Outside the county's Justice Center, where basketball superstar Kobe Bryant is to face a judge today, folks from town and visitors just passing through are stopping to look, take pictures, shake their heads.
Bryant is scheduled to stand before County Judge Frederick Gannett at 4 p.m. The 24-year-old Los Angeles Laker and NBA all-star is to be advised of the felony charge of sexual assault he faces. A 19-year- old woman says Bryant raped her during his stay at a resort June 30.
For several days now, broadcast media crews have been pitching camp across the street from the courts, gearing up to cover an initial hearing that may last little more than a few minutes.
Stages for television reporters have gone up along a strip of grass between the curb and the sidewalk. Some metal, some hammered out of 2-by-4s, all topped with white vinyl tents gleaming in the sun, they run nearly the length of a football field. Behind them, satellite uplink vans fill a 1.5-acre grassy lot.
While some local businessmen are enjoying the increased traffic, and although the month-old saga is probably just in its infancy, most people say they feel under siege.
"We don't view this as a positive thing coming to town," said Eagle's town manager, Willy Powell. "It's a media frenzy. We didn't invite it."
"Essentially, we are looking at this as a tragedy for two young people: one nationally recognized, one a resident of Eagle," Powell said. "We are asking people not to take sides on it."
Powell said he wishes people would allow the case to play out in court. Instead, the talk of the nation also is the talk of the town.