GEORGIA -- The owner of one local towing service has alleged that the city of Milledgeville is participating in inconsistent and unfair practices when vehicles need to be hauled.

In a letter recently addressed to Mayor Floyd Griffin, Sherry Lantrip questioned legalities in the current wrecker rotation system policy and alleges that police officers call certain wrecker services to remove vehicles that have been abandoned or need to be towed due to other traffic reasons. She claims that other wrecker service operators are not being called or are not treated equally.

Milledgeville Councilwoman Denese Shinholster, who also serves as chairwoman of the public safety committee, and committee members Jeanette Walden and Richard Hudson met with Police Chief Woodrow Blue and Fire Chief Tom Dietrich last week to discuss current policies.

Jack Graham, code enforcement officer for the city, presented a summary of the city's wrecker rotation system.

Graham said there are two current wrecker rotation lists - one for wrecks and one for abandoned vehicles. Seventeen companies are listed on the wreck rotation list and 14 are on the list for abandoned vehicles, those with mechanical troubles or those that have to be towed due to traffic stops.

When a call is received requesting a wrecker, a computer produces a name and pager number of the next wrecker in line, he said. That wrecker is dispatched then rotated to the bottom of the list.

However, if a caller "requests a wrecker company by name," that specific company receives the call, he said, "but it doesn't lose its place in the rotation line."

The county administers the wrecker rotation system, he said, adding that Baldwin County has a verbal agreement with Old Capitol Wrecker Service to tow all county vehicles at a charge of $30 in the city and $35 in the county.

Other charges can vary based on the size of the vehicle and the distance towed, he said.

Graham noted that a wrecker service might be called out multiple times depending on what businesses use their service. This happens, he said, because some businesses on the rotation don't have their own wrecker, which is not a requirement to be on list or to provide the service.

In other words, if service station A (on the list) did not have its own wrecker, but subcontracts with wrecker service B (also on the list), each time A and B rotate up, B would be called because it provides wrecker service for A. And if B also provides wrecker service for station C, that means each time A, B or C rotates to the top of the list, then B would be called because it provides wrecker service to both A and C.

"There are several companies that fall into this category," Graham said. "There are multiple businesses that don't have their own wreckers. Therefore, the same wrecker may be called several times in a row."

Councilman Richard Hudson said the city needs guidelines and the businesses need to be certified. Hudson asked how other cities handle wrecker assignments. Blue said many have contracts and he suggested Milledgeville's services should be bid out.

The lowest bidder could be used for a period of time, designated by council, and then dropped from the list, giving other wrecker services the chance to bid on a rotation basis. Blue said he would check with other cities to determine how they handle towing vehicles. A motion was approved to form a committee to look into the matter. Dietrich, Blue and Graham are to develop a proposal for wrecker service and that proposal will be submitted to the committee for review at a later time. (Cheryl Mitchell - The Union-Recorder)

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GEORGIA -- When cars are abandoned, towing companies say one man's junk becomes their junk.

Wrecker services across Georgia are upset they are not reimbursed for their cost of removing derelict vehicles and that those who have abandoned them are not penalized.

About 72 discarded vehicles have been towed from interstate highways in Monroe County this year, according to the Georgia State Patrol and the Monroe County sheriff's office. Ackerman's Wrecker Service in Macon takes in between 75 and 100 abandoned cars each month, including those removed from private property.

And just up the road in Atlanta, A-Tow Inc. tows twice as many abandoned cars every week.

Both say they lose money on deserted vehicles.

"If you look at just the abandoned (cars), you'll cry yourself to sleep," said Glenn Smith of Ackerman's.

Smith said he spends at least $150 on each abandoned car, not including storage.

"If I can get $65, I'm happy," he said.

Most of the time, the cars are sold for scrap, yielding about $30. Five years ago, before metal prices plummeted, the worst car on the lot would fetch about $100, said Al Peyton, legislative committee chairman of the Towing and Recovery Association of Georgia.

About 20 percent of the time, he said, cars sell for more than what a tow company spent on them - but when that happens, the difference goes to the registered owner, municipal court or local law enforcement agency.

"The courts are so worried that you're going to wind up with this 2002 Corvette," said Chad Yarbrough of Tim's Towing and Recovery in Savannah. "That's why it's such a burden on us."

A wrecker cannot be called until a vehicle remains unattended for eight hours on an interstate.

After that happens, Smith said, the lengthy process explains why Ackerman's employs two people just for paperwork. Towing companies must begin a drawn-out process of identifying and notifying the owner of the vehicle, which typically takes 120 days or more.

A-Tow spends about $60,000 per year on postage alone, said its CEO, Page Porter.

"How many times do you have to tell an individual that 'I have your car'?" Peyton asked.

The process can be expedited if the car meets the qualifications of a "derelict" - but in that case, it can only be sold for parts.

Meanwhile, towers lose money on the storage space lost. Peyton said his Hinesville lot collects an average of $2.79 a day even though the daily rate is $10. Smith currently is trying to get rid of about 300 cars.

"It's a mess that the state has to deal with, and they pretty much put it on the towing services," Smith said.

A law that takes effect in January streamlines the process, allowing most local tag offices to confirm registration information, rather than wait four to eight weeks for the Georgia Department of Motor Vehicle Safety to do it.

The refinement likely will slash processing days in half.

Another part of the problem, Peyton said, is that those who litter fast-food wrappers can receive a $1,000 fine, while those who discard a 3,000-pound automobile - complete with anti-freeze, oil, Freon and battery acid - are not penalized.

"We're living in a society (in which) someone else is responsible for everything," Peyton said.

Peyton said a law enacted about six years ago, which requires car owners to pay 100 percent of towers' expenses, has yet to be enforced.

"The main thing that we're concerned with is getting (abandoned cars) off the interstate," said Trooper John Hardage of the Georgia State Patrol. Hardage said cars often are parked too close to traffic or on top of dry grass that can easily catch fire. (Gray Beverly - The Telegraph)

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FLORIDA -- Investigators have found a tow-truck driver who could be held partly responsible for a crash on Florida's Turnpike that killed a woman and her two children, officials said Wednesday.

Florida Highway Patrol investigators have pieced together the events that preceded Tuesday's wreck involving a semitrailer truck and a Mazda, and they think a tow-truck driver stopped northbound traffic as he attempted to tow a disabled flatbed truck, said Highway Patrol spokesman Lt. Pat Santangelo.

Killed in the crash were Renee Woss, 31, her son, Ramon T. Paez, 12, and her daughter, Andrea Brunner, 5. Woss was driving the Mazda and had stopped on the turnpike west of Boca Raton when a semitrailer truck driven by Diosvany Fundora of West Palm Beach plowed into the car about 2:15 p.m.

Fundora, 27, had just driven over a crest in the roadway and tried to brake but could not stop in time to avoid hitting the Mazda, officials said. Fundora was in fair condition Wednesday at Delray Medical Center.

About six hours before the crash, the rear axle of a flatbed truck carrying roofing tiles had broken, stalling it in the center lane near the site of the accident north of Glades Road, Santangelo said. The flatbed truck was towed to the shoulder by a towing company that a trooper requested, but the truck was left on the shoulder because the Hialeah-based company that owned it wanted to use its own towing service.

About 1:30 p.m., a witness told investigators, a south-facing tow truck was hooking up the damaged flatbed on the northbound shoulder, Santangelo said. Investigators think the tow truck used the roadway to turn around, stopping traffic.

Santangelo said it's against the law to impede traffic, and tow-truck drivers must call the Highway Patrol if lanes are to be blocked.

He did not release the name of the flatbed truck's owner, the towing company or the its driver.

Authorities still want to know why Fundora could not stop in time.

Investigators from the state Department of Transportation will inspect the truck this morning to determine whether mechanical problems contributed to the crash.

State records show Fundora has been cited seven times for speeding since 1992 and once for careless driving in 1998.

Gene Buschmann, secretary-treasurer at Lake Worth-based Eastern Metal Supply, which owns the semitrailer truck, said Fundora's driving record was checked before he was hired in January 2000.

"He showed no points on his driving record for the past three years," Buschmann said.

"All our drivers have an MVR [motor vehicle records check] run against them prior to coming on board or being hired, and annually thereafter," Buschmann said. "[Fundora] has been a loyal, competent employee."

Eastern Metal Supply has no fatal accidents on record with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration in the past two years.

But four times out of 10 inspections in the past two years, inspectors or highway troopers have pulled one of the company's trucks out of service during random checks at weigh stations or during traffic stops, according to administration records.

"To be put out of service, it would have to be pretty major -- bald tires or an uneven load," said Mike Thomas, spokesman for the administration's southern service center in Atlanta. "Basically, the state trooper is saying this truck is in such bad shape it cannot move."

While the investigation continued, Woss' grieving relatives and friends gathered on the front porch of her home in the Sandalfoot area west of Boca Raton on Wednesday. They declined to talk to a reporter.

Lisa Jones-Barron, the sixth-grade assistant principal at Okeeheelee Middle School west of Greenacres, said she knew Woss' son Ramon as "a nice young boy who had lots of friends."

Ramon had just finished his first year in middle school, a stage in which students are still trying to find out what they like, Jones-Barron said. Ramon, for instance, had taken a drama class and beginning Spanish.

He had a close group of about "four or five buddies" who are going to miss him when they return to school, she said. (Sun-Sentinel)

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TEXAS -- A missing girl was safely back home Tuesday just one hour after she initially disappeared, thanks to a state-wide program called the "Amber Alert" aimed at locating missing kids.

Tow truck driver Rick Wines said that he heard an Amber Alert on the radio while driving in his tow truck in Arlington and that to his surprise the suspect's vehicle was driving alongside his.

"I heard the Amber Alert issued. They gave a description of the driver and the suspect. I look over and there he his right beside me," Wines said.

Wines immediately took action, tailing the suspect while calling 911.

"I get in behind him and I've been following him ever since Sun Valley, he's been trying to get away from me," Wines said while parked outside the girl's home, where he had blocked in the car after it had pulled in to the driveway.

Police soon arrived and began questioning the driver of the car, who turned out to be the 7-year-old's father, Rodney Marshall (above right).

According to police, Marshall does not have legal custody of the child and that he took her from her nanny without permission.

Police also said they were particularly concerned because Marshall has a history of mental illness.

While investigators did question the man following the incident, they stressed that he was not under arrest at that time.

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It was the middle of the night and 3-year-old Lupita awoke early when she heard some rustling. Her pregnant mom and her dad had left their San Jose home for the hospital, but she didn't know that.

So Lupita, determined to find out where they had gone, put on her backpack, went outside -- while still in her pajamas -- and started walking.

That's when tow-truck driver Ken Pinkham, returning home at 4 a.m. today after his shift at D and M Transportation and Towing, saw the little girl by herself on Garden Avenue in San Jose.

Pinkham said Lupita flashed him some dirty looks.

"She kind of, I would best describe it, gave me a don't-mess-with-me kind of look," Pinkham said.

Pinkham went to his truck and called police on his cell phone while at the same time keeping her in sight. He stayed back a few paces so as not to scare her.

"He saw her strolling down the street in the middle of the night and thought that was kind of weird," said Kevin Deasy, the towing company's president. "He kept some paces behind her, didn't want to startle her. That was a great move on his part."

Officers gently stopped the girl, who spoke only Spanish. She began yelling and kicked one officer in the groin, Pinkham said.

The officers looked in her pink backpack and found a photo album that had pictures of her family and her house. They put her in a police car temporarily -- prompting her to kick the doors from inside -- and then took her back home, just a block away.

It turned out that her parents had told a groggy roommate to tell someone else in the home to look after the girl as they went to Santa Clara Valley Medical Center. Problem was, the roommate agreed -- only to fall right back asleep.

San Jose police said today that the girl, whose last name was not released, was lucky that Pinkham spotted her when he did.

"When you think of all the things that could have happened, thank God he intervened and called us," police Sgt. Steve Dixon said.

No charges are expected to be filed against any adults in the home, police said.

"They did notify someone that they were leaving," Dixon said. (Thanks Kim)

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The 2003 Chevy Kodiak and GMC TopKick C4500 and C5500 Series trucks feature a wider front track, set-back axle, and a 53-degree wheel cut, which gives turning diameters as low as 35.3-ft. GM says this gives curb-to-curb turns 17-19-ft. shorter than competitors.

The foundation frame on these vehicles is more durable than in the past and is constructed of 50,000-and 80,000-psi strength steel. The electrical system design takes advantage of multiplexing technology, which means fewer wires and connections and less complexity. Hydraulic braking system improvements increase the life of pads by providing more consistent pressure to the pads, and make brake pad removal and replacement simpler. Air brake systems feature color-coded manifolds for error-proof line repairs.

Visibility is improved with a windshield that is 40% larger, and integral convex outside rearview mirrors mounted on the cowl to reduce vibration. Drivers can see objects only 13.8-ft. from the front bumper.

Available engines include the Duramax 6600 diesel and Vortec 8100 gasoline V8s. The Duramax offers ratings to 300 hp @ 3,100 rpm and 520 lb.-ft. of torque at 1,800. The Vortec 8100 provides up to 325 hp. at 4,000 rpm and 450 lb.-ft. of torque at 2,800. The engines mate with the Allison 1,000 Series 5-speed automatic or a fully synchronized ZF six-speed.

For more information call (800) GMC-8782 or visit www.gmc.com/commercial.

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The average national diesel price last week was $1.31 – 1.1 cents higher than the prior week, but 3.7 cents lower than this time last year, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

T operators paid the highest prices in California, where diesel was $1.43 per gallon, followed by New England, where diesel was nearly $1.40 per gallon. Diesel was the cheapest in the Lower Atlantic states, at $1.27, and the Gulf Coast, at $1.28.

Prices could rise further before Labor Day, but that would depend on several factors, including a possible decrease in refinery output, according to a July 18 DOE report.

For diesel prices in your area go to www.itow.org/fuel.htm.

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FLORIDA -- A Fort Pierce police sergeant has been suspended after an internal investigation found she gave preference to a local towing company owned by a felon she claimed as a friend.

The internal investigation report, released Tuesday, states that Sgt. Katherine England broke city and police policy by calling Tri-County towing out of turn on two occasions in November 2001. Fort Pierce police are supposed to follow a rotation list to ensure local towing companies are called equally to traffic accidents and crime scenes.

England told investigators that she met Tri-County's owner, Anthony "Tony" DiFrancesco, about a year ago and ate meals with him from time to time, but only while on duty. The 12-year veteran of the police force told investigators she was professional friends with DiFrancesco, even though she knew he had been arrested on a charge of aggravated battery.

An investigator asked her if she would be surprised to hear that he had been arrested on 36 felony charges including racketeering, England said that would surprise her, according to the investigation report. But in the May 21 interview, she said she considers police policy against associating with felons "outdated," explaining:

"I think that there's convicted felons running around everywhere, should I not speak to anybody, for fear that they may be a convicted felon," she told investigators.

England denied the charge that she tried to circumvent the towing rotation to help DiFrancesco, according to the investigation report.

Fort Pierce Police Chief Eugene Savage found otherwise.

In a recent memo, he notified England of the three-day suspension without pay and called her actions "a blatant disregard for departmental policy."

Investigators reported that they could not find evidence to support claims that she benefitted financially from her relationship with DiFrancesco. They decided not to pursue criminal charges in the incident earlier this spring. (Kathleen Chapman - Palm Beach Post)

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NEW YORK - West New York police and family members of Jose Concepcion - a tow truck driver missing now for more than three weeks - are seeking the help of area residents in locating him, police said.

Concepcion, 33, of West New York, was last seen at 57th Street and Kennedy Boulevard on June 24, police said. He is 5-foot-9, weighs 230 pounds, and has brown hair and brown eyes, police said.

Concepcion is a tow truck driver and since he disappeared, his black tow truck with red decals has not been seen either, police said.

Anyone with information regarding his whereabouts is asked to call the West New York Police Department detectives at (201) 295-5011.

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WASHINGTON - Recent changes to the towing section of the Washington Administrative Code (WAC), which added many controversial restrictions on towing companies, has many Washington tow operators upset.

One of the laws, which were endorsed by the Washington Tow Truck Association, says that tow companies must have 2 years experience in the towing field before they are eligible to tow for the Washington State Patrol.

Many towing businesses in the state are finding it very hard to sell their businesses when the new owner learns that they cannot tow for the Washington State Patrol for the first two years.

State officials say the law prevents inexperienced operators from towing for the State Patrol, but the Independent Towers of Washington (ITOW), another towing association in Washington State, disagree.

"The law doesn't take into consideration that most new towing business owners were previously employed by other towing companies and are often very experienced or even certified", said Bill Pearson, vice president of ITOW.

"It's also conceivable that a new inexperienced towing business owner could hire experienced or certified drivers, or an established business owner could hire inexperienced drivers. This law only serves to exclude new businesses from entering the industry", he continued.

According to state officials, the Washington Tow Truck Association will meet with them on Friday, July 19th to discuss changing the law that they once endorsed.

The Independent Towers of Washington, who have apposed these WAC changes from the beginning, will also attend the meeting to reiterate their opposition to these restrictive new laws.

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Ed Rieskamp and David Miller will tell you that regular truck washing can actually help fleets in a variety of ways, the least of which is preserving and prolonging equipment life.

Rieskamp, founder and president of Rieskamp Equipment, and Miller, the company's sales manager, explain that the "image factor" is something fleets should not discount, as it can influence a customer's opinion about a towing company.

And, he adds, there are plenty of physical benefits to washing equipment regularly.

"The benefits of regular cleaning as it relates to the life, usefulness and safety of the vehicle are not as obvious, but no less real," Miller says. "While it is true that a vehicle will just get dirty again, this does not mean that washing is without benefit."

Regular washing removes harmful elements that come into contact with trucks, such as pollution residue, salt and other anti-icing products. While these elements don't do immediate damage, Miller explains, long-term exposure can cause costly damage to equipment and shorten its useful life.

How a vehicle is washed is an important part of the equation, says Miller. For instance, underneath the vehicle is where much of the harmful chemical residue ends up and where many important and costly components are located.

Rieskamp, whose company builds truck and equipment wash systems, says that selection of cleaning chemicals is critical. Price per gallon is not the way to select products, he says, because other considerations are far more important. He recommends considering the agent's affect on vehicle finishes, its impact on the environment and how the agent can affect sensitive components of a washing system.

Miller adds that how frequently fleets wash equipment will depend on a number of factors. For instance, in areas where salt is used to melt ice and snow or in coastal areas with salt in the air, washing should be done as often as possible.

"In urban areas where air pollution is a problem, frequent washing is also recommended," Miller said. "In general, however, it's would be advisable to wash your vehicles a minimum of once a week to keep the harmful elements from getting a foothold on your vehicles and damaging them."

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FLORIDA -- A woman who was trapped for almost an hour Wednesday in a sports utility vehicle that dangled precariously over an interstate overpass in Sanford was most likely saved by the quick thinking of a passing tow truck.

A tow truck traveling just two cars behind the woman at the time of the accident attached cables to the vehicle, that appeared to hang by one wheel, to prevent it from falling from the Interstate 4 overpass onto the road below.

Had it not been for a wrecker truck that happened to be nearby at the time of the accident, the car might have plunged onto a state highway below, said Battalion Chief Marty Johnson of the Sanford Fire Department.

A cherry picker then was moved next to the hanging car, and three rescuers helped the driver out. She had no apparent injuries.

"She is conscious. She is talking to them," said Sanford police spokeswoman Cleo Cohen.

The vehicle appeared to hang by one wheel from the overpass' guardrail. After the woman's rescue, the car was pulled off by a tow truck.

Traffic on Interstate 4 - the main east-west traffic artery through central Florida - was temporarily diverted. Florida Highway Patrol troopers didn't immediately know how the car came to be in that position.

PICTURE

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NEW JERSEY -- Motorists driving without insurance in New Jersey could have there cars impounded if Governor McGreevey has his way. It's part of his zero tolerance policy against uninsured drivers.

An estimated 600-thousand New Jerseyans are driving without insurance. Governor McGreevey says motorists who are insured are subsidizing those who aren't and thats not fair.

Under his proposal, anyone stopped by police who can't produce a valid insurance ID card within 24-hours would have there cars impounded. He says drivers will also face increased penalties and towing and storage costs.

"The driver will be required to retrieve the vehicle within 30-days or the car will be auctioned."

Drivers would have to pay a state administrative fee and an additional $150-dollars for failure to display a valid insurance ID card. The plan needs legislative approval.

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CALIFORNIA -- Police on Saturday were investigating an accident on the Ventura Freeway that took the life of a Thousand Oaks tow truck driver who was aiding a stranded motorist.

Richard Morris, 38, was killed instantly when the driver of a 1999 Honda Accord drifted onto the shoulder, striking him as he hooked a stalled car to his truck.

A spokesman for the California Highway Patrol declined to identify the driver but said he told officers that he was changing radio stations when he veered from the right lane. The accident happened at 9:55 p.m. Friday on the southbound side of the freeway near Moorpark Road.

Morris, who grew up in Simi Valley, was the father of four sons, ages 8 to 18. "Losing him was bad enough, but at least he passed away doing what he loved. He loved towing--that was just Rich," said Larry Andrews, manager of Roy's Towing in Thousand Oaks.

An employee for about three years, Morris was known for going out of his way to help customers, Andrews said.

A memorial fund is being planned. (Thanks Mike)

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The average price of diesel crept up slightly to $1.294 for the week ending July 8, according to government reports. This is the third straight week of increasing prices.

The average price for diesel has changed relatively little since March, remaining between $1.27 and $1.33. Regional prices have remained steady as well. On the West Coast, prices declined for a second week, to $1.389, the highest price nationwide. Prices rose, but remained lower in the lower Atlantic States and along the Gulf Coast.

Diesel and gasoline prices have remained low despite an increase in demand, according to a Department of Energy report. The report said oil destined for jet fuel earlier in 2002 was diverted to vehicle fuel production when airline traffic declined.

The July 4 holiday, one of the country’s busiest traffic weekends, may have also influenced the recent increase in prices, analysts said.

For diesel prices in your area go to www.itow.org/fuel.htm.

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MINNESOTA -- Minnesota has become the sixth state to offer weather-related road conditions, construction and congestion information to tow operators who call 511 or log on to 511.mn.org.

This free 24-hour service is available statewide in some states, such as Nebraska and Minnesota, and in portions of other states.

The Federal Communications Commission designated 511 as the national traveler information phone number in 2000.

Cell phone customers who call it will have to pay for air time and roaming charges in accordance with their wireless service contract. Verizon Wireless has not implemented this service yet.

More information about Minnesota’s service is available at www.511mn.org. (Thanks Kelly)

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TEXAS -- The Houston City Council, known for it's unprecedented desire to regulate and control all aspects of the towing industry, reinstated some towing laws Tuesday by re-establishing a zone system for tow trucks responding to accidents.

The city claims the law, which allows individual tow companies to operate within only one of the city's five wrecker zones for police-authorized tows, will limit the number of tow trucks that speed to accidents.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that local authorities could resurrect safety regulations only, but the City of Houston believes that everything has to do with safety.

"We've wanted to address this for some time," Mayor Lee Brown said Tuesday. "Now there's some teeth in the law for police to control scenes at accidents."

Councilmen Bruce Tatro and Gordon Quan voted against the ordinance. Tatro called the amended ordinance a backdoor method of regulating wreckers.

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RHODE ISLAND -- Prosecutors asked a federal judge to drain ill-gotten gains from Providence Mayor Vincent Cianci Jr.'s campaign fund, specifically the tens of thousands of dollars contributed by city tow-truck operators.

Prosecutors argue that the campaign funds -- about $250,000 from tow-truck operators alone -- should be forfeited when Cianci is sentenced, currently scheduled for Sept. 6.

In a response filed yesterday in U.S. District Court, Cianci's defense team countered that Cianci was cleared of any involvement in a scheme to extort illegal campaign contributions from members of the Providence City Towing Association.

Cianci, the city's longest-serving mayor, was convicted last week of racketeering conspiracy, along with his former right-hand man, Frank Corrente, and tow-truck operator Richard Autiello.

A key bit of testimony during the seven-week trial came from city tow-truck operators who said they bundled straw contributions from friends, family and employees to satisfy a demand for at least $3,000 a year to remain on a list for lucrative work removing vehicles from city streets.

U.S. District Judge Ernest Torres, who presided over the trial that began in mid-April, also is set to hear arguments tomorrow from defense lawyers seeking to overturn the jury verdicts on the racketeering counts.

If the judge declines to reverse Cianci's conviction, the mayor faces up to 20 years in prison and $250,000 at his sentencing in September.

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After five weeks of decline, diesel prices have rebounded for the last two weeks, rising 0.8 cents to $1.289 for the week ending July 1.

The increase was largely expected by fuel analysts, who say oil and wholesale diesel prices have been rising. Diesel prices have risen 1.4 cents over the last two weeks.

Tow operators in the Midwest and lower Atlantic states saw the largest jumps in diesel prices up to 1.3 cents, while diesel prices in the Rocky Mountains remained relatively unchanged. Prices on the West Coast actually declined. Diesel prices finished more than 11 cents cheaper than during the same week in 2001.

Prices received no relief from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which agreed last week to leave production cuts in place until its next meeting in September. OPEC cut crude production in December, sending diesel prices up 15 cents to current levels.

OPEC ministers said the cuts had achieved the price balance it was looking for and expressed concern over weak economic conditions and future production cuts.

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The principle hasn't changed since the pyramids. Every time you add a snatch block, you increase lifting capacity by 100 percent.

The ancient Egyptians understood the principles of physics of using pulley devices to lift large objects, as Lyndia Thomas explained. So did centuries of mariners who had to raise heavy sails on ship masts.

And so did Ernest W. Holmes.

An automobile mechanic during the early days of the 20th century, Holmes had often been called from his Chattanooga garage to rescue cars that had become stuck or run off the treacherous mountain roads of east Tennessee.

It was while laboring to retrieve a car that had plunged into South Chickamauga Creek near the city that the young mechanic became inspired to design a machine to recover disabled automobiles.

Holmes succeeded, becoming the inventor of the wrecker, or tow truck. Today, his ingenuity is celebrated at one of the country's more distinctive institutions: the International Towing and Recovery Museum in downtown Chattanooga.

Holmes' patented invention -- the first of several -- was a hand-cranked twin boom wrecker mechanism mounted on the chassis of Cadillac touring car. "There were no trucks in that day," Thomas, the museum's operating director, observed.

Today, the museum displays beautifully restored examples of wreckers made from classic old automobiles: A 1926 Ford Model TT, a 1929 Packard limousine, a 1929 Chrysler and one of the museum's show pieces, a wrecker built upon a 1913 Locomobile, among others.

The Ernest Holmes Co. dominated the tow truck manufacturing business for decades, and his vehicles even helped win World War II. One example on display, a huge Holmes W-45 military wrecker that served in France following D-Day, was one of 7,238 built to rescue disabled trucks and tanks so they could be repaired and hurried back into service.

Located four blocks from the Tennessee Aquarium, the Towing and Recovery Museum may find its way to your living room -- Thomas reports that a video crew recently visited the museum as part of an upcoming episode of The History Channel's "Modern Marvels" program. On the Net: www.internationaltowingmuseum.org. (Thanks Robert)

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VERMONT -- The Vermont Senate officially adjourned Friday, upholding Gov. Howard Dean’s veto of a bill dealing with towing abandoned cars and vowing to come back and address the issue in January.

It took senators less than an hour to debate the merits of overriding or sustaining Dean’s veto, vote on it, and dispose of some miscellaneous resolutions before they cast a final voice vote to end the session.

Dean vetoed a bill that would have reimbursed tow truck operators for towing vehicles abandoned on state property and streamlined the process for removing such cars from public or private property. He said the bill contained an error that would have rendered it useless and left the state with no method for dealing with junk cars.

The veto came on June 14, a day after lawmakers had conditionally adjourned the session. Shumlin said that situations such as this were precisely the reason for adjourning with a provision requiring the Legislature to return if any bills were vetoed.

The practice began after 1995, when Dean vetoed a handful of bills after lawmakers had adjourned. Since the Legislature can only come back into session after adjournment at the governor’s request, they had no way to respond to the vetoes.

One of the bill’s sponsors, Sen. Thomas Bahre, R-Addison, urged senators to override Dean’s veto. He said he learned about the difficulty of getting rid of abandoned cars firsthand about a decade ago, while serving as a selectman.

A tow truck operator told him they frequently end up putting an abandoned car in their yards and storing it for free for months while they go through a cumbersome process to get a title for the car, which allows them to destroy it for salvage.

But even though they lose money on the deal, towing companies are loath to refuse a request from police to pick up abandoned cars for fear police won’t call them to respond to lucrative highway breakdowns.

“We are forcing this disguised cost of business on to the towing operators of this state,” Bahre said.

Sen. Robert Ide, R-Caledonia, said the House had inadvertently changed the bill during debate there by amending it so that only cars whose vehicle identification numbers couldn’t be found were defined as abandoned.

Since virtually all vehicles have a VIN number that can be located, most abandoned cars wouldn’t be subject to the new law. According to Dean’s veto explanation, in the last couple of years 300 cars have been abandoned annually but that number could be as high as 1,000 because many aren’t reported.

But the bill’s other sponsor, Shumlin, said the state’s tough economic times meant fixing it would have to wait.

Even though the problem needed to be addressed and one of his relatives owns a towing business, he said, the cost of bringing the House and Senate back for a full day’s work — about $35,000, officials said — was too high.

“To save taxpayers’ money, I think we should sustain this veto and come back in January to fix it,” Shumlin said.

In the end senators did just that on a 23-2 vote, with only Bahre and Sen. Julius Canns, R-Caledonia, voting in favor of the override. Since two-thirds of both the House and Senate must vote to override, the House, which held a token session earlier in the day, didn’t have to take up the measure.

Bahre said after the vote that he was upholding a principle by pushing for the veto override.

“When I know something’s wrong, I take action to fix it,” he said. Asked whether that meant regardless of cost, he replied, “It’s costing us right now. The state of Vermont is improperly treating businesses now. ... Forcing people to absorb losses to get bona fide business is not right.”

Bahre said the law could have been enacted and the definition problem ignored, but Shumlin disagreed.

“These abandoned vehicle cases can be subject to court challenges, so you can’t ignore the law,” he said. (Thanks Tim)

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