Time is running out to beat the latest postage hike. The cost of mailing a letter went up a penny to 42 cents on Monday. The boost is part of what's expected to be an annual price adjustment by the Postal Service. A new law regulating the post office makes it easier to raise rates as long as the agency doesn't exceed the rate of inflation. Rates are to be adjusted each May. Customers, however, can buy Forever stamps, which remain valid regardless of any postal rate increase. However, when the rate goes up, so does the price of Forever stamps. Postal officials say they have printed an additional 1.5 billion 1-cent stamps in anticipation of the demand from people trying to get rid of their 41-cent stamps.

In National news, Oil Giant Exxon Mobile announced last week that, once again, it has broken the US national record for quarterly profit at $11.68 billion dollars. Democratic House member Maurice Hinchey spoke out against Exxon-Mobile’s massive profits. In response to the numbers, Hinchey stated, “We’re dealing with this at a time when the budgets of households across the country are being stretched out to the limit and that stretching out is largely due to these skyrocketing gas prices. The big oil companies just continue to break records for their profits.” The current national average for gasoline is $3.88 a gallon. California has the third highest gasoline price in the nation, behind Alaska and Hawaii, with a State average of $4.21 a gallon. In Amador County, Gasoline prices this week are averaging $4.35 a gallon. The cheapest gas in the County is $4.29 for a gallon of regular unleaded, and can be found at John’s Pit Stop in Martell, the Mirastar station at Walmart, and the Valero station in Pine Grove.

Senate Republicans broke from President Bush over the weekend to aid Democrats in support for veterans and the unemployed in the form of a bill which will go to pay for another year of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The 75-22 vote also added billions of dollars in other domestic funds such as heating subsidies for the poor and money for fighting wildfires to funding for military operations overseas. Shortly afterward, the Senate voted 70-26 to approve $165 billion to pay for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan into next spring, when Bush's successor will set war policy. All told, the measure contains $212 billion over the coming two years, plus about $50 billion more through 2017 for veteran’s education benefits. The vote on the domestic add-ons was a rebuke to Bush, who has promised to veto the measure if it contains the domestic measures. However, the president still has enough GOP support in the House to sustain a veto. Some of those House Republicans who voted “present” on Iraq war funding may find themselves on the hot seat over the next week, if Democratic strategists have their way. Last week, the House for the first time ever rejected funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as Republicans held back support as a protest against domestic-spending items Democrats added to the legislation. The war funding failed 149-141, after 132 lawmakers—all Republicans—voted present. Now strategists at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the political arm of House Democrats, are readying radio ads that will air in battleground districts around the country. The goal of the ads is to hold Republicans accountable for not taking a stand – for or against – the war. "I hope President Bush watches closely what happened here today," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat. "And I hope he heeds the call of a bipartisan, veto-proof majority of Congress and the thousands of veterans who know we owe our veterans the support they deserve."

Nation - A historic election culminated in record national voter turnouts Tuesday, when Americans voted Barack Obama as the next President of the United States. The landmark presidential victory will be the first for an African American. After over a year of tireless campaigning, Obama stood on a stage in front of half a million people in Chicago’s Grant Park Tuesday and reiterated his goals, saying, “change has come to America.” “I pledge to him tonight to do all in my power to help him lead us through the many challenges we face,” Republican John McCain said before his supporters in Phoenix, Arizona. Major exit polls indicated that the majority of Americans were most concerned with the economy, an issue for which the Democrat scored highly when compared to his Republican opponent and the unpopular Bush Administration. Exit polls also indicated that voters were more concerned with age than race. Obama's former rival for the Democratic nomination, Senator Hillary Clinton, said in a statement that “we are celebrating an historic victory for the American people.” Obama will be working with a heavily Democratic Congress. Democrats picked up Senate seats in New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina and Virginia, among others. Story by Alex Lane (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).