Beetle Bailey, Blondie, Hi & Lois, Snuffy Smith and The Born Loser are the top five finishers in a comics survey completed by Cumberland Times-News readers.

More than 350 readers took time to complete the survey. The battle for No. 1 was close, with Beetle Bailey gaining 327 “always read” votes, followed by Blondie, 319, Hi & Lois, 312, Snuffy Smith, 299 and the Born Loser, 292.

On the bottom rung was Monty with only 54 “always read” responses. Other basement finishers were Dilbert, 92, Prince Valiant, 94, and Marmaduke, 112.

In the next couple of weeks, readers will see a couple of changes to the comics. Monty, which has appeared Monday through Saturday, will be replaced by For Better or Worse, a strip that has appeared in our Sunday comics section for some years. In the survey, 239 respondents said they “always read” For Better or Worse and another 72 sometimes read the strip.

Dilbert has been appearing seven days a week but now will be published only on Sundays. In its place Monday through Saturday will be Pickles, a delightful retired family comic strip featuring Earl and Opel Pickles, their offspring, grandson, pets and friends.

Random book and calendar prizes to readers who answered the survey have been awarded to:

Jerald Allen, Cumberland; Kathleen Simerly, Moorefield, W.Va.; Shirley Valentine, Cumberland; David Christopher, Cumberland; Harold Anderson, Frostburg; Mrs. Charles Nave, Cumberland; Marguerite Lee, Keyser, W.Va.; Harold Bowman, Hancock; Charles and Roberta Dyche, Cumberland; Lelah Ray, Cumberland; Joan Jackson, LaVale; John Beegle, Cumberland; Erma Boyer, Friendsville; Ann Dimaio, Cumberland, and Bruce and Joy Douglas, Cumberland.

Complete results of the comics survey may be found on the Region page of Monday’s paper....

West Virginia is going to take a big hit on its gambling revenue when Pennsylvania begins slot machine use in the near future.

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review said experts project the Mountain State will see its share of casino money drop by about $100 million a year immediately after slots open in Pennsylvania. West Virginia’s most recent annual gambling revenue was $422 million.

One of the hardest hit areas will be the Wheeling Island Race Track and Gaming Resort. But you have to believe that some impact also will be felt at Charles Town, where slots have been king for several years now.

All the while, Maryland stands by and watches its citizens go elsewhere to spend their money on games of chance....

One of the most familiar faces on Washington TV news will soon be gone. News anchor Kathleen Matthews will leave WJLA Channel 7 in November to take a corporate job with Marriott International.

Matthews, 52, began her career at WJLA as a production assistant in 1976 and became an on-air reporter in 1982. Her husband is Chris Matthews, “Hardball” host on MSNBC....

Another screw-up for flu vaccines?

You have to wonder after The Food and Drug Administration sent a warning to vaccine-maker Sanofi-Pasteur Inc., ordering it to correct “significant deviations from current good manufacturing practices.”

Scripps Howard News Service reports both the company and the agency say the contamination issue involves early production of concentrates of one of the three strains that will be mixed to produce protection against the coming winter’s flu and should not affect production. But the situation is reminiscent of the 2004 shutdown of a British vaccine plant owned by Chiron that led to serious shortages of flu serum that winter....

Here’s something that might work locally. The Carnegie (Pa.) Police Department sends residents e-mail on request of police activities in the town. The police department said it views the e-mail information as yet one more way to keep citizens informed and to elicit help in fighting crime....

Seen on the Internet — Humorous epitaphs:

* Here lies — Ezekial Aikle — Age 102 — The good — Die young

* Here lies — Johnny Yeast — Pardon me — For not rising

* Sir John Strange — Here lies an honest lawyer — And that is Strange

* Here lies an atheist — All dressed up — And no place go to

* Ann Mann — here lies Ann Mann — Who lived an old maid — But died an old Mann

* In a Georgia cemetery: “I told you I was sick.”

Jan Alderton is managing editor of the Cumberland Times-News. His email address is jpalderton@times-news.com.