Survey: U.S. gas prices drop 15¢ over 2 weeks
Survey: U.S. gas prices drop 15¢ over 2 weeks
CAMARILLO, Calif. — The average U.S. price of a gallon of gasoline has dropped 15 cents over the past two weeks.
That’s according to the Lundberg Survey of fuel prices, released Sunday, which puts the price of a gallon of regular at $3.48.
Midgrade costs an average of $3.65 a gallon, and premium is at $3.77.
Diesel dropped 13 cents to $3.78 a gallon.
Of the cities surveyed in the lower 48 states, Jackson, Miss., has the nation’s lowest average price for gas at $3.03. San Francisco has the highest at $3.95.
In California, the lowest average price was $3.77 in Sacramento. The average statewide for a gallon of regular was $3.86, down 27 cents.
Hedge fund manager
to pay back $405M that clients lost in Madoff scheme
ALBANY, N.Y. — A settlement announced Sunday will bring $405 million to victims of Bernard Madoff’s historic investment scam, the state attorney general said.
The clients of hedge fund manager J. Ezra Merkin will receive $405 million, and New York state will get $5 million to cover the cost of the settlement worked out by Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. The victims include New York Law School, Bard College, Harlem Children’s Zone, Homes for the Homeless and the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty.
Schneiderman called the agreement “a victory for justice and accountability.”
“Many New Yorkers entrusted their investments to Mr. Merkin, who then steered the money to Madoff while receiving millions of dollars in management and incentive fees,” Schneiderman said. “By holding Mr. Merkin accountable, this settlement will help bring justice for the people and institutions that lost millions of dollars.”
Merkin’s attorney, Andrew J. Levander, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday.
Debby more likely to hit eastern Gulf coast than Louisiana
MIAMI — Slow-moving Tropical Storm Debby’s outer bands lashed Florida with rain and kicked up rough surf off Alabama on Sunday, prompting storm warnings for those states and causing at least one death.
The death in Florida was blamed on a tornado spawned by the storm, while a man went missing in the Gulf of Mexico at an Alabama beach.
Coastal Alabama and parts of Florida, including the Panhandle, were under tropical storm warnings. Underscoring the storm’s unpredictable nature, forecasters discontinued a tropical storm warning for Louisiana after forecast models indicated Debby wasn’t likely to turn west.
Debby already has dumped heavy rain on parts of Florida and spawned some isolated tornadoes, causing damage to homes and knocking down power lines. High winds forced the closure of an interstate bridge that spans Tampa Bay and links St. Petersburg with areas to the southeast. Residents in several counties near the crook of Florida’s elbow were urged to leave low-lying neighborhoods because of the threat of flooding.
Debby was essentially stationary about 115 miles (185 km) south-southwest of Apalachicola, Fla., on Sunday evening. While storm tracks are difficult to discern days in advance, a forecast map predicted that the storm would meander north as the week unfolds.
Poll: A fourth of voters are up for grabs, holding big power over presidential race
WASHINGTON — They shrug at President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney. They’re in no hurry to decide which one to support in the White House race. And they’ll have a big say in determining who wins the White House.
One-quarter of U.S. voters are persuadable, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll, and both Obama and Romney will spend the next four months trying to convince these fickle, hard-to-reach individuals that only he has what it takes to fix an ailing nation.
It’s a delicate task. These voters also hate pandering.
“I don’t believe in nothing they say,” says Carol Barber of Ashland, Ky., among the 27 percent of the electorate that hasn’t determined whom to back or that doesn’t have a strong preference about a candidate.
Like many uncommitted voters, the 66-year-old Barber isn’t really paying attention to politics these days. She’s largely focused on her husband, who just had a liver transplant, and the fact that she had to refinance her home to pay much of his health bill. “I just can’t concentrate on it now,” she says before adding, “If there were somebody running who knows what it’s like to struggle, that would be different.”
‘Jeopardy!’ host Alex Trebek hospitalized with mild heart attack
NEW YORK — “Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek is in a Los Angeles hospital recovering from a mild heart attack.
Sony Television spokeswoman Paula Askanas said Sunday that Trebek was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on Saturday. She says the 71-year-old Trebek is expected to fully recover and be back giving answers when “Jeopardy!” resumes production on a new season in July.
While he was in the hospital on Saturday, “Jeopardy!” won a Daytime Emmy award for best game show.
Trebek has been hosting “Jeopardy!” for 28 years.
By wire sources