However, the KKK asked a little favour in return. Like other groups in the scheme, it had the right to erect signs on its chosen road, acknowledging the sponsorship. Thus it was that Marylanders driving down Gambrills Road, just outside Baltimore, would have been greeted by road signs announcing the Adopt-A-Road participation of the Invincible Empire Realm of Maryland.

Even though there are only thought to be 12 Klansmen in the county, their move put the local authorities in a legal quagmire. When Anne Arundel chief executive Janet Owens said she would not let the KKK adopt a road, the group adopted the help of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). The union said it would sue the county on the Klan's behalf if it did not relent.

The union knew the county was on shaky legal ground. As absurd as it might sound, other Klan chapters have fought similar battles in other states, emboldened by a 1992 Arkansas federal court ruling that the KKK could not be barred from taking part in a road clean-up programme.

People power has, however, won battles which local governments cannot. A county in Florida allowed the Klan to adopt a road, only to find that people driving down it would throw extra litter in protest, as well as tearing down the signs announcing the KKK's sponsorship.

Realising she could not bar the KKK, Ms Owens decided to throw the baby out with the bathwater: she abolished the entire scheme.

'Our chances of winning in court were slim,' she said. 'It would have been grandstanding and a waste of taxpayers' money to go to court.' County workers have been out tearing down the signs of the 26 schemes in operation, and it could cost local taxpayers US$20,000 (HK$154,800) a year to have the authorities clean the roads instead.

Although local residents seemed to support the county's decision, the ACLU predicted it would have the effect of handing the Klan the power to close down other programmes.

Ms Owens' decision was 'childish and immature', the local KKK imperial wizard, Roger Kelly, said.

'She's judging us by other Klan groups. There's nothing violent about us. We're a community group that does helping things: cutting firewood, mowing lawns, taking up collections for sick people, that sort of thing.' Hold on a minute: didn't he forget to mention lynching? The anti-smoking bandwagon continues to trundle along into uncharted territory. A Utah couple have filed what is thought to be the first lawsuit in the US attempting to stop a neighbour from lighting up in his own home.

The lawsuit claims that the smoke of a male resident in an apartment below the plaintiffs keeps drifting up into their home, causing them health problems. He offered to reduce the problem by only smoking on the balcony, but to no avail.

The couple have also sued the condo association, which has responded by trying to evict the guilty smoker.

The suit has been brought under a 1996 Utah law which includes unwanted cigarette smoke under the definition of a public nuisance, but which has never before been tested.

But legal experts say the couple may have trouble persuading a court that the defendant is liable for damages for carrying out a legal activity in the privacy of his own home. Even the American Cancer Society, which generally supports anti-tobacco lawsuits, agrees the action is on shaky legal ground.

As Sonny Bono and Michael Kennedy - he of the famous clan - found out to their cost, it is never wise to assume one is too experienced a skier to have a tragic accident.

About 33 skiers a year are killed at resorts across the US, most of them men tempting fate by going too fast.

For most average skiers, statistics suggest that one is far more likely to be hurt driving to a ski resort than on the actual slopes. But that is little consolation to the elite resorts of Colorado, which have endured their worst winter on record.

Twelve skiers have been killed in the state over the winter season, including five in Breckenridge alone. At a time when two bad winters have seen the sale of lift tickets dropping, resorts cannot afford to have customers driven away by bad publicity.

Some of the resorts, including Breckenridge, have responded by instituting the equivalent of highway patrols. Skiers and snowboarders who fancy themselves as downhill racers are warned by resort staff, who confiscate the passes of repeat offenders.

The scheme has been introduced with the older skier in mind - most notably the wealthy tourists. They spend the most money and buy local property, making them essential to the resorts' long-term survival.