* Thanks to Amazon.com’s “CamperForce,” Kentucky’s Green River Lake State Park stays open through December, instead of closing in November. CamperForce is Amazon’s description of its seasonal workforce who live in RVs to be near their shipping facilities, in this case a warehouse at Campbellsville.

* Kansas officials say they’ll close highway rest stops near Russell to save water. Water usage has doubled to 1.6 million gallons at the stops since 2011.

* U.S. Representative Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) introduced legislation on Dec. 3 to increase the federal gasoline tax by 15 cents from 18.4 cents to 33.4 cents per gallon.
The bill, H.R. 3636, also known as the “Update, Promote, and Develop America’s Transportation Essentials (UPDATE) Act of 2013,” would phase in the increase throughout the next three years.

* Lippert Components Inc. (LCI) has partnered with Ashley Furniture Industries Inc. to provide designer furniture for RVs. LCI will offer a full line of Ashley sofas, sectionals, theater seating and recliners to the RV industry

* ROBERTSDALE, Ala. – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Emerald Coast RV Center LLC of Robertsdale for nine serious safety violations following an inspection at the recreational vehicle sales and service facility on Highway 59 South. Prompted by a complaint, the agency initiated an inspection in August, resulting in proposed penalties of $41,000.
The serious safety violations include the employer’s failure to ensure workers utilized fall protection systems while working on top of recreational vehicles; train workers on powered industrial truck operations; provide proper machine guarding; ensure adequate guarding on electrical boxes; and use temporary wiring properly. Additionally, the employer was cited for failing to train workers adequately on hazard communication, provide a list of hazardous chemicals on-site, reduce compressed air for cleaning to less than 30 pounds per square inch and secure compressed gas cylinders properly. A serious violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.

~RV News From The Weird~

* When a St. Helena, S.C., RV owner found his stored RV hooked up to electricity, he disconnected it. To his surprise, he found power hooked back up the next day. It was then he found a man living in the rig, who confessed to police he’d been holed up in the RV for two months after being kicked out of his mother’s home next door. The unwelcome tenant was charged with burglary and grand larceny.

* Turkey starts RV blaze: Firefighters called to a fifth wheel fire in View Royal, B.C., report it all started when a turkey was left unattended in the rig’s oven. In an understatement, the fire chief told the local paper, “It’s another ad for not leaving your cooking unattended. That turkey will be inedible.”

* An attempt to break the world record of how many marshmallows can be eaten in a minute will take place at the Central Illinois Recreational Show in Peoria, Ill. The show runs February 28 through March 2. The winner will need to eat more than 25 marshmallows to beat the record.

* A traffic stop Monday of a motor home on I-80 in southeast Nebraska led to the seizure of nearly 95 pounds of marijuana, according to North Platte Bulletin.
Nebraska State Patrol spokeswoman Deb Collins told North Platte Bulletin that a dog detected the odor of drugs coming from the recreational vehicle, and a search led to 94.7 pounds of marijuana in 43 bundles, located in an empty water tank beneath the bathroom floor of the motor home.

Safe Travels and Happy RVing!

** Information gathered from CampingPA.com