The Carthage (Mo.) Press shot a photo of Robby Love, aka the Roller Rapper, during his Route 66 tour as he skated in front of the historic Jasper County Courthouse this past weekend.

UPDATE: The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has a long, well-done story about Love’s visit to the Gateway City.

The city of Sapulpa, Okla., is marking the 10th anniversary of the trolley museum that sits on a prominent spot along Route 66, reports the Sapulpa Daily Herald.

It’s a 1918-19 electric trolley that moved around Sapulpa a lot and nearly was purchased by the nearby town of Sand Springs. But a local group stepped in and made sure the streetcar would stay in Sapulpa.

It now sits on Park Street and Route 66. According to the story, plans are afoot to move it to a small section of track near Jim Hubbard Memorial Park.

The city of Lincoln, Ill., has filed a public-nuisance complaint against the owner of The Mill, a long-closed restaurant on Route 66 that resembles a windmill, reports the Lincoln Courier.

The Mill originally opened at the Blue Mill in 1929, which had an lighted, revolving windmill. The restaurant closed in 1996, and the building has deteriorated ever since.

It sounds like the city and county have been very patient with owner Dennis Koehler. The public-nuisance complaint doesn’t necessarily mean that the city will order The Mill’s demolition. But if Koehler does nothing, then the city apparently will have little choice because the structure is unsafe and vermin-infested.

Here’s a little more background and a photo of The Mill from the Abraham Lincoln Tourism Bureau of Logan County.

There’s a hearing about the dispute scheduled for Aug. 3.

Hank Billings’ column in the Springfield (Mo.) News-Leader usually contains a few gems about old, often-defunct businesses along Route 66.

Monday’s column was no exception. It contains items from readers about the Gillioz Theatre, Red’s Giant Hamburg, and a gas-station owner who encountered John Dillinger.

Talk about life’s strange coincidences: Emily, aka Red Fork Hippie Chick, and I were capping a road trip Sunday with bread pudding at the Rock Cafe in Stroud, Okla., when Robby Love, aka the Roller Rapper, in a big RV stopped by during his Route 66 tour.

Love stopped in Sand Springs, Okla., the night before and was making his way down the Mother Road with a film crew. We didn’t know our paths would cross and, as luck would have it, we didn’t have a camera to mark the event. But both of us were interviewed by the film crew, so hopefully we’ll make the cut.

Emily had exchanged Route 66 information by e-mail to Love in the months preceding his tour. He seemed a bit startled to find that his pen pal was a 30-year-old marathon runner. Love had in his mind that he was corresponding with a much older lady because he didn’t think many younger people were interested in the Mother Road.

Wearing a straw cowboy hat, a sleeveless shirt, ripped jeans and his ever-present roller skates, Love flashed a toothy grin and cheerfully gave away T-shirts, bracelets and copies of his CD to Rock Cafe patrons.

But battling exhaustion and tour problems, Love seemed a bit down when we talked to him. Visiting children’s hospitals was part of his itinerary, and between that and war in the Middle East, he was wondering whether his efforts “to spread love” were enough.

We reminded him that there would be many more great people on Route 66 that he would meet. I also told him about Dennis Kinch, the man who is battling progressive bone disease and chronic pain and yet recently completed a walk of all of Route 66. I told Love that one of Kinch’s key philosophies was to “Do what you can, when you can.” Love seemed heartened by Kinch’s story and his motto.

We got a hug and autographed T-shirts from Love. He’s a big-hearted guy; if he’s in your area, go check him out on one of his tour stops and send him some love.