Mahalo Daily has been locally focused the past couple of days. Yesterday, they spoke to people at the Santa Monica promenade about the effect of gas prices on their lives. Today, they tag along with the city's Bureau of Sanitation in South LA for a day of bulky item pickups. Good times.......

Mahalo Daily hit the streets of Santa Monica and interviewed people about gas prices and how it was affecting them. They also asked gas price predictions for January 1st, 2009. Everyone said at least over $5. The current average price of a gallon of regular gas in Los Angeles is $4.576. The highest reached was 4.626 on June 21.......

The average price of a gallon of regular gas continues to steadily get lower. Today, the average is $4.58. To contrast California's prices, the national average broke a record today nearing $4.11. A barrel of oil is now at $141 today, which is four dollars down.......

Today, a barrel of oil spiked at $143.52, a (broken) record, once again. That comes at a time when the Los Angeles area has been seeing a two-week plateau in gas prices around $4.60. AAA reports gas in Los Angeles averages at $4.602, but LosAngelesGasPrices.com has gas tipping down towards $4.57. However, with oil prices spiking as they are, the change in gas prices will be seen in weeks to come. It takes three to......

Today at the California Air Resources Board meeting, a historic plan is being presented that may radically cut greenhouse gas emissions in the state by about 30% by 2020. "The state is proposing a slate of changes including a cap-and-trade system for greenhouse gases, requiring renewable sources to power a third of the state's grid and taxing gas guzzling cars. Their approach will become a model for the nation if climate change legislation of some......

As gas prices hit all-time highs, so is the Internal Revenue Service's mileage rate standard, which is currently 50.5 cents. Next Tuesday, it will be raised to 58.5 cents, a move that is usually saved for the Fall, but like with Hurricane Katrina when gas prices spiked, the IRS made a mid-year adjustment, which will last through the end of the year. Current gas prices in Los Angeles have been averaging out to a steady......

Blue = Los Angeles Average, Red = National Aveage | Via LosAngelesGasPrices.com A report has come out saying what we all already knew: California has the highest gas prices in the country. The good news is that since June 13, the prices have leveled out to a steady average of $4.60 a gallon of regular with the highest reported average on last Saturday at $4.626. Has everyone been enjoying their public transit use lately?......

Metrolink's ridership got a shot of adrenaline yesterday as ridership jumped to an all time high of 50,232 passengers -- a 15.6% increase since Tuesday for the regional commuter train service. Metro Rail has jumped 6% since last month (especially the gold line) and freeway traffic has dipped 1.5% since last year ("91.7 million miles traveled in March to 91.4 million in May"), reports the LA Times. For the last week, average gas prices in......

As gas prices have been stagnant at $4.61/gallon for regular in Los Angeles (the average is $4.075 for the country) for the past five days, John McCain is calling for, among other things, offshore drilling laws to be eased. He's obviously gaining oil industry support. Then today, President George Bush called for a lift on the ban of offshore drilling, even though it could take 10 years to get the oil "fully pumping again." Meanwhile,......

As gas prices rise and government coffers tighten, the city of Santa Monica's Big Blue Bus service is asking for Santa Monican's and the public-at-large's help for an issue that reaches far beyond the oceanside city's boundaries. The state is planning cuts to the transportation budget, something that already resembles swiss cheese. If passed, the proposal would wipe out 50% of transit funds by diverting half of gasoline sales tax to the general budget in......

Here's a sign of the times. This bike rack at the Variety/E Channel Meridian Club building on Wilshire normally has three or four bikes on it. This day, bikes (including mine) had to be locked to parking meters because the rack was full. Related: Gas is currently averaging at $4.60 a gallon for regular in Los Angeles......

Even if it means using two gallons of gas while waiting in lines at the border, a new trend of filling up your tank in Mexico is worth it for those who have SUVs and trucks. Regular gas costs $2.54 a gallon at Pemex stations in Tijuana compared to San Diego, where it's over one-dollar higher at $4.624. Then you've got diesel at $2.20 in Tijuana vs. $5.04 in San Diego. However, one problem does......

Founder of the effort, Jasmyne Cannick participates in a 'Kiss My Gass' campaign against the high price of gasoline outside a Mobil gas station in Los Angeles on Friday, June 13, 2008. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) As a regular gallon of gas briefly plateaued at $4.60 over the weekend in Los Angeles (nationally, $4.08), people took to the streets to protest big oil. "If we're not mobil, we won't buy Mobil," their Kiss My Gass'......

Hey, did you hear something about gas prices being really high? There was something on the news and a little blurb on the inter-web the other day. So what can you do for dear ol' dad this Sunday that won't burn up your wallet and set your pants on fire like a liar, liar? Well, you can keep the car in the garage, jump on the Metrolink, and head down to Anaheim to see......

Graph via LosAngelesGasPrices.com While the current national average for unleaded gas is $4.066 per gallon, California leads the way with a state average of $4.564, with Los Angeles' average at $4.579. "Southern California gas prices are nearly 40 percent higher than they were at this time last year and 93 percent higher than at this time in 2005," Jeffrey Spring of AAA told the Daily News. 30 days ago, gas in Los Angeles averaged......

As explained yesterday on why California has the highest gas prices in the nation, next to Alaska, stringent pollution requirements and high taxes were the main reasons. This California Energy Commission has a chart (click here to enlarge) explaining the history of gas tax increases and where they're at now, which is $0.378 between state and federal taxes. But that's not all, there's the sales tax and the gas production increase for companies to stay......

The USA National Gas Temperature Map by LosAngelesGasPrices.com Oh my, look at California. The darkest state of them all... on this map, at least. In fact, California currently has the second most expensive gas in the country next to Alaska, whose current average price of a regular is $4.572. The Golden State sits 6-cents below at 4.510 (and Los Angeles is around $4.50). Why does California have some of the highest prices? In a......

As the average price for a gallon of gas tips over $4 across the country (in Los Angeles, the average is about $4.46 for regular), the Senate will vote today on a "windfall tax" that would snag some of the top oil company's profits at the tune of $17 billion -- in other words, the tax breaks they would expect in the next ten years. $36 billion was earned by the top five oil companies......

Photo taken on 6/6/08 in Santa Monica | © Copyright 2008 by Jonathan Alcorn (Sundogg) via LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr When it comes to the cost of a gallon of gas these days, it certainly doesn't seem to be the case that "it can't get any worse." We grumbled when it got to $3, winced when it hit $3.40, cringed when it hovered at the $4 mark, and now we're seeing prices......

The rising price of gas is nothing new, but these past seven days, a gallon of gas has jumped up 27 cents. Prices have not increased at this pace since August 2003. One year ago, gas prices were about one dollar less than today's Los Angeles average of $4.38 per gallon of regular. "The Auto Club says California refineries are producing more diesel fuel and less gasoline, creating a need to import more costly unleaded......

LAist Featured Photos contributor Marshall Astor titled this photo "Holy Fuck Part Deux! Thrifty Gas in San Pedro Goes for Broke." He continues to say "this gas station's prices have gone nuts, but every time I drive by, there's some moron at the pump getting gouged. "For reference, I paid $4.01 at a nearby station last week, and most other nearby stations are in the low $4.10-20 range. "I'm expecting this pump to hit $5.00......

Photo on the 10 Freeway by billaday via Flickr Averaging at just about $4.19 for a gallon of regular gas on Sunday in the Los Angeles area, prices continue to increase with an unknown end in site. The ripple effect is still unknown, but people are noticing some freeways thinning out and Metro is reporting record high numbers of ridership. Keeping all this in mind, the Daily News brings up some interesting figures: As......

A converted biodiesel car | Photo by Jessica DeWinter Oil's gone up in price, and therefore gas. Food has followed including the price of second hand grease from restaurants used for cars after its turned into biodiesel. Eataries used to have to pay to have their grease taken away, but due to the popularity of its use for greener transit, the price has more than quadrupled since 2000. Just like a new trendy crime......

Since December, oil prices have increased 42% and at that same time, Federal regulators have been investigating the U.S. oil market with a focus on possible price manipulation, according to the Associated Press. Details of the investigation have not been released, but the fact that they are even publicizing the investigation is considered an "unusual step." But to that, the feds say it is "because of today's unprecedented market conditions." The current average price of......

Copper thefts in Los Angeles could no longer be the only crime of desperation surging the city. With gas prices increasing everyday (the latest: nearly $4.11/gallon of regular unleaded), so are sales of lockable gas caps at auto stores. "We're going to start seeing some people who are normally good do bad things in these tough economic times," said LAPD Senior Lead Officer Ron Carter at a neighborhood watch meeting a few weeks ago in......

Julia Scott at the Daily News' Bargain Hunter blog investigated to see if it was worth the out-of-the-way drive to a gas station with cheaper prices rather than staying the course with convenient locations. She found a calculator/chart that tells you if the distance you go for gas ends up saving you or costing you (if you bike, it costs nothing... hey now!) "The site spits out a chart that is a little difficult to......

Now that the average price for regular unleaded gas in L.A. is nearing $4.07 a gallon, Metro's Gold Line is surging with customers. A record 22,231 boardings was reported for the month of March says the San Gabriel Valley Tribune. Not only that, Metro's rail ridership has increased 5%. Still, the Gold Line beats all the other lines and is beginning to look like the San Fernando Valley Red Line station parking lots, which fill......

Taken on May 20th at Melrose and Fairfax | Photo by K. Moriarty via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr In the non-surprise of the day, Oil jumped up in price again--$5, making a barrel of oil now over $134. "All the usual explanations are cited: a weak dollar, production worries, and the role of speculators," noted Mark Lacter in his daily news roundup on LA Biz Observed, where oil now has a cozy quotidian......

You just finished filling up your tank at the gas station, but the next thing you do is not grab your keys to leave, it's to take an extra twenty seconds to note some statistics by inputting into Twitter the miles since your last fill up, the price per gallon and how many gallons you put in. Welcome to FuelFrog, a new application designed by three guys who embarked on a mission of launching a......

Oil just keeps creeping up in price everyday it seems. This morning, headlines like this read "Oil Passes $120 A Barrel For First Time Ever." But don't expect today's record breaking numbers to be the cause of any immediate increases in local gas prices. According to Jeffrey Spring of AAA of Southern California, it takes three to six weeks to see the effect of oil prices at the pump. Any price increase or decrease on......