Every year, we hear scattered stories of inaccurate measures. Gas pumps, grocery scales, grocery scanners, incorrectly labeled products. Considering the many thousands of devices in the average inspector's jurisdiction, it's a testament to the tenacity of the weights and measures officials that we don't hear these stories more often.

Incorrect measures are not always the result of criminal activity. The world is an imperfect place, and these devices get out of whack. It's the job of the weights and measures inspector to see that many different scales are put right again.

Weights and Measures Week is held March 1-7 every year to commemorate President John Adams's signing of the first U.S. weights and measures law on March 2, 1799. The National Conference on Weights and Measures (NCWM) has declared this year's Weights and Measures Week will be a celebration of our weights and measures officials, the women and men who work every day to make sure the marketplace measures up.

 …