05/22/07 Saving Gas & Historic Building Fire

Saving Gas & Historic Building Fire plus Food Forethought. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report. Pike's Market is to Seattle what Times Square is to New York. Early yesterday morning a part of the market was involved in a difficult to fight fire that may have been caused by a careless cigarette. The building involved in the fire was originally built in 1893 and the unusual construction hampered firefighters. Several businesses in the area sustained damage and estimates were near one million dollars. No one was injured in the fire. Well this weekend is the Memorial Holiday and there will be a lot of people on the highways. With the price of a gallon of gas at well over 3 dollars some folks will be looking closer to home for their entertainment but if you do decide to travel, Chris Grundler - Chief Executive of the Environmental Protection Agency's National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Lab in Ann Arbor, Michigan says there are some things drivers can do to get the most miles possible out of each gallon of gasoline. GRUNDLER: I think the most important thing for consumers to know on what they can do to improve their gasoline mileage is how they drive. Now here's Susan Allen with today's Food Forethought. Where oh where has my doggie gone? Ask the Chinese's but don't expect a straight answer. The naively tolerant country we inhabit has just experienced largest pet food recall in history, it's financial impact has been staggering effecting the livestock industry as well. The Chinese's government is pleading with ours not enact punitive action or trade sanctions. They want us to believe that only two "rogue companies were involved in this scandal ( Just try to imagine for a moment what the executives of those companies are going through). Yet mounting evidence points to the fact that Chinese protein exports have been routinely tainted with melamine for years to spike protein counts. It is a popular fake ingredient that nets bigger profits because it is cheaper than soy, wheat or corn protein. This is yet another scam from the country known for tainted baby formula, making soy sauce from human hair and feeding eels contractive pills so they would grow longer. Something is fishy though that we hear nary a peep from animal rights groups, the Hollywood crowd or our government. What will it take to difuse this stupidity masking itself as tolerance? Thanks Susan. That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.