GAS PAINS: We’ve had a lot of inquiries over the years as to why gas prices are often higher here than in other towns.
On Friday, we asked an expert. Dr. Bernard “Bud” Weinstein, one of the nation’s leading energy economists, gave us his opinions.
“There’s no correlation, necessarily, to gas prices and being in the same town as a refinery,” Dr. Weinstein told us.
“There are local factors that play into it,” he added. The first factor, he said, is the amount of competition an area has. “Do you have gasoline discounters?”
No, we don’t. And we don’t have huge service stations with lots of pumps or huge convenience store chains that serve as discounters either. “If you don’t have those companies buying in bulk,” prices will likely be higher, Dr. Weinstein said.
He asked, too, about ownership of local retail stations. At least one — Kwik Fill/ Red Apple — is owned by United Refining Company, which may contribute to higher costs as well.
“The amount of competition at local levels can impact prices,” he added. Smaller rural areas have less competition, which could lead to higher prices as well.
So readers, did Dr. Weinstein answer your decades-long queries?
ITCHY MYTHS: Andy Heffner of Ormsby shared a fun itchy-related story when he called a few days ago to let us know the October jamboree of the itchies was in full swing.
Andy recalls overhearing these conversations when he was a student in Mrs. Bird’s second-grade classroom at Fourth Ward School. Mrs. Bird would chat with the teacher from the next classroom over, Mrs. Boucher.
Just before Thanksgiving vacation, Mrs. Bird was complaining that her left foot itched, and Mrs. Boucher told her, “That means you’re going to go home for Thanksgiving.”
Mrs. Bird, who was from Lock Haven, was, in fact, pleased at the prospect of visiting her hometown for the holiday.
The next day, Mrs. Bird said, “My right foot is itching like my left did yesterday,” to which Mrs. Boucher replied, “That’s not good. That means you’re going on a trip, but you’re not going home.”
When they returned after Thanksgiving, Mrs. Boucher asked Mrs. Bird about her vacation, and Mrs. Bird explained she ended up going to Buffalo, N.Y., to visit teachers she went to college with. While she would have preferred to go home, her friends “called me and insisted I have Thanksgiving with them.”
Not long after, Mrs. Boucher told Mrs. Bird, “My left hand itches. It’s driving me crazy.”
Mrs. Bird, “with a big grin on her face,” replied, “That means you’re going to come into money.”
And she did.
The next day, Mrs. Boucher reported her left hand stopped itching, but now her right hand was itching.
“That’s not good,” said Mrs. Bird. “That means you’re going to lose money.”
Sure enough, a day or two later, Mrs. Boucher went to Mrs. Bird and reported an unexpected bill came up, and all the extra money she received was gone.
“Isn’t that strange about these itchies?” Andy remarked.
