Some state rest stops are being trashed and some legislators want to stop these incidents.

Pictures of rest stop dumpsters  -- filled with household waste and construction debris, including residential doors, along with scattered trash -- were shown at a House hearing Wednesday by Rep. Bobby Joe Champion, DFL-Minneapolis, according to the House Public Information Services office. Champion is championing a bill that would put some teeth in laws designed to keep our rest stops clean and tidy.

The bill would make it illegal to :

• fail to dispose of travel-related trash in a designated receptacle;
• dump household or commercial trash;
• drain or dump refuse, except for trash intended for waste receptacles;
• consume alcohol or possess open containers of alcoho at rest stops; and

• unless specifically authorized, use the rest area for a purpose besides rest, refreshment or obtaining tourist information.