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ST. LOUIS NEWS TODAY - Sunday, March 13, 2005
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Retail gasoline prices have increased throughout the United States despite
strong gasoline supplies in storage.
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Retail Gasoline Prices Pass Last Year's Record Highs
ST. LOUIS, (SLFP.com) March 13, 2005 - Continued near-record oil prices are fueling continued growth in gasoline prices in Missouri, pushing prices to $2 per gallon in parts of the state, according to a survey conducted by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources' Energy Center.
According to the Energy Center's March 10 Missouri Energy Bulletin, the
Missouri retail price for regular gasoline increased $0.13 cent per gallon
from last month, standing at $1.93 per gallon as of March 7 and is now
$0.33 or 20 percent higher than this time last year.
The average retail price paid for regular unleaded gasoline in the United States was $2 per gallon. Prices of $2 per gallon were reported in portions of western Missouri on March 7. Missouri motor gasoline retail prices reached a
record high of nearly $2 per gallon on May 17, 2004.
Retail gasoline prices have increased throughout the United States despite
strong gasoline supplies in storage, which stand 23.9 million barrels
higher compared to last year. U.S. demand for gasoline moved above 9
million barrels per day for the week ending March 4. According to the
Short-Term Energy Outlook report by EIA released on March 8, U.S. retail
prices for gasoline are expected to average about $2.10 during the 2005
driving season (April-September), up 20 cents from the same period last
year. Average monthly prices are projected to peak at about $2.15 by
April.
Missouri's average diesel price is $2.05, an increase of $0.16 from last
month - $0.15 lower than the national average. The agency's bimonthly fuels survey polled a selection of service stations throughout the state on the price of regular unleaded gasoline, diesel fuel, B-20 biodiesel fuel and E-85 ethanol.
U.S. crude oil futures prices at the NYMEX jumped $2.80 higher on
Feb. 22 settling above $50 for the first time this year at $51.15 per
barrel, following the crude oil price increases in Europe over the
President's Day weekend. Concerns over heating oil supplies in the U.S.
Northeast and Europe due to extended cold weather throughout the week was
providing significant support to crude oil prices. On March 9, crude oil
closed at $54.77 per barrel compared to $36.86 at this time last year.
NYMEX crude oil prices set an all-time record high price on Oct. 25 at
$55.67 per barrel.
'Funding' and 'No Child Left Behind Act'
Are Top National Issues
ST. LOUIS, (SLFP.com) March 13, 2005 - Providing greater flexibility within the No Child Left Behind Act should be Congress' highest priority this year, according to a poll of state board of education members.
65% of members believe Congress should modify the law. Members ranked increased funding for K-12 programs as the second highest priority for Congress in 2005. Reauthorizing the Perkins vocational education program was the third-ranked priority.
Expanding on the views of the No Child Left Behind Act, state board members overwhelmingly identified the national attention drawn toward closing the achievement gap (57%) and the disaggregation of data (56%) as the most positive effects of the federal reform law. 76% of respondents said their biggest concern about NCLB was the alignment of federal requirements with state policies. Closely trailing behind, 73% of state board members think the capacity of state departments of education to provide assistance to low- performing schools is a major concern.
With regard to federal funding, 63% of state board members are worried or disappointed that sufficient resources are not earmarked for K-12 programs, particularly Title I and special education.
On the topic of high school reform, 37% of members listed a stronger core curriculum, including requiring students to take four years of English and three years each of math and science, as the area most in need of action. 23% said addressing graduation/dropout rates is most important.
More than two-thirds of members ranked the President's proposal to intervene with at-risk 8th-graders and the remediation of low-performing students as the most favored federal strategies. Only 6% of members thought expanding NCLB-like testing into grades 9-11 was among the most important reforms proposed by the President. 71% of members have reservations or outright opposition to shifting federal funds previously spent on Perkins to any new high school reform package.
Asked to assign a letter grade to their state's public education system, 70% of state board members gave their schools either an A (outstanding) or B (above average). 21% awarded a C (average), while 9% gave a D (below average).
In a statement, Brenda Welburn, NASBE Executive Director, said, "clearly state board members remain focused on making the No Child Left Behind Act a success, and their biggest concern is effectively aligning state reforms with federal requirements. State board members are also overwhelmingly concerned that Congress provide sufficient resources to ensure the promise of NCLB's reforms are put into practice. Federal investments in the infrastructure of state departments of education to help low-performing schools will go a long way toward realizing the potential of NCLB," said Welburn.
Missouri Reports Record Exports in 2004
JEFFERSON CITY, (SLFP.com) March 13, 2005 - Missouri's export sales rose by a record 24 percent or $1.763 billion in 2004 compared to the year-end total for 2003 placing the state seventh overall among U.S. states last year, reported the Missouri Department of Economic Development.
"The substantial growth of exports demonstrates that Missouri businesses understand what it takes to be competitive in the global economy," said Gov. Matt Blunt. "Over the past few decades, the state has taken an active role in helping Missouri businesses market their goods and services abroad. My administration will also strive to develop new strategies designed to build upon Missouri's strengths in the global economy."
Missouri exports totaled nearly $9 billion ($8.997 billion) in 2004 compared to $7.234 billion in 2003.
Canada continues to be the largest buyer of Missouri goods by far, purchasing nearly $4 billion of Missouri products. Sales to Canada increased 28.6 percent from 2003. Mexico remained Missouri's number two trading partner with more than $946 million in sales - a 26 percent increase. Rounding out the remaining top five trading partners were Japan ($434 million, up 3.4 percent increase); China ($366 million, up 40.7 percent); and the United Kingdom ($344 million, up 16.7 percent).
'Show Me' State Will Have Improved Rail Service Under President's Plan
ST. LOUIS, (PRNewswire) March 13, 2005 - The federal government would be a "full partner" in plans to boost inter-city passenger rail service in Missouri and across the Midwest under the Bush Administration's proposal to reform Amtrak, U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta said during a news conference outside the railroad's temporary passenger station in St. Louis.
Mineta was in Missouri Thursday as part of a nationwide campaign to reaffirm President Bush's commitment to reform of the nation's passenger rail system just weeks after the Administration unveiled a budget that proposed an end to taxpayer subsidies for Amtrak.
"We're not going to have business as usual anymore, because frankly, Amtrak today is not serving America's transportation needs the way it can and should be doing," Mineta said.
He said Missouri's plans to improve passenger rail would benefit from the President's reform proposal "by letting the federal government match your infrastructure investments dollar for dollar," instead of spending all of its money every year on Amtrak.
The proposal, Mineta said, would establish a 50-50 federal match for state investments in passenger rail infrastructure, like stations, trains and track, and open passenger rail service to competition. The plan would give states more control over schedules and routes and free Amtrak to focus on running trains, he added.
Mineta said under the President's plan, "the 'Show Me' state will have more service to show for its rail dollars than it does today."
More importantly, Mineta said he and President Bush want to "save and improve intercity passenger rail service," noting that to maintain the status quo "will lead to disaster."
He said Amtrak has problems partly because it runs money-losing routes and regularly diverts cash away from repairs to cover operating losses.
"Everyone agrees that Amtrak is on financial life support. But the answer to the problem is not throwing more money into a system that is fundamentally flawed. The answer is top-to-bottom reform and the time is now," Mineta said.
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