MGE’s New Winter Gas Rates.


The Missouri Public Service Commission approved Missouri Gas Energy’s (MGE) request to set its winter cost of gas rate at $0.54044 per one hundred cubic feet (CCF), a slight increase over last winter’s rate of $0.51682 per CCF.

The new cost of gas rate will take effect on November 1.

"We’re pleased to be able to limit increases to the price of gas," said Rob Hack, Vice President of Regulatory Affairs for MGE. "This winter’s price is less than 5 percent higher than last winter’s, despite increased price volatility related to mounting tension in the Middle East, hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico and increased individual demand related to the recovering economy."

As in previous years, MGE is using several different techniques to stabilize prices for this winter, including the use of fixed prices.

The company noted that usage and bill amounts are greatly affected by weather and encouraged customers to take appropriate weatherization and conservation steps to moderate bill amounts.

NASCAR to the Max

Sunday’s NAPA 500 from Atlanta Motor Speedway marked the third time in four weeks that qualifying was rained out and the starting grid determined by the driver’s points standings. Rain hindered the race on Sunday as well, causing the event to be red flagged (stopped) on lap 26 of the scheduled 325 for over two hours.

Once racing resumed, teams began working on various pit strategies as most teams assumed that the threatening skies would again open up and cause the race to be shortened. NASCAR considers a race to be "official" when half of the scheduled laps have been completed.

Kurt Busch emerged as a threat midway through the race and appeared at various times to have the car to beat. Busch was the first of the lead pack to make what turned out to be the final round of pit stops. When the remainder of the lead pack had cycled through pit stops, Busch had assumed the lead.

The rain returned just past lap 240 and the yellow caution flag was flown. By lap 247 the track had become soaked and the field was given the one lap remaining white flag with Busch claiming his second win in a row under the yellow and checkered flags on lap 248.

Joplin native Jamie McMurray followed up his Busch Series win on Saturday with a seventh place finish on Sunday.

The top five in the season points championship were shuffled slightly with Tony Stewart maintaining the top spot and stretching his points lead to 146 points over Mark Martin. Martin bumped Jimmie Johnson to third with Ryan Newman and Rusty Wallace swapping fourth and fifth for the third consecutive week. Newman now sits in fourth 203 points behind Stewart.

This Sunday’s race will take place at the North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham, NC. The one-mile high-banked oval tests the patience of the drivers as they battle each other and the highly abrasive track.

Mark Martin has won here in the past and could use the weekend to close the gap on point’s leader Stewart.

It’s Halloween, so either turn your lights out or have your goodies at the door.

With the weather a little in question, a good place to take the kids will be the Square this afternoon. Startin’ around three-thirty and lastin’ until five, the merchants on the Square and Main Street Carthage will host the Halloween parade around the square. ‘Course the participants will be welcomed to stop at the various shops and pick up a treat for the effort. (Adults seem to like this part of the afternoon also.)

If ya feel like gettin’ a little goofy, there’s a costume contest with prizes and a chance to show your stuff. If ya want to get in on this, it starts around four.

If ya don’t have kids ta bring, it’s o.k. ta show up anyway, it’s a great show.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

by

Metcalf Auto Supply

Click & Clack
TALK CARS

By Tom & Ray Magliozzi

Dear Tom and Ray:

What’s up with dealer customer-satisfaction surveys? After I get my car serviced, the dealer sends me a four-page, already-filled-out survey identical to the one Honda is going to send me — with "excellent" checked in every box. The dealer tells me that if I can’t check "excellent" on every item, I should call his customer service manager. Should I play along with this? Does Honda really think its dealers are all perfect? What’s the point of a survey if it tells you what results it wants? — Rob.

RAY: Great question, Rob. Over the past 10 years or so, car companies have become obsessed with the notion of customer satisfaction. That, in itself, is not a bad thing.

TOM: And a whole industry has sprung up to measure this quality called "customer satisfaction." J. D. Power and Associates is probably the best-known of the bunch.

RAY: Anyway, to encourage their dealers to improve customer satisfaction, car companies started putting some teeth in the survey results. In some cases, they based executive pay increases on customer-satisfaction scores. The executives, in turn, used customer-satisfaction scores to influence dealer allotment — how many of the desirable, or highly profitable, cars a dealer gets to sell each month.

TOM: So with all this stuff riding on their customer-satisfaction scores, is it any wonder that the dealer don’t want to leave anything to chance?

RAY: It’s against the rules for them to literally fill out the survey for you and sign your name, but they’ll do everything short of that to get good scores.