US gas price drops

US gas price drops

CAMARILLO, Calif.

The average price of a gallon of regular-grade gasoline dropped 3 cents nationally over the past two weeks to $2.51.

Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg of the Lundberg Survey said Sunday that further declines are likely because U.S. gas supplies are flush.

The current gas price is 25 cents above where it was a year ago. Gas in San Francisco was the highest in the contiguous U.S. at an average of $3.22 a gallon. The lowest was in Jackson, Miss., at $2.14 a gallon.

Bitcoin futures start trading on CME

NEW YORK

Another security based on the price of bitcoin, the digital currency that has soared in value and volatility this year, began trading on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange on Sunday.

The CME Group, which owns the exchange, opened up bitcoin futures for trading at 6 p.m. unday. The futures contract that expires in January opened at $20,650, then slipped back to $19,480 at 6:45 p.m., down $20.

The CME futures, like the ones that CME competitor the Cboe started trading last week, do not involve actual bitcoin. The CME’s futures will track an index of bitcoin prices pulled from several private exchanges.

Mass. marijuana fans roll 100-ft. joint

WORCESTER, Mass.

Massachusetts marijuana aficionados have rolled a 100-foot-long joint.

The effort was led by Boston-based cannabis club and advocacy group Beantown Greentown during an exhibition of pro-marijuana vendors and supporters at the DCU Center in Worcester on Saturday.

They perfected a secret rolling technique using 1,000 grams (35.27 ounces) of their own pot trimmings.

The Telegram & Gazette reports that people crowded around to take selfies when the final product was displayed Saturday. Thousands of people attended. Massachusetts last year voted to legalize the possession and consumption of marijuana.

Flames threaten coastal communities

LOS ANGELES

Thousands of firefighters tried Sunday to shield coastal communities from one of the biggest wildfires in California history while a funeral procession rolled past burn-scarred hillsides in honor of one of their colleagues who was killed battling the flames.

Crews cleared brush and dug containment lines above hillside neighborhoods in Santa Barbara County, taking advantage of slightly calmer winds a day after gusts fanned a flare-up that prompted more evacuations.

Mourners stood on freeway overpasses to pay respects to firefighter Cory Iverson, 32, who died Thursday of burns and smoke inhalation. His funeral procession was scheduled to wind through five Southern California counties before ending up at a funeral home in San Diego, where he was based with a state fire engine strike team.

Suicide bombers attack church; 9 die

QUETTA, Pakistan

Two suicide bombers struck a church in Pakistan on Sunday, killing nine people and wounding more than 50 others, authorities said, in the first attack on a church claimed by the country’s Islamic State group affiliate.

Hundreds of worshippers were attending services ahead of Christmas when the bombers appeared in the city of Quetta and clashed with security forces. One assailant was killed at the church entrance. The other made it inside, said Sarfaraz Bugti, home minister for the southwestern Baluchistan province.

The Islamic State group later claimed responsibility for the attack on their Aamaq news agency, saying two “plungers” from their group had stormed the church, without providing more details.

Associated Press