postcards
Show me the money? During the tough economic times that are gripping the nation, Huntington, W.Va., Mayor David Felinton is refusing a pay raise. In June, the city council proposed a $28,000 pay raise for the two-term mayor, which would increase his salary from $62,000 to $90,000, according to The Associated Press (AP). However, Felinton, who has not received a raise since 1996, plans to veto any proposal that would issue a pay increase, saying that the 49,000-resident town has more important priorities. City council members say that a raise will attract leading candidates to run in the city’s 2012 mayoral election.
Kicking butts. Metropolis, Ill., is paying employees to kick their smoking habits. Last month, 15 city employees signed up for a program that would reward them with $1,000 each if they could lay off cigarettes for a year, according to AP. As a part of the program, which is funded by a grant from the Illinois Risk Management Fund, employees will receive random nicotine tests to make sure they are staying on course. “It’s a hard habit to break, but we will give them support and hope they do quit,” Mayor Billy McDaniel told a local television news station.