A former lawyer went to small claims court, demanding that Honda compensate her for all the gasoline that she expected to save when she switched to a hybrid. The ex-attorney Heather Peters said that when she bought a 2006 hybrid Honda Civic, the company promised her that she would get 50 miles to the gallon. more ›

27-year-old Christian Borro thought he was driving on borrowed time in a car he'd stolen. He pulled alongside a Los Angeles Police Department squad car on Monday morning and declared to the officers: "I just stole this car." As one might expect, the cops were intrigued, and pulled Borro over to look into his claim. more ›

These days the pain at the pump is felt by the motorists, but on Sunday, one gas station owner in Wilmington had a "computer glitch" to blame for his pump-prompted pain. Kenny Nguyen, proprietor of a Valero station, unwittingly charged customers $1.10 per gallon for Premium Unleaded gasoline for four hours--when the price should have been around $4.29, according to the Daily Breeze. more ›

It was just last week a visiting friend remarked that the penalty gas rate at $4 per gallon was, for the first time in his experience, cheaper than the cost to fill up on his own here in Los Angeles. WHY MUST YOU SPEAK SO LOUDLY?? THEY HEARD YOU!! The L.A. Times is reporting that some agencies are now charging upward of $9 per gallon to refill the rental car if you return a vehicle below the demarcation line. more ›

Yesterday in Los Angeles County, the average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline rose 3.9 cents to $3.704 after rising 6.1 cents on Friday, reports the Daily News. more ›

We're paying more--in some cases a helluva lot more--for just about everything we use these days, according to the OC Register. The Consumer Price Index for the Orange County-Los Angeles-Riverside shows a bump in the cost of food, gasoline, transportation, utilities, education, and even apparel. more ›

If the next few days involve fueling up and hitting the road, whether it's a long weekend getaway or a drive to Pasadena to see the Rose Parade, you'll be feeling a budgetary hit we haven't felt in SoCal since 2008. "Southern California gas prices are at their highest December levels of all time - and higher than at any point since October 2008 - after continuing to rise all week," according to the Automobile Club of Southern California. more ›

Fueling up is getting more expensive by the week, and our gas prices in Southern California have "hit levels not seen in more than two years," explains the Los Angeles Business Journal. more ›

Brick-and-mortar restaurants assert that food trucks are killing their business. Food truck operators will say it's a free market and healthy competition is healthy. However, if you are looking to make the "greener" of the two choices, are you eating lunch at a sit-down restaurant, or from a four-wheeled truck? more ›

Environmental groups will hit the streets on Thursday to protest two Texas oil companies that are bankrolling a ballot initiative that, if placed on the ballot and approved, would roll back California's landmark climate law AB 32. more ›

Californians continued to drive less last November, according to state numbers on gasoline and diesel use released today. 1.170 billion gallons of gasoline were consumed compared to the 1.246 billion gallons the month before and the 1.198 billion gallons in November 2008 (2.3% difference). That all equates to $72 million in estimated taxes the cash-strapped state did not get. Diesel consumption also dropped by 3.2% compared to the year before, according to the Board of Equalization. more ›

Although gas was about 40-cents cheaper the year before, gasoline demand last October declined 0.4 percent when Californians used 1.246 billion gallons of gasoline compared to 1.252 billion gallons the same month in 2008, according to a state report released today. That percentage difference means about a $27 million difference in taxes collected by the state. "The October decrease in consumption is the first decline in six months," said the California State Board of Equalization. "The previous five months showed small increases in consumption when compared to last year." Use of Diesel, which generally follows economic activity during a recession, was down by 11.1%. more ›

An odor emanating in the northern San Fernando Valley prompted numerous calls to 9-1-1 this morning, beginning at 6:30 a.m. more ›

The poshest gas station in Los Angeles--directly abut the Beverly Hills border at Olympic and Robertson--just recently changed its branding from BP to the company-owned and consumer friendly ARCO. Usually, the brand is cheaper or seems so without the 45-cent charge to use a card. But that's clearly not the case here. Catty-corner in Beverly Hills, the listed prices are same, sans credit charge. more ›

Finally, the budget has passed both houses--the Senate early this morning and the Assembly this afternoon--and Governor Arnold Scwharzenegger says he plans to sign it next week. However, the LA Times hints that Schwarzenegger may do some line item vetoing and a $1.1 billion deficit still remains to be solved. more ›

The 2009 Urban Mobility Report was released today, and the study gives us insight into how much time and gas we waste in traffic, according to abc7. Published by the Texas Transportation Institute, the study uses 2007 data to compare to earlier years, and while we may want to cheer that we shaved one hour from our "stuck in traffic" time from 2006 to 2007, we are still the worst in the nation when it comes to traffic. more ›

Today, the Legislature is expected to vote to close the State's $24 billion budget deficit with measures that include taking $57 million in gas tax money from the City of Los Angeles. If that were to happen, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa says the city could lose 800 street maintenance positions through those revenues. Yes, street maintenance, one of the most complained about aspects of Los Angeles. more ›

Last year this time, gas was a daily news story as it climbed to its all time high on June 21st at $4.626. However, in these recession times, gas prices are not, thankfully, news breaking items. Gas has risen 19-cents in the last two weeks, now at the price of $2.743 per gallon of regular. more ›

Good news for folks with empty tanks: Gas prices in the Los Angeles area have been declining steadily for four weeks now, and are expected to continue to move down, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California. Prices are descending "by about half a penny a day over the past week as more and more Southland gas stations posted prices under $2 a gallon." more ›

Gas prices continued to increase at the rate of about a penny a day this past week. That makes for an average of $2.07 in the Los Angeles area today. "Southern California prices do normally rise at this time of year as refineries cut inventory, perform maintenance, and prepare to produce the 'summer blend' of gasoline that is required to improve the state's air quality," said Auto Club spokesperson Jeffrey Spring in a statement. "Since their low point nearly six weeks ago, gas price averages have risen by 34 to 38 cents in most local areas." This is still much better than prices soaring above $4. more ›

Gas prices have been increasing over the last week leaving the current price for a gallon of regular at $1.781, six cents more than seven days ago. Not to fear, though; that's still 33 cents lower than last month and $1.44 under last year. “The increases have pulled California up once again to have one of the most expensive statewide gas price averages in the U.S., behind only Alaska, Hawaii and New York,” explained Auto Club spokesperson Jeffrey Spring in a statement on Friday. And don't forget! This is the last weekend of late-night Metro Red Line subway service! more ›

No longer are the days of daily gas price decreases. For the fifth consecutive day, prices in the Los Angeles region have increased. Today's average price for a gallon of regular is $1.766. But not to worry, the Daily News has a good perspective: "The average price has risen 4.4 cents in a week, but is 48.5 cents less than a month ago, $1.469 less than at this time last year and $2.86 less than the record high of $4.626 set on June 21..." more ›

It was less than a week ago when the average price of gas hit $1.784 per gallon of regular. Today, it's $1.720. We've definitely left the days when a 20-cent-plus drop in a week's time was feeling like the norm. According to LosAngelesGasPrices.com's chart, prices ever-so-slightly raised overnight. more ›

Ralph Bunche & Animo Justice Charter High Schools have been evacuated this morning after "reports of strong smell of natural gas in the area," according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. Officials believe the natural gas leak's source is around 14th and Long Beach, just south of downtown, but the smell is being reported as far as 27th street and near the schools to the West. Both of those schools are close to USC, but there are no reports of the college taking precaution yet. The LA Fire Department is on scene, but as of 10:18 a.m., they still had not found the source. Five patients were assessed at the scene with one of them, a 14-year-old teenager, who was transported to the hospital with asthma-like symptoms. more ›

Today gas hit the average price of $1.784 per gallon of regular which has Californians paying lower average gas prices than people in twelve other states, according to Jeffrey Spring at the Auto Club. "It's an unusual situation for this state to have prices within a dime of the national average, but it is a welcome bit of relief for Californians who have been particularly hard hit by the economic downturn." That national average sits at $1.683 today. more ›

This will never get old. Today marks the 79th day that gas prices have consecutively dropped. The current average price of a regular gallon of gas is $1.912. Statewide, it's a penny cheaper and about 12-cents cheaper nationally. So why is this happening? We asked Marie Montegomery over at the Automobile Club of Southern California (AAA): "We had price levels that were probably unsustainable earlier this year. They were based on not the laws of supply and demand, but where investors perceived where their money would be safest. They were buying up commodities like oil and gasoline futures and prices skyrocketed. Then when all this economic turbulence occurred in September, the bubble burst and everything spiraled down." Boy, did it ever. more ›

For fun, we're taking bets in the comment section on which day gas prices will swing upward (day 100? day 94? day 84?). Today, the price of a gallon of regular gas in Los Angeles/Long Beach is $1.961, nearly three cents lower than yesterday, according to AAA. Nationally, the average sits at $1.812 and is $1.940 statewide. We're going with day 101--in honor of the freeway--as our bet for the day gas prices will turn around. You? more ›

Yes, the average price of a gallon or regular gas is now less than two bucks at $1.987 in the Los Angeles/Long Beach area. Statewide, it's $1.96 with San Francisco leading the state' highest prices at $2.073, according to AAA. more ›