We're Adding In A 15% Gratuity, Too

Nevada is billing Steve Fossett's widow for the costs involved with searching for the multimillionaire adventurer -- still missing and now legally dead. The tab comes to $687,000, which isn't much considering Fossett left behind an eight-figure estate.

From the AP:

"We do not charge the rich or the poor," [Nevada Emergency Management Director Frank] Siracusa said. "There is no precedent where government will go after people for costs just because they have money to pay for it. You get lost, and we look for you. It is a service your taxpayer dollars pay for."

But Siracusa added that the final decision on whether Peggy Fossett would be billed rested with the governor, who since January has cut state spending to deal with a budget shortfall projected to top $900 million by mid-2009.

Sounds like somebody needs to increase the state's rake at the casinos. And remember, dearest readers, Nevada has no state income tax. So go blow some more money at the roulette wheel. Maybe Leroy's Sports Book is taking action on whether Fossett will be found alive. I put the odds at 200-1.