Gas prices are six cents higher in Western Pennsylvania this week at $3.549 per gallon, according to AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report.

This week’s average prices: Western Pennsylvania Average                         $3.549
Average price during the week of Oct. 7, 2024                                                 $3.489
Average price during the week of Oct. 16, 2023                                               $3.845

The average price of unleaded self-serve gasoline in various areas:      

$3.550      Altoona
$3.564      Beaver
$3.772      Bradford
$3.501      Brookville
$3.546      Butler
$3.393      Clarion
$3.575      DuBois
$3.562      Erie
$3.571      Greensburg
$3.561      Indiana
$3.594      Jeannette
$3.512      Kittanning
$3.566      Latrobe
$3.587      Meadville
$3.495      Mercer
$3.446      New Castle
$3.463      New Kensington
$3.587      Oil City
$3.543      Pittsburgh
$3.406      Sharon
$3.538      Uniontown
$3.759      Warren
$3.525      Washington

Trend Analysis:
The national average for a gallon of gas has jumped three cents since last week to $3.20 as parts of the country deal with back-to-back storm damage. Like Hurricane Helene, Milton has not severely impact national gasoline supplies but will affect demand in areas with destroyed infrastructure, flooded roads, and power outages. Today’s national average is a penny less than a month ago and 40 cents less than a year ago.

According to new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), gas demand surged from 8.52 million barrels per day last week to 9.65. Meanwhile, total domestic gasoline stocks plunged from 221.2 million barrels to 214.9, while gasoline production increased last week, averaging 10.2 million barrels daily.

At the close of Wednesday’s formal trading session, West Texas Intermediate fell by 33 cents to settle at $73.24 a barrel. The EIA reports that crude oil inventories increased by 5.8 million barrels from the previous week. At 422.7 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are about 4% below the five-year average for this time of year.

Harrisburg, PA – The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) Office of Public-Private Partnerships (P3) announced today that it is accepting unsolicited proposals for transportation projects from the private sector through Oct. 31.

 

The submission period applies to PennDOT-owned projects and infrastructure. During this period, the private sector can submit proposals offering innovative ways to deliver transportation projects across a variety of modes including roads, bridges, rail, aviation, and ports. Proposals can also include more efficient models to manage existing transportation-related services and programs.

 

The private sector may also submit applications for non-PennDOT-owned assets directly to the P3 board during this time. Transportation entities outside of the governor’s jurisdiction, such as transit authorities, may establish their own timelines or accept proposals year-round. Unsolicited proposals are being accepted through 11:59 PM on Oct. 31. Instructions on how to submit a project and information on the unsolicited proposal review process can be found on the state’s P3 website.

 

The state’s P3 law allows PennDOT and other transportation authorities and commissions to partner with private companies to participate in delivering, maintaining, and financing transportation-related projects.

 

As part of the P3 law, the seven-member Public Private Transportation Partnership Board was appointed to examine and approve potential public-private transportation projects. If the board determines a state operation would be more cost-effectively administered by a private company, the company will be authorized to submit a proposal and enter into a contract to either completely or partially take over that operation for a defined period of time.

 

A study by Women for a Healthy Environment found more than 90% of Pennsylvania school districts that tested for lead in their drinking water reported contamination. (Rafael Ben-Ari/Adobe Stock)
Danielle Smith – Keystone State News Connection

Concerning levels of lead have been detected in the drinking water at some Pennsylvania schools, according to a new report. The investigation examined nine large school districts across the state and reveals widespread noncompliance with safety regulations.

David Masur, executive director of PennEnvironment, says his organization filed a set of “Right to Know” requests with school districts across the state – and in all nine cases, found the districts were not implementing best practices to protect kids from lead in drinking water.

“Eight of the nine school districts were actually violating Pennsylvania law when it came to properly testing and reporting for lead in school drinking water, and even for giving children proper access to adequate amounts of drinking water,” Masur reported.

He added several districts violated the requirement to have one drinking fountain for every one hundred kids and occupants in a building, and noted that there is no safe level of lead, especially for children. Exposure can lead to learning disabilities and hearing and speech problems, as it can affect brain development and lower I.Q.

Masur said his group is calling on members of the General Assembly to immediately implement two bipartisan proposals – Senate Bill 986 and House Bill 2011. They would require all Pennsylvania school districts to replace older drinking-water systems.

“Basically they require school districts to implement the best practices,” he explained. “That includes requiring all school districts to replace old drinking fountains – any drinking fountain put in before 2014 – with lead-filtering water bottle filling stations and drinking fountains.”

He said the legislation also includes about $30 million to help school districts cover the cost of these upgrades to protect kids’ health.

Travis Gienger, of Anoka, Minn., middle, celebrates after his pumpkin weighed in at 2,471 pounds to win at the Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay, Calif., Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

HALF MOON BAY, Calif. (AP) — A Minnesota horticulture teacher remained the reigning champion Monday of an annual pumpkin-weighing contest in Northern California where his massive gourds have won the top prize four years in a row.

Travis Gienger, of Anoka, Minnesota, beat his closest competitor by 6 pounds (2.7 kilograms) to clinch the victory at the 51st World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay, south of San Francisco.

His winning gourd came in at 2,471 pounds (1,121 kilograms), falling short of the world record he set last year with a pumpkin weighing 2,749 pounds (1,247 kilograms).

Gienger, 44, said that as he has done in the past, he focused on having healthy soil and well-fed plants but that a cold fall with record-breaking rain likely impacted his pumpkin’s growth.

“We had really, really tough weather and somehow, some way, I kept on working,” Gienger said. “I had to work for this one, and we got it done at the end, but it wasn’t by much.”

Gienger and his family drove his gargantuan gourd for 35 hours to California.

He said the giant pumpkin’s next stop will be in Southern California, where a team of professional carvers will do a 3D carve on it at a Halloween event.

FILE – In this March 27, 2020, file photo, a Walgreens sign is displayed outside the store in Wheeling, Ill. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)

Walgreens plans to close about 1,200 locations over the next three years as the drugstore chain seeks to turnaround its struggling U.S. business.

The company said Tuesday that about 500 store closures will come in the current fiscal year and should immediately support adjusted earnings and free cash flow. Walgreens didn’t say where the store closings would take place.

Walgreens operates about 8,500 stores in the United States and a few thousand overseas. All of the stores that will be closed are in the United States.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. leaders said in late June that they were finalizing a turnaround plan for its U.S. business, and that push could result in the closing of hundreds of underperforming stores.

The plan announced Tuesday includes the closing of 300 stores that had been approved under a previous cost-cutting plan.

Walgreens CEO Tim Wentworth said in a statement that fiscal 2025, which began last month, will be an important “rebasing year” for the drugstore chain.

“This turnaround will take time, but we are confident it will yield significant financial and consumer benefits over the long term,” he said.

Walgreens, like its competitors, has been struggling for years with tight reimbursement for the prescriptions it sells as well as other challenges like rising costs to operate its stores.

The Deerfield, Illinois, company also has been backing away from a plan to add primary care clinics next to some if its stores after launching an aggressive expansion under previous CEO Rosalind Brewer.

Walgreens said in August that it was reviewing its U.S. healthcare business, and it might sell all or part of its VillageMD clinic business. That announcement came less than two years after the company said it would spend billions to expand the business.

The company started 2024 by cutting the dividend it pays shareholders to get more cash to grow its business. The drugstore chain then slashed its forecast for fiscal 2024 in June.

Walgreens said Tuesday that its net loss swelled to more than $3 billion in the final quarter of 2024. Adjusted earnings totaled 39 cents per share, and sales grew 6% in the quarter to $37.5 billion.

That topped Wall Street expectations. Analysts expect, on average, earnings of 36 cents per share on $35.75 billion in revenue in the fiscal fourth quarter, according to FactSet.

The company also said it expects adjusted earnings in the new fiscal year to fall between $1.40 and $1.80 per share, with growth in its U.S. healthcare and international businesses countering the U.S. retail pharmacy decline.

For the fiscal 2025, analysts expect adjusted earnings of $1.72 per share.

Walgreens shares jumped 5% Tuesday in early morning trading.

The stock had shed nearly two thirds of their value so far this year, falling to $9 as of Monday’s close.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania’s legislative Republicans would like to pass additional voter ID requirements, restrict abortion and make election changes to improve their odds of winning judicial races. Democrats want to bump up the state’s minimum wage and widen civil rights for LGBTQ people.

In the closely divided General Assembly, those proposals have gone nowhere.

Next month the state’s voters will determine whether to change that dynamic, filling all 203 House seats and half the 50-member Senate. Democrats go into the election with a one-seat House majority, while in the Senate, Republicans have 28 seats and therefore majority control.

Democrats would need to flip three Senate seats to get the chamber to a 25-25 deadlock, leaving Democratic Lt. Gov. Austin Davis to break ties on procedural votes but not final passage of legislation. They hope to thread the needle by taking GOP seats in Harrisburg, Erie and the Pittsburgh area while returning all of their own incumbents.

This year, a few dozen legislative races across the country could determine party control in state capitols, affecting state laws on abortion, guns and transgender rights. Statehouse control is more politically important in the wake of recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions weakening federal regulatory oversight, giving more power to states.

In state House elections, it’s typical that only a couple dozen races are close enough to be competitive — a handful in the Philadelphia suburbs along with others scattered around the state.

Democrats were aided by redrawn district lines when they flipped a net of 12 seats two years ago, retaking majority control after more than a decade in the legislative wilderness. A state House rule linking majority status to the results of elections rather than new vacancies has meant Democrats have maintained control of the chamber floor even as two members resigned this summer and gave Republicans a bare 101-100 margin. Those seats were filled Sept. 17 by Democrats who ran unopposed, and both are also unopposed in the General Election.

This fall, more than half of the House districts have only one candidate on the ballot.

Among the Republican targets in the House is Rep. Frank Burns, a Cambria County Democrat who has somehow stayed in office despite facing biennial GOP challenges in the very Republican Johnstown area. Another is Rep. Jim Haddock, a freshman Democrat who won a Lackawanna and Luzerne district by about 4 percentage points two years ago.

Democrats have hopes of unseating Rep. Craig Williams, R-Delaware, who made an unsuccessful bid for the GOP’s attorney general nomination this spring. Outside Pittsburgh, Rep. Valerie Gaydos is also seen as relatively vulnerable.

Rep. Nick Pisciottano, a Democrat, is giving up his Allegheny County district to run for state Senate. Rep. Jim Gregory lost the Republican primary to Scott Barger, who is unopposed in a Blair County district. Brian Rasel, a Republican, faces no other candidate to succeed Rep. George Dunbar, R-Westmoreland.

Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, D-Philadelphia, is unopposed for reelection but he’s also running for auditor general, raising the possibility the two parties could be tied after the votes are counted.

The state Senate races widely seen as the most competitive are the reelection efforts of Sen. Dan Laughlin, R-Erie, and Sen. Devlin Robinson, R-Allegheny. Dauphin County Sen. John DiSanto, a Republican, is not seeking another term after his district saw significant changes through redistricting. State Rep. Patty Kim, D-Dauphin, and Nick DiFrancesco, a Republican and the Dauphin County treasurer, are facing off to succeed DiSanto.

Democrats have to defend a Pittsburgh state Senate opening because of the retirement of Sen. Jim Brewster, a Democrat. Pisciottano is going up against Republican security company owner Jen Dintini for Brewster’s seat.