The AP reports that Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons (R) is out of the state. His interim press secretary Gail Powell won't say where he is. And the Lt. Governor has been notified he's now in charge of running the state.

Indeed, Gibbons has a long history of hiking the metaphorical Appalachian Trail. But it would seem this case of the disappearing governor will have a more prosaic conclusion. Gibbons office is saying that the Pentagon wants a blackout on the governor's whereabouts, strongly suggesting he's in Iraq or Afghanistan visiting US troops in the field.