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ST. LOUIS NEWS TODAY - Friday, December 1, 2006
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A massive winter storm that hit the St. Louis area Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 has caused extensive tree damage, broken poles and downed wires, leaving nearly 500,000 AmerenUE customers without power and creating hazzardous road conditions.
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St. Louis Area Ice Storm Causes Major Outages
ST. LOUIS, (SLFP.com), December 1, 2006 - A massive winter storm that hit the St. Louis area Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 has caused extensive tree damage, broken poles and downed wires, leaving nearly 500,000 AmerenUE customers without power and creating hazzardous road conditions.
In addition to the loss of more than 200 distribution feeder circuits in Missouri-each supplying power to between 500 and 1,500 customers. Calls are out to utilities across multiple states but road conditions are so treacherous major highways coming in from other states are closed. The company has hundreds of personnel working on the restoration for the storm, which began around 7 a.m. yesterday morning with rain, becoming sleet, freezing rain and ice as the day went on before changing to snow in the overnight hours.
Central Illinois and the Metro East area are hardest hit areas. The storm caused extensive tree damage, broken poles and downed wires in addition to the loss of nearly 100 distribution feeder circuits in Missouri-each supplying power to between 500 and 1,500 customers. Calls are out to utilities across multiple states but road conditions are so treacherous major highways coming in from other states are closed. The company has hundreds of personnel working on the restoration for the storm, which began around 7 a.m. yesterday morning with rain, becoming sleet, freezing rain and ice as the day went on before changing to snow in the overnight hours.
Given the nature of the damage, Ameren companies cannot offer customers anticipated restoration times but will make those available as soon as possible. Lengthy outages are expected.
"Clearly, we do appreciate our customers' patience during this critical time," said Richard J. Mark, senior vice president, Missouri Energy Delivery. "We are working closely with city and state officials and emergency response personnel to coordinate restoration efforts and ensure customer safety. Work will be continuing around the clock. With the ice and snow that are on the ground, conditions are extremely treacherous for our employees as well as our customers."
For customers who are without power in the cold and unable to get to a warm location, Ameren recommends staying in one room, wearing layers of clothing and wrapping up in blankets. Customers using an alternate heat source must be sure to follow all instructions, use fire safeguards and ensure proper ventilation. Also, prevent pipes in outside walls from freezing by allowing water faucets to slightly drip.
To report power outages, call AmerenUE at 314.342.1000 (St. Louis area) or
800.552.7583 (toll-free, outside St. Louis).
Most schools and many businesses and attractions are closed due to the severe weather. The storm as caused the cancelation of many community activities including the Pleasures of the Palate in Belleville. The St. Louis Zoo and Missouri Botanical Garden are closed. The St. Louis Art Museum and St. Louis Science Center in Forest Park are open. Visitors are encouraged to call ahead to verify hours of operation.
News Stories Not the Driving Force Behind Home Buying
ST. LOUIS, (SLFP.com), November 26, 2006 - The nation's prospective home buyers may derive some of their information on the housing market from the news media, but at the end of the day the things that matter far more when they are deciding whether to make a purchase include the price of the new home, mortgage interest rates and their housing needs, according to a new nationwide survey commissioned by National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).
"While the majority of the households we polled indicated that they found the media a reliable source of information on the housing market, what they read in the newspaper, saw on television or heard on the radio was no substitute for actually going out and shopping the market," said Thomas Riehle, a partner in RT Strategies, which conducted the research for NAHB.
"When people are actually thinking about buying a home, they are driven by the details of how it will impact their family budget and lifestyle and contribute to their long-term wealth, and that gives them a much closer perspective on the market than what can be conveyed in news coverage," Riehle continued.
When asked to rate the importance of several factors that might affect their decision to buy or not to buy a home, survey respondents put the home's price at the top of the list, with 80% citing its significance.
That was followed by: the potential for the new home to appreciate in value, 71%; the prospect of selling their current home at a fair price, 70%; the level of mortgage interest rates, 69%; and personal life changes, such as a new job or an addition to the family, 60%. On a list of eight items, news stories on real estate market conditions ranked second from the bottom, with 28% saying that it was an important factor behind their decision to buy.
When further asked about the influence of the news media on their decisions of when to buy a home, only 19% of the respondents said it played an important role; 23% indicated that it had some importance on their decision; and 7% said it played a minor role. A full 48% said it had no influence whatsoever.
Sixty-one percent of the survey participants said that the media is "sometimes trustworthy" as a source of information on the housing market and 5% said that it is "always trustworthy." Twenty percent and 8%, respectively, said it is "seldom trustworthy" and "never trustworthy."
"The media provides an important service by giving consumers the big picture of what is occurring in the housing marketplace, even the big picture in their local markets," said NAHB President David Pressly, a home builder from Statesville, N.C. "But despite that, local reporting can't convey the information that consumers consider the most when they are looking for a new home.
"The fact is that even as the national market is slowing down from the unsustainable pace of the past few years, there are sizable numbers of families who need new homes. And with a wide selection of new homes to choose from, with mortgage rates remaining near historic lows and with incomes and jobs continuing to grow, the opportunities are extremely favorable for buyers in today's marketplace."
Home builders are working down their existing inventory of homes fairly quickly and the current slowdown in production is expected by NAHB economists to have run its course by the middle of 2007. From that point forward, the industry is expecting to see a good balance in the marketplace between supply and demand, setting the stage for a healthy and sustainable trend for housing, supported by a growing U.S. economy.
Online Holiday Shopping Kicks in on Cyber Monday
ST. LOUIS, (SLFP.com), November 26, 2006 - The Friday after Thanksgiving has long been one of the busiest shopping days of the year, but online holiday shopping kicks in the following Monday - a day known as "Cyber Monday."
Attorney General Jay Nixon is urging Missourians who shop online to use caution, shop with familiar vendors and make payments in a way so that they and their personal information are protected.
"It's important to know how to spot a secure Web site, understand return policies and take the other steps necessary to make your Internet purchases work for you," Nixon said.
Nixon's tips for online shoppers:
- Sites that are known or recommended are the safest and least risky.
- Compare prices and deals. You may find free shipping, extended services contracts or other offers.
- Search online for online coupons known as promo codes, which offer discounts, free shipping, etc. You can use these codes during online checkout. Sites that offer promo codes may also offer printable coupons for bricks-and-mortar stores.
- Before you buy, get a complete description of the item and parts included, and the price including shipping, delivery time, warranty information, return policy and complaint procedure.
- Before you finalize the order, make sure the quantity and total price are correct - for example, don't buy 11 items when you mean to buy one.
- Pay with a credit card. Federal law protects you if you need to dispute charges - but it doesn't apply to debit cards, checks, cash, money orders or other forms of payment.
- Use a secure browser. Look for an address that starts with https, rather than http. Also look for a closed padlock icon, usually in the lower right-hand corner of the screen.
- Print your purchase order with details of the product and your confirmation number.
- Buy over the phone if you prefer - most online retailers provide a toll-free number. Make note of the time and date of the purchase, product information, order number and the name of the clerk who takes your order.
- Understand the site's return and refund policies. There is no law that requires retailers to accept returned merchandise.
- Opt out of future e-mail from the company. The site's privacy policy should show a box you can check, declining e-mail advertising news, discount offers, etc.
- For expensive items listed at an online auction, use a third-party escrow service. This company pays the merchant only after you're satisfied with the product. The top Internet consumer complaint to the Federal Trade Commission each year is the online auction.
Missourians who have complaints about retailers can contact Nixon's office through his Web site, www.ago.mo.gov, or by calling the Consumer Protection Hotline at 1-800-392-8222.
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