Poll: US gas prices fall 27 cents a gallon

Poll: US gas prices fall 27 cents a gallon

CAMARILLO, Calif.

The average price of regular gasoline nationwide has dropped 27 cents a gallon in the past three weeks, to $2.20.

Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg says it’s the lowest in more than five years and more drops are possible, although probably not as steep. Lundberg said Sunday that lower crude oil prices are driving prices down, along with an abundant oil supply.

Ohio EPA: After blast, no contaminants found

LIMA, OHIO

No dangerous contaminants were released into the air by an explosion at an oil refinery that was felt 10 miles away and sparked a fire that burned for more than 14 hours, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency said Sunday.

Testing was done by the U.S. EPA, Allen County and Husky Energy for a variety of contaminants, including benzene, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, hydrogen cyanide, hydrogen sulfide and asbestos, Ohio EPA spokeswoman Heidi Griesmer said.

The explosion at 6 a.m. Saturday triggered a fire that sent black smoke billowing into the air above the refinery.

Travelers open exits to protest delay

BEIJING

Upset by a delayed flight, at least two Chinese passengers decided to open emergency exit doors in protest as the plane was taxiing, forcing it to abort takeoff and landing them in jail instead, police said Sunday.

The latest in a growing number of air-rage cases involving Chinese travelers happened in the early hours of Saturday in the southwestern city of Chengdu, after the China Eastern flight was delayed by a snowstorm.

Angry passengers complained about the delay and a lack of ventilation, and a man surnamed Zhou opened three emergency exits to prevent the plane from taking off, forcing it to return to the gate, according to state broadcaster China Central Television.

Ruling could come on MLK Bible, medal

ATLANTA

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s traveling Bible hasn’t gone on regular display since President Barack Obama used it while taking his second oath of office two years ago. The public hasn’t seen the slain civil-rights icon’s 1964 Nobel Peace Prize medal in recent years, either. Both relics reside in a safe deposit box, the keys held since March by an Atlanta judge presiding over the latest — and in many eyes, the ugliest — fight between King’s heirs.

The Estate of Martin Luther King Jr. Inc., which is controlled by Martin Luther King III and his younger brother, Dexter Scott King, asked a judge a year ago to order their sister Bernice to turn over their father’s Nobel medal and traveling Bible. The brothers want to sell them to a private buyer.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney could decide the case at a hearing Tuesday or let it go to trial.

Drug-laced bread makes dozens ill

SANTA ANA, Calif.

Investigators were trying to determine how a synthetic drug got into holiday bread that sickened dozens of people in Southern California.

Police were called in because the Rosca de Reyes bread was made at Cholula’s Bakery, which was ordered closed last week after consumers complained of heart palpitations, dizziness, numbness and hallucinations.

The bakery will not reopen until the property is professionally cleaned, all ingredients used to make the tainted bread are thrown away and staff members are trained in food safety, said Nicole Stanfield, spokeswoman for the Orange County Health Care Agency.

Associated Press