Week meant to honor those who weigh, measure goods

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Illinois' Department of Agriculture is asking consumers to give certain governmental employees some truly weighty appreciation.

It is National Weights and Measures Week, honoring the workers who essentially make sure consumers get what they pay for.

Such employees use highly-accurate equipment to inspect scales at supermarkets, warehouses, packing plants, feed mills, shipping companies and hardware stores. They also scrutinize meters at gas stations and motor fuel terminals.

Last year, the state agriculture department says more than 128,000 devices were tested.

The week of observance commemorates the signing of the first U.S. weights-and-measures law by President John Adams in 1799.