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ST. LOUIS NEWS TODAY - Sunday, April 8, 2007
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April 8, 2007 - Fuel prices continue to rise with U.S. gasoline demand currently 5 percent higher than the comparable period from last year.
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Fuel Prices Edge Higher in Missouri
ST. LOUIS, (SLFP.com), April 8, 2007 - Missouri gasoline prices continued upward for the 8th straight week as strong demand for gasoline sustained high petroleum prices despite a slight downturn in crude oil prices after Iran's release of British military detainees.
Missouri's average retail price for regular gasoline increased $0.14 per
gallon in the last two weeks and $0.18 per gallon in the past month,
moving up to $2.54 per gallon on April 2, according to the newest Energy
Bulletin from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources' Energy Center.
The department's Energy Center collects fuel prices from retail providers
located throughout Missouri.
The average price of Missouri retail gasoline is $0.09 per gallon higher
than a year ago. Missouri's average price remains below the U.S. average
price of $2.70 and the Midwest average retail price of $2.61 per gallon.
On April 2, Missouri's average retail diesel fuel price was $2.76 per
gallon, about 21 cents higher from last month, and $0.25, or 10 percent
higher, than last year's average retail price of $2.51.
According to U.S. Department of Energy information released April 4, U.S.
motorists consumed an unprecedented 9.5 million barrels of gasoline per
day for the week ending March 30. U.S. gasoline demand is currently 5
percent higher than the comparable period from last year.
U.S crude oil futures prices settled $0.26 lower on April 4, moving to
$64.38 per barrel for May crude future contract deliveries. Summer crude
prices continue to gain strength with current average contract prices
ranging from $64 to $69 per barrel. Fears over adequate supplies of summer
gasoline supplies continue as consumer demand remains strong and the oil
industry's inability to build reserves of transportation fuels.
U.S. propane supplies fell by 0.11 million barrels last week and now stand
3.8 million barrels lower than this time last year. Missouri residential
propane prices averaged nearly $1.68 per gallon on April 2, slightly lower
compared to last month and 7.1 cents higher than last year at this time.
AT&T headquarters in downtown St. Louis
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AT&T Yellow Pages Stays in Missouri
ST. LOUIS, (SLFP.com), April 8, 2007 - St. Louis has earned the distinction of being named Yellow Pages official headquarters. The coalition of officials, led by Blunt, helped preserve nearly 700 Missouri jobs at Yellow Pages. St. Louis had faced very stiff and competitive competition from Atlanta, Georgia, to earn the headquarters.
In a statement, Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt said, "The decision by the AT&T Yellow Pages to place the national headquarters of the new company in St. Louis demonstrates that Missouri is a state with a positive economic environment that attracts new businesses and retains existing ones," said Gov. Matt Blunt. "We announced this week that Missourians have created 82,500 jobs since January, 2005 and the decision to preserve nearly 700 existing Missouri jobs and add 100 new jobs represents more positive economic news for our state."
"We're proud to be based in St. Louis and to be a vital and active part of the community. Missouri's growing economic climate was one of the reasons we decided to remain here. Our employees have a long tradition of community support and involvement, so keeping our company headquarters here is good for the city and state," said Dennis Payne, president and CEO of AT&T Advertising & Publishing.
"This is an important win for the City, the region and the state," said St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay. "Not only will the City preserve nearly 700 existing jobs that were in play, but, it puts us in a position to attract more jobs in the future."
"On behalf of the 30-plus largest employers in the St. Louis region belonging to Civic Progress, we are thrilled that AT&T Real Yellow Pages has designated St. Louis as their headquarters city," said Douglas Yaeger, Civic Progress President and Laclede Gas President and CEO. "This points to the continued economic resurgence of downtown St. Louis and to the very positive and healthy business climate that exists in the state of Missouri."
The announcement preserves 655 Missouri jobs in St. Louis. AT&T Inc. also announced today that AT&T Advertising and Publishing is opening a new sales center in Olivette with 100 new sales jobs.
Statue of Lewis & Clark at Laclede's Landing on St. Louis Riverfront
April 8, 2007 - The Captain's Return Statue, a bronze by sculptor Harry Weber, is partly underwater at the foot of Washington Avenue near the Eads Bridge. The Mississippi River level was at 23' on Easter morning, with flood levels at 30'.
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New Research Reveals Positive Impact of Parents as Teachers on School Readiness
ST. LOUIS, (PRNewswire-USNewswire), April 8, 2007 - New research was unveiled, April 5, on the outcomes of Parents as Teachers participation on children's school readiness and how these effects are sustained through third grade.
Edward Zigler, Ph.D., Parents as Teachers National Center board of directors member and Sterling Professor of Psychology, Emeritus, at Yale University, presented the findings for the first time at the national Parents as Teachers 2007 Conference in St. Louis. Zigler's co-author, Judy Pfannenstiel, and Susan Stepleton, president and CEO of Parents as Teachers National Center, were also on hand for the announcement.
"These research findings confirm what Parents as Teachers has been saying all along -- providing positive learning experiences starting at birth or earlier is the best way to maximize school readiness and success," said Stepleton. "Now we have even more scientific evidence to validate the need for access to Parents as Teachers for all families."
For more than 20 years, Parents as Teachers National Center, the St. Louis-based, international nonprofit and resource base of Parents as Teachers, has studied, collected and shared with parents information to help them be their child's best first teacher. The results from Zigler's study emphasize the need to continue advocating for early childhood support and parent education.
The study assessed the school readiness and academic achievement of more than 7,000 Missouri children over a five year time period. The results from Zigler's study demonstrate how Parents as Teachers alone, or in combination with other preschool services, can increase a child's learning aptitude regardless of economic status.
-- The research showed that a much higher percentage (82 percent) of
children living in poverty who participated in both Parents as Teachers
and preschool with greater intensity (a minimum of two years in Parents
as Teachers and one year in preschool) entered kindergarten ready to
learn than did those who had no involvement in either service (64
percent).
-- The same difference in kindergarten readiness was also evident for non-
poverty children (93 percent vs. 81 percent).
-- In addition, the study evaluated the impact of Parents as Teachers
participation on third graders' test scores on the Missouri Achievement
Program (MAP) communication arts test. Again, a higher percentage of
children who participated in Parents as Teachers and/or preschool
reached a benchmark level of performance on the MAP test than did those
who had no involvement in either service.
Parent involvement is one area that sets Parents as Teachers apart from other early childhood education programs. Parent surveys showed that parents who participated in Parents as Teachers were more likely to engage in literacy activities with children at home and were more likely to enroll children in preschool. These parenting practices played a direct role in the children's positive outcomes.
"The most important finding in this study is evidence that the Parents as Teachers program improved parenting practices in ways that promote both school readiness and subsequent academic achievement," said Zigler in a previous statement. "Both of these offer potential cost-saving implications for schools in terms of reducing grade retentions and the need for individualized education services."
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