Today's Feature

Cost of Gas Rate Reduction Request.

Missouri Gas energy (MGE) has filed with the Missouri Public Service Commission to reduce its purchased gas adjustment/cost of (referred to as the PGA/COG) by nearly 11%. This is the second year in a row that MGE has been able to request a reduction during the winter heating season.

The new rate of $0.78791 per one hundred cubic feet (CCF) is scheduled to take effect on January 18, 2007. The current rate, $0.88345 per CCF, has been in effect since November 10, 2006.

The decrease reflects continuing declines in wholesale natural gas prices. Wellhead prices for natural gas are unregulated and are primarily driven by supply and demand. Price fluctuations are attributed to winter weather throughout the country, storage levels, and other energy prices (oil for example), among other factors.

In particular, the 2005/2006 warm winter left large amounts of natural gas in storage. This coupled with a moderately warm summer and increased supply available due to gas production recovery from the 2005 hurricanes, a mild 2006 winter with a continued mild winter forecast, has created the falling price picture.

Supervised Driving Time Increased.

News release.

The Missouri Department of Revenue today reminded young drivers that state law will soon require teens to obtain 40 hours of behind-the-wheel driving instruction before graduating from an Instruction Permit to an Intermediate License. This compares to the 20 hours required prior to the law change.

Senate Bill 1001 increased the driving instruction requirement effective January 1, 2007. The bill was passed in May of 2006 and was signed into law by Gov. Matt Blunt in June.

According to the law, the required 40 hours of behind-the-wheel driving instruction must include at least 10 nighttime hours. Nighttime hours can be logged between sunset and sunrise. The driving instructor must be a parent, grandparent, legal guardian, certified trainer with a federal residential job training program, or a qualified driving instructor.

Regardless of the length of time the young person has held an Instruction Permit, 40 hours of instruction will be required immediately after January 1 when graduating to the Intermediate License.

More information about Missouri’s Graduated Driver License program can be found at http://www.dor.mo.gov/mvdl/drivers/gradlaw.htm

Stench Report:

Monday,
1/8/07

No Stench Detected on Carthage Square

Our neighborhood used ta have informal contests to see who could get the kites up the highest. After tiein’ a couple a rolls of string together, the problem was the saggin’ string. A friend came up with a solution, ya tie another kite on ta help support the weight of the string. On one exceptional evenin’, we had three kites in the air on the same length of string, each kite separated by the two rolls of string. The first kite could barely be seen hangin’ out over the Wilson’s barn about a mile away. The kites were still up come dark. Nobody figured the couple bucks spent on the apparatus was worth reelin’ it all in. I know I got my fifty cents worth.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin'

Fibromyalgia Is Puzzling Illness

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: Please say something about fibromyalgia and what causes it. I have a friend who lives far from me, but we keep in touch by phone almost daily. She’s a wreck because of fibromyalgia. She’s having a very tough time running her house. She has five children. What can be done for it? -- R.V.

ANSWER: Fibromyalgia is an illness in search of a cause. No one knows what the cause is. It’s a state of muscle pain, exhaustion and disturbed sleep. Affected people complain most about pain in the neck, shoulder, hip and extremity muscles. Their constant tiredness is partly the result of nonrefreshing sleep. They also have trouble concentrating and remembering.

A special feature of fibromyalgia is tender points. They’re 18 body sites where slight finger pressure produces pain far in excess of the applied pressure.

Exercise is an important aspect of treatment. It has to be started at a low level and gradually increased. Water aerobics is a good way for fibromyalgia patients to get their muscles working again and keep them functioning even though they’re painful.

Small doses of the antidepressant medicine amitriptyline can often restore normal sleep and restore some energy to these people. Seizure medicines, again in low doses, can bring pain relief. Muscle relaxants, an obvious choice, don’t work by themselves. But when they’re used in combination with Celexa or Effexor, they’ve benefited some patients.