Gas prices drop in US

Gas prices drop in US

CAMARILLO, Calif.

The average price of a gallon of regular-grade gasoline fell 7 cents nationally over the past two weeks, to $2.62.

Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg of the Lundberg Survey said Sunday that the drop comes as flooded refineries continue to come back online after devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey.

Lundberg says she expects prices will continue to fall in the next few weeks.

GOP pushes to end mining moratorium

MADISON, WIS.

Gov. Scott Walker voted to ban copper and gold mining in Wisconsin two decades ago. Now he may be asked to lift the one of-a-kind prohibition as his fellow Republicans push to continue opening up the state’s north woods to mining.

Conservationists have warned pollution from mining for so-called sulfide ores such as copper, zinc and gold could devastate northern Wisconsin’s water – one of the reasons the Legislature adopted a de facto moratorium on such mines in 1998. But after relaxing the state’s iron mining laws four years ago, GOP lawmakers have introduced a bill that would lift the prohibition. They say they want to jump-start the economy in the rural, sparsely populated northern half of the state.

Designs sought for Newtown memorial

NEWTOWN, CONN.

Officials are accepting design submissions for a permanent memorial to the 20 first-graders and six educators killed in a 2012 Connecticut school shooting.

Kyle Lyddy heads the commission in Newtown responsible for coming up with a memorial. He says members are looking for a design that will be sensitive to everyone who was impacted by the tragedy.

Designs must be submitted to the town by Dec. 15.

The massacre occurred inside Sandy Hook Elementary School.

The town recently received a donation of more than 5 acres of land for the memorial.

France: Macron’s party suffers a hit

PARIS

French President Emmanuel Macron’s upstart centrist party suffered its first electoral blow Sunday, as traditional conservatives dominated Senate elections amid mounting disenchantment with Macron’s leadership.

The results damage Macron’s legitimacy as he seeks to make his mark on Europe’s future and embarks on a divisive labor law overhaul that he hopes will invigorate the moribund French economy. Truckers plan to block highways and fuel depots today in the latest show of anti-Macron defiance.

Macron still could pass his reforms despite the election result, however. That’s because the lower house of Parliament has the final say in legislation over the Senate, and because lawmakers from the conservative Republicans party support many of Macron’s pro-business policy plans.

Official: Maria set Puerto Rico back

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico’s nonvoting representative in the U.S. Congress said Sunday that Hurricane Maria’s destruction has set the island back decades, even as authorities worked to assess the extent of the damage.

“The devastation in Puerto Rico has set us back nearly 20 to 30 years,” said Puerto Rico Resident Commissioner Jenniffer Gonzalez.

Engineers on Sunday planned to inspect the 90-year-old Guajataca Dam, which holds back a reservoir covering about 2 square miles in northwest Puerto Rico. The government said it suffered a large crack after Maria dumped 15 inches of rain on the surrounding mountains and that it “will collapse at any minute.”

Associated Press