Note 5 - Retirement Plans

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2012

Pension and Other Postretirement Benefits Disclosure [Text Block]

5.        Retirement Plans

The following table provides the components of net periodic benefit cost for our pension plans for the three-month and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2012 and 2011, respectively (in thousands):

	Three Months Ended						Nine Months Ended
	September 30,						September 30,
	2012			2011			2012			2011
Service cost	$	1,243		$	568		$	3,538		$	2,701
Interest cost		899			996			2,559			2,502
Expected return on plan assets		(739	)		(780	)		(2,104	)		(2,014	)
Loss amortization		624			496			1,775			805
Net periodic benefit cost	$	2,027		$	1,280		$	5,768		$	3,994

During the nine-month period ended September 30, 2012, we contributed $5.4 million to our pension plans. During the remainder of the year ending December 31, 2012, we expect to contribute an additional $1.3 million to our pension plans.