Buck Knives opening to feature tour

Buck Knives will celebrate the grand opening of its new manufacturing plant with a 10 a.m. ribbon cutting ceremony on Saturday.

A scimitar designed just for the occasion will be used to cut the ribbon. CJ Buck, president and CEO of the 103-year-old firm, and Chuck Buck, chairman, will be joined by state and local officials instrumental in the company’s move to North Idaho from the San Diego area.

Buck Knives is located at 660 S. Lochsa St., in the Riverbend Commerce Park, just south of Interstate 90 in Post Falls.

Following the ribbon-cutting, the plant will be open to the public for a walk-through tour. Buck’s regularly scheduled plant tours will start on May 23. A museum is a permanent feature of the new plant, with samples of some of Buck’s earliest knives, including ones crafted by Hoyt Buck, the company’s founder.

Lower gas prices still well above last year’s

The retail price of gasoline fell by 2 cents last week to average $2.16 a gallon nationwide, the Energy Department reported Monday.

The weekly government survey said the average price nationwide of regular-grade gasoline was $2.163 per gallon, or 14.6 cents a gallon higher than the same time a year ago.

Pump prices were highest on the West Coast, averaging $2.437 a gallon, and cheapest in the Gulf Coast, where motorists paid on average $2.063 a gallon. In the Midwest, gas averages $2.072 per gallon.

One of the key factors underpinning today’s price of gasoline is the high cost of oil – the result of strong demand, tight global supplies and geopolitical uncertainties.