European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 22, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 stars and stripes thursday March 22 2007 postal rate to hit 41 cent sin May the associated press Washington the Cost of mailing a letter will go up on May 14 but youll be Able to lock in that Price no matter How rates Rise in the future by buying the new forever stamp the Post office governing Board agreed monday to accept the new 41cent rate for first class mail recommended in february by the Independent postal Regula tory commission the Board also agreed to the proposal for a for Ever stamp that will always be valid for mailing a letter no mat Ter How much rates increase James c Miller i chairman of the postal Board said the forever stamp could go on Sale As soon As next month at the 41cent rate the postal governors asked the regulatory commission to recon Sider some of its proposals say ing the suggested Price for Send ing things such As Cata logs was too High for most people the firs class rate has the greatest Impact and the Cost of sending a letter will Rise from 39 cents to 41 cents a Penny less than the postal ser vice had originally requested but folks sending heavier let ters will see a reduction in the Price that because the 41cent rate is for the first ounce but each additional ounce will Cost just 17 cents Down from the cur rent 24 cents that Means a two ounce letter will Cost 58 cents to mail com pared with 63 cents now the first forever Stamps will sell for 41 cents apiece but they wont have a Price printed on them and they will remain valid for sending a letter regardless of any future rate increases while a forever stamp will Al ways be valid for mailing a letter that Doest mean the Price wont go up if rates were to increase to 45 cents for example that what a forever stamp would sell for but Stamps already purchased at a lower rate could still be used without adding extra postage in a Telephone interview Miller said there is no limit on sales of the forever Stamps but he said they Are generally intended for Consumers and wont be produced in the massive Rolls often used by businesses shape based pricing is also included in the new rates for exam ple if the contents of a firs class Large envelope Are folded and placed in a letter sized envelope mailers can reduce postage by As much As 39 cents per other provisions of the ruling will take effect with the rest of the rates in May but the Post office asked the regulatory commission to reconsider them those Are Standard mail Flats a category largely composed of Cata logs the commission recommended an increase for some Catalon mail ers of As much As 40 percent More than double what the postal service had proposed the surcharge for larger items that cannot be sorted by machines the postal governors would like to see incentives for mailers to provide letters that can be processed at lower Cost on sort ing equipment but the commis Sion didst make a differentiation the priority mail flatmate Box was set at by the com Mission the Post office had recommended the Post office applied for the higher rates last May and the regulatory commis Sion issued its decision feb 26 postage rates last went up in january 2006 Rescue teams leave a morning briefing tuesday at the command station near Mcgrady no As they prepare to search for boy scout Michael Auberry Michael 12 was found around Llam tuesday Lynn hey Greensboro no news no boy scout found alive by Estes Thompson the associated press Mcgrady no a Rescue dog led searchers tuesday to a 12yearold boy scout who was weak and dehydrated but alive in the rugged North Carolina mountains about a mile from the Camp he had wandered away from four Days earlier he was a Little disoriented but he was great said Misha mar shall the South Carolina search and Rescue dog association Volunteer whose dog Gandalf found Michael Auberry on a wooded Ridge Michael was across the Stream from the Trail when Gandalf caught his scent she said he want calling for help but he want crying either and he appeared to be in Good physical condition she said he just said in hungry Marshall said and he wanted some water Joe Ware assistant fire chief grand Canyon Glass bottomed observation deck is opened by Chris Kahn the associated press Hualapai Indian Reser vation Ariz Indian leaders and a former astronaut stepped gingerly beyond the grand can Yons rim tuesday staring through the Glass floor and into the 4000foot chasm below Dur ing the opening ceremony for a new observation deck a few members of the Huala Pai Indian tribe which allowed the grand Canyon skywalk to be built hopped up and Down on the Horseshoe shaped Structure at its Edge 70 feet beyond the rim the group peeked Over the Glass Wall i can hear the Glass cracking Hualapai chairman Charlie Vaughn said playfully former astronaut Buzz Aldrin declared it a magnificent first walk a a crowd of tourists watch the Roll out of the skywalk on the Hualapai Indian reservation in grand Canyon West Ariz on March 7 the tribe will open the Glass bottomed observation deck to the Public later this month charging per person in addition to other entry fees the Hualapai whose Reserva Tion is about 90 Miles West of grand Canyon National Park Al Lowed Las vegas Developer David Jin to build the million sky walk in Hopes of creating a unique attraction on their Side of the Canyon to me i believe this is going to help us we dont get any help from the outside so Why not said Dallas Quasula or 74 a trib Al elder who was at the skywalk this is going to be our bread and butter for plus other fees up to 120 people at a time will be Able to look Down to the Canyon floor 4000 feet below a Vantage Point More than twice As High As the worlds tallest buildings the skywalk is scheduled to open to the Public March 28 to reach the transparent deck tourists must drive on twisty unpaved roads through rugged Ter rain but the tribe Hopes it be comes the Centrepiece of a Bud Ding tourism Industry that includes helicopter Tours River raft ing a Cowboy town and a museum of Indian replica Homes in Mcgrady said the boy told the Rescue team that picked him up and Marshall up on a nearby Road that he had been drinking some water out of the streams in the area he was Calm though a bit Dis oriented As he talked to the rescuers Ware said he wanted pea nut butter crackers and water Ware said he checked Michael for injuries then he and the other rescuers carried the boy into a Ranger station where a medical team and his parents met him he was later taken by ambulance to a Hospital we have our missing boy scout a jubilant National Park service spokeswoman Tina White said after officials first received word shortly before 11 am that he Michael had been found the radio communication from the search team that found Michael set off a Celebration among leaders of several scout troops waiting for news about the boy a lot of tears a lot of hugs White said and members of Michaels Church joined hands to Pray at the staging area this shows that when every body works together Good things happen said associate minister Susan Norman Vickers of Christ United methodist Church we just believed that he was going to be found earlier the boys father talked about his Confidence in the res Cue teams searching for his son in the Damp Cool wilderness what we got Here is our son who lost lost somewhere out there and we dont know where he is Kent Auberry said weve got great professionals looking for him were just waiting for the news dog teams about 70 people and a plane with heat sensing equip ment had been searching the Rug ged area around the Camp site overnight temperatures were in the upper 30s to Low 40s on tuesday Milder than on sunday night when temperatures dropped into the 20s n j couple claims second half of Mega millions Jackpot the associated press Atlantic City no a new Jersey couple claimed half of the record million Mega millions Jackpot monday and said they Are immediately Elaine and Harold Messner chose the Cash option for the prize from the March 6 drawing in the multistage game they will receive before the 25 percent Federal withholding tax we feel very fortunate and blessed said Harold Messner 57 a general contractor who bought the winning ticket this is that Early retirement weve Al ways dreamed of now we can do All those things we said we would do once we retired a truck Driver in Georgia had the other winning ticket and claimed it within hours of the drawing Messner and his wife who is 56 live in Cape May county at the states Southern tip not far from the liquor store where they Pur chased the winning ticket they let a state lottery machine randomly select numbers for them Messner said he and his wife didst sleep for the rest of the night after they realized the ticket he had purchased at a liquor store in Woodbine had All the winning numbers i checked the last number twice called for my wife and told her we won he said in a state ment through their lawyer Rich Ard King she had a very hard time believing it neighbors said they suspected something was amiss when they saw the Messner erect no tres passing and beware of the dog signs outside their Home Over the weekend they dont own a dog neigh Bor Rosemary Trout said in a lot of ways were still re covering from the Shock of win Ning All this Money Messner said in the statement i know this Means were officially a retired couple but past that Elaine and i Are still sorting All of this out we have some ideas about what we want to do with this big win but Haven made any big decisions yet