Gasoline prices up another 3 cents
Camarillo, Calif.
Retail gas prices across the country jumped another 3 cents, following a 9-cent hike reported earlier this month, according to a survey released Sunday.
The weighted average price for all three grades climbed to $2.36 a gallon by Friday, said Trilby Lundberg, who publishes the semimonthly Lundberg Survey of 7,000 gas stations around the country.
Self-serve regular averaged $2.33 a gallon nationwide. Mid-grade cost $2.43 a gallon while the price for premium was $2.53.
Among stations surveyed, the lowest average price in the country for regular unleaded was in Portland, at $2.10 per gallon. The priciest was $2.80 a gallon in Honolulu.
Wonder Bread to come in whole wheat version
Wonder Bread, that icon of squishy, oh-so-American white bread, turns a nutritional corner today with the launch of two whole wheat versions intended to look, taste and feel just like the spongy original.
It’s part of a plan to resuscitate Wonder Bread’s baker, the bankrupt Interstate Bakeries Corp. — also the maker of Hostess Twinkies — which has struggled as consumers went from rejecting carbs outright to demanding they be whole grain.
The new breads include Wonder White Bread Fans, which is 100 percent whole grain, and Wonder Made With Whole Grain White, which is part whole grain, part white flour. The company also is introducing Wonder Kids, a highly fortified white bread.
Jury recommends life for university shooter
Cleveland A jury on Sunday recommended life in prison without parole for a former graduate student who killed another student and wounded two others during a seven-hour siege inside Case Western Reserve University’s business school.
Biswanath Halder was convicted last month of killing Norman Wallace during the 2003 shooting spree and standoff.
He could have received the death penalty, but the jury rejected the ultimate sentence during two days of deliberations. Judge Peggy Foley Jones, who must formally decide Halder’s fate, put off sentencing until Feb. 17.
Psychologists had testified that Halder is sane but delusional, and his attorneys argued that the 65-year-old’s life should be spared because he is mentally ill. Defense attorneys acknowledged he was the gunman.
During the trial, jurors saw surveillance video showing Halder, wearing a military helmet and flak jacket, walk up a university hallway and shoot to death a student who was chatting with others.
Halder was convicted of 196 counts, including aggravated murder, attempted murder, aggravated burglary and kidnapping.
Reports say Abramoff, Bush in photos together
Washington, D.C. Although President Bush says he doesn’t recall meeting convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff, the two have reportedly turned up in photos together.
Both Washingtonian and Time magazines have reported the existence of about a half-dozen photos showing the two together.
Time reported on its Web site Sunday that its staff members have seen at least six photos featuring Bush and Abramoff, who has pleaded guilty to federal charges stemming from his lobbying practices and has pledged to cooperate with investigators. They appeared to have been taken at White House functions, according to the reports.
The White House has acknowledged that Abramoff attended some events at the Executive Mansion, and spokeswoman Dana Perino said Sunday it’s not surprising that the two would have met.
“The president has taken tens upon thousands of pictures at such events,” Perino said.
The White House also has not released any photos featuring the president and Abramoff, who was declared a Bush “pioneer” for raising at least $100,000 for the Bush-Cheney ‘04 re-election campaign.