Kansas soda jerk celebrates 50 years

After 50 years as a soda jerk, Richard Huckriede’s importance is about to be enshrined.

“He’s kind of an icon in Greensburg,” said Paula Davis, president of the historical society.

Money is being raised for a life-sized cardboard cutout of Huckriede’s image for a soda fountain exhibit at the Kiowa County Museum.

Huckriede, 73, above, moved to Greensburg, with a population of 1,574, as a young man, and began to work at Hunter Drug Store after high school, selling sodas for a nickel a glass. Last week, Huckriede celebrated his 50th anniversary at Hunter Drug.

“No plans to retire,” said Huckriede, whose title is general clerk but who doesn’t mind being called soda jerk.

Energy: Heating costs to rise

Expected colder weather, higher oil prices and a stronger economy could force residential customers to pay $100 to $300 more to heat their homes this winter than during the unusually mild winter of a year ago, the Energy Department forecasts.

With fuel prices increasing and demand probably greater than last winter, the costs of keeping warm this year is expected to increase 19 percent to 45 percent depending on the type of fuel, said the Energy Information Administration. The costs still are expected to be less than those consumers paid two years ago to heat their homes, the report said.

The report did not attempt to take into account the possibility of supply disruptions if war should break out against Iraq. The report said supplies of natural gas and propane, the predominant heating fuels in the Midwest, were in good supply.

Communications: Television companies seek to delay merger

EchoStar Communications Corp. and Hughes Electronics asked federal regulators Monday to delay a decision on their proposed $26 billion merger, which would create the largest pay-TV service in the country.

In a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell, the companies asked for more time to discuss the possibility of “major revisions” with the Justice Department, which is reviewing the merger for antitrust implications.

It says the companies have agreed to submit proposed remedies, which will be discussed Oct. 28 with the Justice Department.

Economy: Borrowing pace slows

Americans, anxious about the economy’s direction and a possible war with Iraq, increased their borrowing in August by the smallest amount in eight months.

Consumer credit rose by a seasonally adjusted $4.2 billion in August from the previous month, or at a 2.9 percent annual rate, the slowest pace since December, the Federal Reserve reported Monday.

The increase much smaller than the $12 billion advance many analysts were forecasting left consumer debt totaling $1.73 trillion.