The Advocate-Messenger from Danville, Kentucky • Page 5

MONDAY, MAY 12, 2008 A5 NATION THE ADVOCATE-MESSENGER WWW.AMNEWS.COM Good economic Tornado-ravaged town might not rebuild news something of a mirage AP PhotoTulsa World, James Cibbard left, comforts Betty Bayliss amongst the debris in Picher, Sunday. through the little that was left of their communities after storms tore at least 22 people in three states and leaving behind a trail of destruction By MURRAY EVANS Associated Press Writer PICHER, Okla. Sue -Sigle was hoping the government would offer more money for her home before she moves away from this pollution-scarred town. Then the tornado came. As she began the task of salvage Sunday, Sigle kept a smile on her face, noting that she was fortunate to be visiting family in Missouri when the massive twister hit Saturday night, killing at least six people in this northeastern Oklahoma town.

Tornadoes killed at least 22 people in three states that night. "I'm OK with everything," Sigle said. "The Lord is going to take care of anything. I was going to move anyway. 1 guess I'll just have to move sooner." That sense of inevitability appeared to grip residents as they picked through the remnants of their homes.

The lead and zinc mines that made Picher a booming town of about 20,000 in the mid-20th century closed decades ago; leftover waste has turned the area into an environmental disaster and a Superfund site. Many families have moved away to escape the lead pollution, taking advantage of state and federal buyouts in recent years. Piles of mine waste, or chat, have long towered over the town across a highway from the devastated neighborhood; they're now the buyout program won't stop just because homes were leveled. He went so far as to say he would "guarantee" that those awaiting buyouts who lost their jvould be treated fairly. "We will continue to assess the situation.

We will make sure the people get the assistance that they need," Henry said. "If they need help to be moved to another location, we'll do everything we can to help them do that. I think it's kind of speculative for me to sit here and say exactly what's going to happen. I don't know at this point." Sen. Jim Inhofe, said he too would work to keep the buyout program TV" I on track.

Another question is how the Federal Emergency Management Agency will approach the disaster, Because of Picher's Superfund status, FEMA is unlikely to grant assistance to homeowners to rebuild in the town, said Oklahoma Emergency Management Director Albert Ashwood. But he echoed Henry's and Inhofe's assurances about the federal buyout program, which is funded by the Environmental Protection Agency. FEMA crews are scheduled to arrive in Picher today to examine the damage, state emergency management spokeswoman Michelann Ooten said. on Sunday, May 25th, 2008 Section of (jvOCate mm Messenger and high food and energy prices. Many watching their single-biggest assets, their sink in value are less inclined to spend.

High energy and food prices are leaving people with less cash to buy other things. And, tiarder-to-get credit has made financing big-ticket goods, like cars, appliances and of course, homes, more difficult In the first quarter of this year, consumer spending increased at the slowest pace a mere 1 percent growth rate since the last recession in 2001. Consumer spending accounts for the single-biggest chunk of US. economic activity. Thus, how consumers behave shapes whether the country will survive the blows of the housing, credit and financial debacles or fall victim to them as many fear.

U.S. exports, meanwhile, have been helped by the falling value of the U.S. dollar. That makes U.S.-made goods and services less expensive to foreign buyers. But that weaker dollar also makes imported goods more expensive in the United States.

That contributes to the surging prices for oil, food and other commodities. And, while falling interest rates in the United States help ordinary people and businesses, it also contributes to the dollar's decline. Add to that the perception of economic weakness in the United States and the U.S. dollar has fallen to record lows compared with the euro. Still, export growth played an important role in keeping the economy growing albeit slowly during the first quarter.

"Exports are booming and helped keep GDP in the black," said Commerce I Let The World Your vmm graduaik Cablevision buys Newsday for $650M from Any Level of Education! Our special (JlllIMJAniPiKJliS will be published in the Graduate aii entries snoura nave tneir senior Picture and a baby picture. We will accept Pre-school Grads, Kindergarten Grads, Grade School Grads, Middle School Grads, High School Grads, College Grads, By JEANNINE AVERSA AP Economics VWiter WASHINGTON The unemployment rate drops. Productivity grows. The trade deficit shrinks. Sounds great; right? Not so fast.

Borrowing radio broadcaster Paul Harvey's signature saying: Let's hear the rest of the story. Some seemingly good economic numbers can be something of a mirage masking weaknesses in the national economy. Let's take the unemployment rate, which dipped to 5 percent in April, from 5.1 percent in March. A closer look reveals that the decline in unemployment is not as good as it looks at first blush. The drop came as the number of people holding part-time jobs for economic reasons swelled to 5.2 million in April, up sharply from 4.4 million a year earlier.

The dip in the unemployment rate also occurred as employers cut jobs for the fourth month in a row, pushing up total losses beyond the quarter-million mark to 260,000. Wages barely grew and workers' hours were trimmed. Taken altogether, these things point to a tepid picture of employment conditions nationwide. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues recendy used the word "softened" to describe the labor situation. U.S.

productivity an important ingredient to the country's long-term vitality grew solidly in the first three months of this year. That efficiency gain, however, came at the expense of workers. "Productivity gains were due primarily to. declines in hours worked," the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics explained. Those hours fell at a 1.8 percent pace, the biggest drop in five years.

Employers also shed workers in the first quarter. Thus, companies were able to produce more with fewer workers, and that boosted productivity, the amount an employee produces for every hour of work. "American workers, you just got to love them," said Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economic Advisers. "They just seem to produce more and more and more. That was the case in the first quarter of the year as fewer workers working fewer hours managed to produce more, he said.

Still, healthy efficiency gains are important for the economy because they can blunt inflation; that's good for companies' profits and good for those earning paychecks. Let's take a closer look at the nation's trade deficit It shrank to $58.2 billion in March as the United States' appetite for imports fell faster than foreign demand for U.S. exports. A drop in the United States' foreign oil bill reflecting less oil being imported played an important factor in the decline in Imports. However, demand for foreign-made autos, furniture, toys, clothing and other goods also waned, underscoring the strains faced by U.S.

consumers. Consumers have turned cautious, battered by housing and credit problems "(J X3 Picher resident Teresa Bland, Stunned tornado survivors picked across the Plains and South, killing and stories of loss. peppered with debris from homes flattened by the tornado. The tornado spawned by storms that also killed at least 16j)eople in Missouri and Georgia could be the ultimate incentive for those 800 or so residents who have been reluctant to leave, said John Sparkman, head of the local housing authority. "I think people probably have had enough," he said.

"There's just nothing to build back to any more." Some residents, like Sigle, were waiting for better buyout offers before their homes were damaged. Gov. Brad Henry, who toured the area both by air and on foot Sunday, said some regional magazines and the free daily newspaper in New York City amNewYork. Cablevision will hold the remaining 97 percent. Cablevision said owning Newsday will allow the company to better market the newspaper to the many households on Long Island that don't yet subscribe to it, while tapping Newsday's expertise in ad sales to help Cablevision's own cable TV advertising business.

Cablevision, which is controlled by the Dolan family, runs one of the most advanced cable TV operations in the industry and has about 3.1 million subscribers in the New York metro area. The company also owns Madison Square Garden, the NBA's New York Knicks, the NHL's New York Rangers, and a group of cable TV networks. PROPOSALS KENTUC1CY POWER COOPERATIVE A Tbuctntone Engfy CoupciMit Jfo mm NEW YORK (AP) -Cablevision Systems Corp. is buying the Long Island-based newspaper Newsday from Tribune Co. for $650 million, the companies announced today.

Cablevision, a cable TV provider, beat out media mogul Rupert Murdoch, CEO of News who withdrew his own $580 million bid on Saturday. New York Daily News owner Mortimer Zuckerman had also bid $580 million. The deal brings Newsday back to local ownership on Long Island. Tribune, under Sam Zell, had been seeking to sell Newsday to lighten an $8.2 billion debt load it took on last year when it went private. Tribune will retain a 3 percent stake in a joint venture to be formed containing Newsday as well as several related assets, including Newsday.com, REQUEST FOR i fa Amanda Cook Daihtur of Lisa and Jason Cany the late Dennis Cook University of Kentucky School of Dentistry To have your favorite graduate in this promotion: 1.

Find a baby picture and a recent photo for us to copy. 2. Fill out the form below and print plainly the needed information. 3. Enclose a stamped, self-addressed envelope for the return of your pictures.

Or, you may pick them up at our office (330 S. 4th Danville, KY) after the publication of the pages. 4. Send all of the above, along with $25 Secretary Carlos Gutier rez. Gross domestic prod uct, or GDP, measures the value of all goods and services produced in the United States.

It grew by a feeble 0.6 percent growth rate from January through March. When exports and business' inventories are removed and imports are added in, economic activity actually contracted at a 0.4 percent pace in the first quarter. That figure shows that U.S. consumers have a dwindling appetite to spend. Many economists and members of the public believe the economy is in a recession.

Bemanke has said a recession is possible, while President Bush acknowledges the country is going through tough times. Both men hope the Fed's seven-month rate- cutting campaign and the government stimulus package of rebates and tax breaks will lift the country out of its slump later this year Meanwhile, the mirage continues. In another anomaly, consumer borrowing rose in March at the fastest clip in four months. It sounded like people were back in a buying groove, with credit card charges especially heavy. But building up the credit charge balances is another form of debt Economists said people don't have a choice because their paychecks aren't going as far and they can't tap into their homes, as they did during the housing boom, for ready sources of cash.

So some silver linings are not so silver. GRADUATES OF 2008 The Advocate-Messenger P.O. Box 149 Danville, KY 40423-0149 or E-mail to: adsamnews.com 1. Attach photo in jpg format 2. Type your message as e-mail text (as per form below) 3.

Call or visit our office with your $25.00 payment. Entries must be received by 12:00 noon on Tuesday, May 20th. No late entries will appear on the special pages, but may appear in the Happy Column of the Classified Section at your request. East Kentucky Power Cooperative (EKPC) is issuing a Request For Proposals (RFP) seeking 200 to 300 megawatts of renewable capacity and associated energy. EKPC is a not for profit generation and transmission cooperative providing wholesale power supply to 16 electric distribution cooperatives who serve approximately 500,000 retail consumers in Kentucky.

EKPC is seeking to further diversify its generation portfolio with proven renewable resources. These resources can include, but are not limited to: wind, biomass, solar, hydro, geothermal or recycled energy. This RFP is open to parties who currently own, propose to develop or have rights to renewable generation of 1 megawatt or larger. All proposals, based on proven technology, will be considered, however preference may be given to proposals that locate sources within the EKPC control area. The deadline for submission is June 30, 2008.

Interested parties may obtain a copy of the RFP from this website: www.ekpcrfp.com I Order Form Graduates of 2008 for each graduate, to: Your $25 payment Includes 8 copies of the May 30th paper which our Subscriber Services department will hold for you by credt card): CatdM sres I I I Graduate Name Parents), DSonof tJDaughterof I I School tour Name. AJbtess I I Phone CanhMer's Signature (if paying C3 HZ. WST 80186.