The province is burning, the provincial government’s HST will increase the cost of living, Convergys is saying goodbye to Kamloops — and the story that has the most tongues wagging is the tale of Mohd Abdullah and his short shorts.

Kamloops This Week was the media outlet to first report on Adbullah’s ongoing debate with the city’s Tournament Capital Centre as to whether the shorts he prefers are a tad too skimpy for the public gym.

When Abdullah walked into the newsroom of KTW last week and gave us a synopsis of his tale, it was obvious his ongoing disagreement with TCC manager Clint Andersen would be a news story of interest.

But little did we realize how far and wide Abdullah’s clothing contretemps would travel.

The story was carried by local media. It was picked up on by the provincial media.

It was covered by the national media. It was the subject of ink in dozens of other newspapers from coast to coast.

Then there are the countless blogs and other websites that have linked to our original story.

The day the story ran on our website at kamloopsthisweek.com — that would be eight days ago — the editor of this newspaper received a phone call from Fox News in New York City, requesting permission to use our photo of Abdullah.

Then there was an e-mail query from a reporter in Perth, Australia . . .

The short story of Mohd Abdullah and his brief(s) battle is the stuff of water-cooler legend and can spread like the fires now engulfing B.C.

It speaks to the nature of the story and to the power of the Internet, which can and often does transform a cute local story and photo into an international debate.

As for those shorts?

They are eyebrow-raising, to be sure, but nothing a good-quality jockstrap wouldn’t cure.