Yapping On the Phone & Food Prices Continue Up
Yapping On the Phone & Food Prices Continue Up plus Food Forethought. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.
Food shoppers are continuing to see prices going up for almost everything, but last month overall food price inflation was less than for all items in the economy according to USDA’s Ricky Volpe.
VOLPE: High commodity prices across the board, high and rising fuel prices, strong demand, strong international demand of high exports for a lot of our domestic commodities especially meat and dairy and we have retailers beginning to raise prices in order to protect their margins.
Volpe says there was another increase of four-tenths of one percent which meant grocery store prices were just over 4% higher than last year.
Most states have now banned the use of cell phones while driving a car but what about all those other cell phone yapping nuisances out there. All too often I have been accosted by someone talking on a phone so loudly in a store or restaurant I have seriously considered violence. Now an Amtrak passenger train has made an unscheduled stop to remove a woman who was talking loudly and causing problems for others on the train. The woman was also arrested on a disorderly conduct charge after have verbal confrontations with passengers.
Now with today’s Food Forethought, here’s Lacy Gray.
With the cost of gasoline once again shooting skyward people are choosing different modes of transportation other than gas guzzling autos. Bicycle sales have surged along with sales of walking shoes. Officials across the country are looking into ways to make their cities more pedestrian friendly, and more importantly, pedestrian safe. One way this issue is being addressed in the UK is to impose a libertarian design on traffic policy, meaning a removal of the typical types of traffic control. It can be argued that the more restrictive traffic control is the lazier the motorist will be, relying on flashing red and green traffic signals instead of a personal awareness of their surroundings. While I tend to agree with that assessment, I also can’t honestly say that as a pedestrian or cyclist I would trust my safety to motorist responsibility alone. I’ve watched enough confused motorists in our city’s new roundabouts to know that confused drivers are not necessarily more alert, attentive, or cautious drivers. Designing streets for combined use by pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists has to be done carefully. Just removing all signs and signals won’t work.
Thanks Lacy. That’s today’s Northwest Report. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.
