Gas prices rise again

Gasoline prices are rising in Iowa again, slowly, after Thursday’s Homeland Security announcement about new terrorist threats. Triple-A-Iowa spokeswoman Dawn Duffy says crude oil prices topped 40-dollars a barrel on Friday for the first time in more than a month. Duffy says “On average, it takes approximately six weeks for crude oil to be pumped out of the ground, refined, shipped to where it needs to go, and actually go into our vehicles. However, bad news, frightening news, threats, things like that can affect prices overnight.” The statewide average for gas is now a dollar-79, up several cents in the past few days. It was a dollar-93 a month ago and a dollar-43 a year ago. Duffy says prices already bounded statewide just before the Independence Day weekend, crept down for a few days, then shot right back up.Duffy says “Our system is so fragile that any little news, whether it is a threat or an actual occurrence of an event, can really affect gas prices almost immediately.” Duffy says there is something Iowa motorists can do to fight back. She says “If they keep a quarter to a half tank full, they can pass right on by the more expensive stations and give their business to the stations that have cheaper gas.” U.S. Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge says Al Qaida is planning attacks in the U.S. to disrupt the November elections, though there are no immediate plans to raise the threat level.