The Chatter Box
By Deborah Bennett

Visitors to The Millen News' website will find a new addition this week - an online poll section. Check it out at www.themillennews.com. You may vote online to the posed question, see the vote count and post comments.

You may also sign up for "late breaking news" updates at the top of the webpage. The news items will be sent to your e-mail address after you have registered.

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Pain at the pump continues as gas prices have reached $4 per gallon and beyond for regular. Predictions put the "liquid gold" at $4.50 per gallon by July 4, and $5 per gallon by the end of the year.

Pulling up to the pump sure gets your attention these days. I never knew a gas pump could click away the dollars so fast! Blink once and you've already pumped another dollar's worth of gas. It may soon be that gas stations have to install oxygen tanks next to the gas pumps to revive customers who are hyperventilating as they fill their vehicles.

We are, however, still among the more fortunate, according to news broadcasts. The price for a gallon of gas in Western Europe is now over $8. No wonder many of the foreign made cars are so small and so many folks overseas use bicycles!

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Happy birthday this week to: Sue Davis, Sandra Neasbitt, Marie Adams, Sarah Jenkins, Jeana Jenkins, Lewis Dailey, Harry Jackson, Gayla Landing, Byran Weatherford, Brian Richards, Rew Herrmann, Chuck Richardson, Ray Boynton, Bryce Cranshaw, Otis Becton, Alyson B. Williams, Vincent Troisi, Karla Gay and Susan W. Godbee.

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Celebrating wedding anniversaries are: Mr. and Mrs. David Gay and Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Dailey.

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Military Active Duty List: Sgt. Adam Demshar, 44th Signal Battalion, Baghdad, Iraq; Lance Cpl. Lee Ogden, U.S. Marines, Radio and Communications, Bahria, Iraq; Petty Officer 3rd Class Eric B. Kelsey, U.S. Navy, NSA Bahrain; PV2 Ashley Clifton, U.S. Army, Yongsan, Korea; Airman First Class Charles F. Woods, Moody Air Force Base, Valdosta, GA; Capt. Andrew P. Thomas, U.S. Marines, F.A.S.T. Company, Yorktown, VA; Stuart Burrus, U.S. Air Force, Bossier AFB, Bossier, LA; SPC 4 Travis D. Motes, 1st Calvary Division, T. Hood, Texas; Capt. Donald Slade Burke, Travis Air Force Base, Fairfield, Calif.; Staff Sgt. Gilbert C. Sheppard III, 48th Brigade, 118th Field Artillery, Iraq; Petty Officer 3rd Class Jamie A. Yager, U.S. Navy, Marine Corps Base Hawaii; Petty Chief Officer Andy D. Crosby, U.S. Navy, Elroy Destroyer, Norfolk, Va.; Stephanie Crosby, R.N., U.S. Navy, Lafayette Destroyer; Jimmy Cooper, U.S. Army National Guard, 878th Engineering Battalion Augusta, Persian Gulf ; 1st Lt. J.R. Taylor, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Iraq; SPC. Daniel Stuart, 18th MEDCOM, 121 General Hospital, Seoul, Korea; Jeffrey Sweat, U.S. Navy, USS Kauffman, MM3 59/EDivision, A-Gang, Norfolk, Va.; Cpl. Larry Lamont Clark, U.S. Marine Corp, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C. Bagdad, Iraq; Khan Young, U.S. Navy, U.S.S. Kitty Hawk, Persian Gulf; Robert Milton Jr., E-3, U.S. Army, Ft. Stewart, Hinesville, Ga., Mission Kuwait; Arnold R. Mosley, 2nd Lt., U.S. Air Force, Randolph AFB, Texas; and Debra A. Mosley, Tech. Sgt., U.S. Air Force, Randolph AFB, Texas.