Photo from Wappello County Sherriff's Office*