Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, May 24, 1994 TAG: 9405240078
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY REED
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
P.F., Union Hall
A: Hundreds of thousands of retail workers will whip those bar codes across scanners today without giving a thought to their origin.
That's appropriate. It doesn't take much to originate a bar code. In fact, four people in an office in Dayton, Ohio, take care of assigning every bar code to new products in the United States.
More precisely, that staff of four at the Uniform Code Council Inc. assigns the first 11 digits identifying the manufacturer and the product.
It's fairly easy to get a uniform product code; almost any producer can do it, and most retailers require it for their scanners.
Call the council at (513)435-3870 to order an application form. The business person fills in the information, including annual sales volume.
If the income is below $2 million-and in most cases it is-enclose a check for $300. Within 10 working days, the applicant should receive a UPC in the mail.
Smyth's long lanes
Q: Who has set the priorities for Virginia Department of Transportation spending in Smyth County? VDOT is grading and paving new extensions on exits and entrances just to lengthen them. (Not needed at small country exits.) Meanwhile, the main road is full of patched and unpatched potholes.
J.S., Chilhowie
A: First, let's talk potholes. There were an estimated 3 million of them when Virginia's ice finally melted-three times the usual number on state roads.
It'll take until fall to fix them. Maintenance, though, is kept separate from road improvements.
The acceleration lanes are being extended to meet federal standards, with 90 percent federal money. The feds want loaded trucks to pull into traffic at 65 mph, or close to it.
The ramp upgrading affects three counties from Tennessee to the Smyth-Wythe county line.
Smyth needs to be more truck-friendly these days because it has recruited several new industries, which reduced the county's unemployment rate from the double digits, a VDOT official said.
The newest industries include TRW, Spicer Universal Joint, Utility Trailer Manufacturing and Dotson Wheel Corp.|
Presidential funerals
Q: I believe the last former president who died before Richard Nixon was Lyndon Johnson. Which other presidents died between FDR and Johnson?|
B.P., Martinsville
Wonder how many coffee-table discussions overlooked one of these after Franklin D. Roosevelt's death on April 12, 1945:
John F. Kennedy died Nov. 22, 1963; Herbert Hoover died Oct. 20, 1964; Dwight D. Eisenhower died March 28, 1969; Harry S. Truman died Dec. 26, 1972; Johnson died Jan. 22, 1973; and Nixon died April 22.|
Got a question about something that might affect other people, too? Something you've come across and wondered about? Give us a call at 981-3118. Maybe we can find the answer.
by CNB