Hutchinson, Kansas: Kansas Underground Salt Museum

Developers of the Kansas Underground Salt Museum will not let a lack of a visitor's center, parking lot, or bathrooms delay its grand opening this July [Update: Actually, the museum will not open until late 2006 is the latest word]. The Hutchinson, Kansas, attraction will get by with a temporary structure and porta-potties until enough attendance money comes in to complete its above-ground facilities.

One of the many pet projects slipped into the federal budget -- the one that will reportedly sink the nation into umpteen billion dollars' worth of red ink -- is $283.5 thousand for the opening of the Western Hemisphere's first salt mine museum in Hutchinson, KS. This, however, is a worthy expenditure, as we need to show the Old Hemisphere that they can't push us around, and neither the SALT I nor SALT II treaties forbid such activity.