Gas prices fall a penny over 3 weeks

Gas prices fall a penny over 3 weeks

CAMARILLO, Calif.

The average price of gasoline has dropped a penny over the past three weeks, to $2.05 a gallon.

Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg said Sunday that with the slight decline the price remains the lowest since 2009.

Lundberg says prices may continue to go down as crude oil costs drop and refineries run at a high rate.

The current gas price is 15 cents per gallon under its year-ago point.

In the Lower 48 states, the highest average price of regular gasoline was $3.01 per gallon in Los Angeles. The lowest was $1.64 in St. Louis.

20 dead in bus crash in Mexico

VERACRUZ, Mexico

Mexican officials say 20 people died when a bus plunged off a bridge and fell into a deep gorge.

The head of the civil defense office in the Gulf coast state of Veracruz says the accident killed 20 of the 45 people on board. Yolanda Gutierrez said the bus apparently was carrying members of a soccer team when it skidded off a bridge Sunday near the city of Cordoba.

The Veracruz state government said the bus likely was speeding, and the driver lost control when it went over a speed bump.

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto expressed his condolences to the victims’ families in his Twitter account. It was unclear if the driver survived.

There was no immediate information on the condition of the 25 injured.

Tornado touches down in Florida, damages homes

CAPE CORAL, Fla.

Authorities say a weekend tornado that touched down in southwest Florida with winds up to 135 mph damaged several homes, left thousands without power for a time, but caused no serious injuries or deaths.

Police say the tornado caused scattered damage over about 12 square miles in Cape Coral on Saturday evening. Only a few minor injuries were reported.

“We have numerous power lines down, we have numerous homes that have been damaged,” Cape Coral Police spokesman Dana Coston said shortly afterward. Coston says nearly 10,000 people lost electricity but power was being restored.

Photos showed overturned cars, a roof nearly torn off and large trees down across yards. The Red Cross opened a shelter at a school for residents unable to immediately return home.

New Yorkers strip to underwear in winter chill

NEW YORK

New Yorkers thought it was a hot thing to strip to their underwear in winter – in public – along with pantless crowds in about 60 countries.

Miguel Ramos, 24, called himself a “no-pant virgin” in Sunday’s No Pants Subway Ride. It was his first foray into the “international celebration of silliness,” as organizers billed it.

The laughter-filled ritual started in New York in 2002.

It was coordinated by Improve Everywhere, a global flash mob. Participants were assigned personal numbers and told to show up at central gathering spots in each city borough. They then boarded subways, tearing their pants off on the tracks.

Whole New York families took part, including babies bared to their diapers.

Pantless riders also appeared in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, London and elsewhere.

Associated Press