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......

For Angelenos, bees are more often than not encountered as sugar-drunk spastics outside of a neighborhood recycling center, sippers of sweet nectar from your garden's flowers, or a stinging source of outdoor anguish. But there's actually a nationwide "bee crisis" that pertains specifically to honey bees and their unexpected decline, and now what's been a problem for farmers is getting passed on to the consumers in the form of higher food prices. To put it......

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......

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'......

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......

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......

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......

It's not just oil and gas, it's everything. And food is especially not safe. Bill Lapp of Advanced Economic Solutions (he was previously the chief economist for ConAgra Foods Inc.) said that food prices in the U.S. will rise 9% per year through 2012, reports Reuters. During a telephone news conference, Lapp said he was completing a new analysis of food and commodity prices. He foresaw average corn prices of $5.25 a bushel through 2012,......

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......

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......

Now the predictions are really getting people's attention: "Surging crude prices, which could surpass $200 a barrel in four years on tight supplies, could push gasoline prices to as high as $7 a gallon, CIBC World Markets analysts said Thursday," MarketWatch said early this afternoon. Currently, U.S. oil is $116 a barrel, down $3.90 from Tuesday's "historic high." The national average is $3.56 and in Los Angeles, the upward trend pushes the local average to......

Photo by nailmaker via LAist Featured Photos So maybe some of you kids have it easy when it comes to eating green: you're a vegetarian or vegan, you don't eat dairy, and you shop at your local farmer's market every week. You probably bike a lot and never talk on your cell phone while you're driving. Congratulations, you're our editor! But for the rest of us mortals, the recent explosion of articles and blog......

Photo by astacia5 via Flickr We've heard before that the sinking housing market would actually serve to increase the rent on apartments in Los Angeles, and we've had a few lively discussions about proposals to undo rent control laws. But who knew the rate increases would be so drastic? Today's LA Times is reporting on the going rates for a four-bedroom, eight-bath (eight???) Malibu beach house: $150 grand. Per month. Alright, granted this is......

A gallon of gas in California is averaging $3.63, 35-cents more than the regular joe American, and yesterday, a barrel of oil topped $111 (this time last year, it was $57). But as the San Francisco Chronicle explains, this isn't about supply and demand. Rather, it's the dollar and they break it down: Oil is traded in dollars. A weak dollar means that foreign investors can buy more oil, which helps drive up the price.......

$3.55 for unleaded. Check, albeit annoying. $3.79 for performance plus. Ugh, okay, check. $9.38 a gallon for high performance. Che-- wha???!?!?!!!? LAist Featured Photos photographer Movie Lover snapped this shot on the Westside. "While driving past a gas station in Brentwood, CA a while back, I noticed that the price had gone up. Way up." Yeah, no doubt. Let's see, April Fool's Day is next month. It's not a six upside down. This doesn't look......

Throw-The-Kitchen-Sink-In-It Pizza: with Vodka Sauce, Tomatoes, Mushrooms, Garlic, Mozzarella, Pepperoni, Basil, Parmesan, Caramelized Onions, and Olives We've gotta admit, Mozza was great, but Lord knows we can't eat like red-headed Italian kings every day. In fact, even ordering pizza every night tends to add up: $20 per pizza per day for two people over one week? That's over $140, even if you eat the leftovers for breakfast! It's enough to make us want to...I......