The first observance of Labor Day is believed to have been a parade of 10,000 workers on Sept. 5, 1882, in New York City, organized by a Carpenters and Joiners Union secretary.

By 1893, more than half the states were observing a “Labor Day” on one day or another, and a bill to establish a federal holiday was passed by Congress in 1894. President Grover Cleveland signed the bill soon afterward, designating the first Monday in September as Labor Day.

The U. S. Census Bureau says 151 million people age 16 or older were in the nation's labor force in May — 81.2 million men and 69.8 million women.

In case you wonder where you should live, $1,419 was the average weekly wage in New York County, N.Y., for the third quarter of 2005, the highest among the nation's 317 largest counties.

I doubt of many of those folks are among the 7.5 millionworkers who hold down more than one job. Moonlighters make up 5 percent of the working population. Of those, 3.9 million work full time at their primary job and part time at their other job.

And in case you wonder where most people work, 5.1 million work for state governments nationwides as of March 2005, and 2.7 million civilians were working for the federal government as of December 2005.

An A.R.E. board member and investor since August 2005, Seikel was most recently the president and CEO of Advanced Accessory Systems, a supplier of automotive cargo accessories.

During his tenure at Advanced, the company grew sales from approximately $60 million to more than $400 million and provided a significant return to its equity investors.

Ralph Gatti will be chairman of the board of managers. He has been with the company for more than 30 years — the last 18 as president and CEO. Under his leadership, A.R.E. has seen annual sales grow from $4 million to more than $95 million. As chairman, Gatti will focus on sales and marketing strategy.

Best's ratings are recognized as the benchmark for assessing the financial strength of insurance-related organizations and the credit quality of its obligations.

AultCare officials said the company underwrites to break even to keep prices low, and it's unlikely AultCare could generate the profits necessary to build the surpluses Best requires for the “Excellent” and “Superior” ratings.

Gradall Industries in New Philadelphia has started an online store for collectors, machine owners and operators for Gradall excavator replicas, apparel and other items.

Also available are caps, shirts and other apparel; cups and mugs; decals; pens and pencils; and various sports and leisure items. Available items will change from time to time.

This is cache, read story here