Analysts say our soaring gas prices should see a drop of nearly 50 cents as early as June. Gas prices during the past month have risen 36 cents a gallon in Columbus, Ohio, to $4.10. But “it’s just the nature of the business,” says Fred Rozell, retail pricing director at the Oil Price Information Service. Rozell says that drivers may not notice a drop at first because when the gas prices fluctuate nationally, areas with many service stations are slower to react to a drop in prices. The projected 50-cent drop in prices would save U.S. drivers about $189 million a day. So now we can all stop banging the streetcar drum. Right?—-
After losing $52 million in state funding, the Cincinnati streetcar project has been adapted to the new budget, which is $95 million plus the cost of relocating utilities. City Manager Milton Dohoney last week announced that the new route will consist of five streetcars as opposed to the seven originally planned. The route will connect Fountain Square with Findlay market as well as take riders near the city’s casino, slated to open in 2013. “It would be easy to just say, ‘We’re going to quit,’ ” Dohoney said. “The reason that we are determined to see it through, when you think about the budget process that has taken place in our city, clearly there is a need to expand the city’s tax base. You have to identify what proactive step a city can take to expand the tax base, to create more jobs, create more density, to create more development. A streetcar is one such tool.”
Wisconsin-style rioting is going to ensue this Thursday, according to the New York Teachers’ Union. The head of the union on Saturday vowed to put a stop to Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s plan to layoff 4,100 teachers. “Mr. Mayor, it’s not going to happen, and enough is enough!” shouted Michael Mulgrew, president of the United Federation of Teachers, as he whipped up a roaring crowd at the UFT’s spring conference in midtown New York. Bloomberg had revealed a $65.7 billion city budget that calls for cutting 6,100 teacher jobs, including 2,000 through attrition on Friday. But the UFT and other city unions plan to draw tens of thousands to a May 12 march from City Hall and other sites to Wall Street to demand that Bloomberg make big banks rescued by the bailout pay more to prevent cuts for education and other city services.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the Cleveland, Miss., Public School District is violating the 1969 desegregation order by continuing to operate predominately single-raced schools. The Department of Justice has filed a motion in federal court to order the district to develop a plan to integrate. “It is intolerable for school districts to continue operating schools that retain their racial identity from the Jim Crow era,” Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division, said in a statement. But an attorney for the Cleveland Public School District told the AP that the district has fulfilled its obligation to the desegregation order and often update the federal government on its attempt to integrate. “Of our 10 schools, we have six that have a significant integrated population,” attorney Jamie Jacks said. “The district was hopeful they [the Justice Department] would see not only that we are a truly integrated system within the Mississippi Delta, but we’re a good school district. Our kids do well and get a great education.” Of Cleveland’s 3,491 students, 68 percent are black and 29 percent white.
Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) on Saturday introduced a bill that would merge the EPA and the Department of Energy into one department. Burr and his 15 cosponsors, including John McCain (R-Ariz.), argue that “duplicative functions” can be eliminated and that the new Department of Energy and Environment (DOEE) would improve “the administration of energy and environmental policies by ensuring a coordinated approach” while providing “cost savings.”
The Daily Mail today reported that two Muslim religious leaders, on their way to a North American Imams conference to discuss Islamaphobia and discrimination against American Muslims, were asked to leave a commercial airliner in Memphis. Masudar Rahman and a colleague had boarded their Delta flight from Memphis to Charlotte when they were asked to get off the plane because the pilot refused to fly with them aboard. “It’s racism and bias because of our religion and appearance and because of misinformation about our religion,” Mr. Rahman said. “If they understood Islam, they wouldn’t do this.”
The two-time defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers are out of the playoffs after being swept in four games by the Dallas Mavericks, while Derrick Rose is tied with the Hawks 2-2. The Memphis Grizzlies lead the Oklahoma City Thunder 2-1 and the Miami Heat lead the Celtics 2-1.
The Reds shut out the Cubbies 2-0 at Wrigley Field yesterday on Johnny Cueto’s season debut for the Reds. Joey “Off my fantasy team” Votto went 0-4, failing to reach base safely in a game for the first time this season.
This article appears in May 4-10, 2011.