Gas prices keep KC parked over Memorial Day
Residents and business owners feel the crunch over the holiday weekend
Rachel Cavanaugh
News Editor
Goldendale residents were hit hard over Memorial Day weekend as gas prices soared to record highs.
In Klickitat County, where pumps averaged around $4.03 per gallon for regular unleaded, drivers from east to west said they felt the crunch.
Jeffrey Link, who drives a 22-gallon Dodge Ram, said it now costs him nearly $150 to fill his diesel tank. Other county residents voiced similar concerns:
“I put $10 in my little Geo and it gets me two and a half gallons,” said Shane Archer of Goldendale.
“At these gas prices, it’s not easy,” added Dawn Stinnett. “We need the gas prices to go back down.”
Maria Ross said she used to visit her mother, who lives in Centerville, at least once a week and sometimes twice. With these prices, she said, she will be going less frequently.
“It’s eight miles,” Ross said. “Last summer it didn’t matter but this summer it will.”
In Washington, prices are especially high, with the American Automobile Association (AAA) reporting on Monday an average of $4.02 per gallon for regular unleaded.
With the national average at $3.94 per gallon, Washington was 8 cents higher per gallon and one of 11 states and the District of Columbia to have hit the four-dollar mark.
In cities like Yakima and the Tri-Cities, numbers were not much better at $3.99 and $3.96, respectively.
Cashier Aida De la Torre, who works at Goldendale’s Mt. View Shell station, said she hears customers complain almost daily. Some blame the economy and others point to politicians or congress, but all have one thing in common:
“They come in upset,” De la Torre said.
And it is not only drivers feeling the effects — business owners are under stress to keep up with rising costs.
Link, who owns Top Notch Tilling, said he now spends the week away from his family at his worksite in Roosevelt to avoid the 130-mile roundtrip drive.
Joe Sellers, of Joe’s Towing, said his business has suffered a serious blow, not just in fueling his truck, but because calls have dropped due to less people on the road.
“We’re substantially down this spring,” Sellers said. “It’s big enough for me to start looking at other avenues of income.”
As consumers grow less and less willing to drive long distances, other areas of local commerce have seen increases.
Jim Allyn, of Allyn’s Building Center, for example, said sales have risen slightly because people don’t want to drive to The Dalles. Bruce Holcomb, of Holcomb’s Sentry grocery store, has also seen sales go up.
Yet both men emphasized any sales gains are eclipsed by other fuel-related costs. Holcomb said, for instance, everything from “shovels to candy bars” have risen in cost and Allyn noted many delivery drivers now add surcharges.
Monday marked the 20th straight day gas prices have been on the rise.
Travel plans for Memorial Day dropped from last year, according to a AAA survey, with only 37.9 million people planning to travel more than 50 miles. The figure represented a 360,000-person decrease from last year.
About 83 percent of those were automobile travelers dropping from 32 million to 31.7 million.
In the public sphere, a range of opinion exists about why the prices are so high and what the government should do.
Some fault a weak U.S. dollar while others lament foreign oil dependence.
According to the U.S. Government’s Energy Information Administration (EIA), the nation ranks third for oil producers, behind Saudi Arabia and Russia.
In 2007, the country produced 8.49 million barrels per day and consumed about 20.7 million barrels per day.
“The world is using a lot more gas than they used to,” said Ordell Enstad of Goldendale. “We’re not drilling any new oil wells. We’re not building any new refineries. We need to either drill for new oil or come up with another source of energy.”
Whatever the solution, people like Ree Swing, of Centerville, agree it is long overdue:
“Somebody ought to be doing something but nobody seems to care,” she said.
Adult entertainment ordinance passes first reading
An adult entertainment ordinance passed its first reading last week at a Goldendale city council meeting.
The issue received a 5-1 vote, with one member holding out for additional cost information.
Clerk treasurer Tracy Hansen said the idea of the ordinance, which would create guidelines for adult entertainment in Goldendale, is to maintain citizen’s rights while considering issues like crime and safety.
The treasurer stressed no changes have been made to any laws. In the past, the activity was not prohibited, but simply never addressed.
“There are First Amendment rights that come into play in this type of issue,” she said. “We have created an ordinance that allows for adult entertainment under specific guidelines.”
Those guidelines, she said, call for things like background checks to ensure the entertainment does not bring other unwanted activities.
Hansen said she expects it to pass the second reading. She noted, however, that council members encourage public comment.
She said she was surprised more people did not attend the first reading.
The issue — brought to light earlier this year when a permit was requested — has received considerable attention. Following the request, a 20-some page petition was signed and presented to council.
Hansen said she has been stopped in the grocery store several times with people asking about the ordinance.
“I was surprised after all the ordinance committee meetings, after all the controversy this seemed to raise on both sides, nobody showed up.”
The final reading will be June 2, during the regular city council meeting.
Goldendale shooting spurs investigation
A shooting near Goldendale left one man injured and another in jail last week, according to police reports.
The incident, which occurred around 2 a.m. Thursday, took place in the 800 block of Bickleton Highway, east of Goldendale.
According to reports, deputies were dispatched in the early morning hours to a report of a gunshot victim.
Bruce Ball was taken to Mid-Columbia Medical Center in The Dalles, where he was treated and released for a gunshot wound.
The alleged shooter, Jesse Bybee, was taken into custody. Deputies and detectives from the Klickitat County Sheriff’s Office, are continuing the investigation. |
