Observations

Gas taxes in WV will increase by $0.05 a gallon next week. That's about $0.50 a fill up for me and when my tank is completely empty it would be about $0.80, or about $13.00 - $20.00 a year. This week the average price for gas in my town was $2.30 a gallon. You know, considering how many department of highways employees I see just standing around leaning on their trucks, you'd think reorganization would take place before demanding more money from taxpayers. I still don't know why they don't have a special tax on alcohol the way they do on gas and tobacco. The governor wanted a special tax on soft drinks and junk food but it didn't happen. Why is alcohol so special?

Speaking of taxes, I received both the IRS and State Tax books this week in the mail. Both organizations tried their best to get me to file by phone or online for the past several years but I continued to send my return through the mail.

Am I the only one not to be surprised at all the snow Denver has been getting? Any state who makes that much off of the skiing industry has to expect snow. Here in WV we've been experiencing warmer than normal temperatures, which I am completely happy with.

I haven't said anything about Gerald Ford's passing. The most notable thing I think of about Gerald Ford is that one of his children had a role on tv's The Young and the Restless back when I was a kid. All Federal offices will be closed on Tuesday, but unfortunately, state workers in WV will still have to work.

And the biggest news in the last 12 hours has been the execution of Saddam Hussein. All I'm going to say about this is that pictures and video should not be shown on tv and I am appalled by the reports that people took pictures with him before the execution so they would have souviners. It could have been more of a circus, however, so I guess there's something to say for that.

Some sports observations:

In WV, Huntington High's basketball team is ranked #1 everywhere because of O.J. Mayo and several other exceptionally good players. The latest score was something like 114 to 38 (those may not be exact numbers but it was 100 something to 30 something). That's sad for the rest of the WV teams.

In Golf, it's being reported on some other blogs that Tiger Woods will not appear at the season opening Mercedes Championship next week, an exclusive field of only 2006 tournament winners. The Golf Channel had been heavily promoting his appearance there by saying that one streak will end, either Tiger's PGA tour win streak or Stuart Appleby's Mercedes Championship Win Streak. I thought their hype was premature because Tiger has not made a habit of playing in that event every year. Now they have a bit of egg on their faces. Serves them right for sucking up to Tiger Woods the way they do.

The We Are Marshall movie continues to get a lot of press here locally. The local news reports how much the film grosses, but does not tell me how much it took to make the film. I would like to know how well the film is doing from that point of view.