Average retail gasoline prices in Minnesota have risen 17.1 cents in the past week, averaging $2.40 per gallon Sunday, according to GasBuddy’s daily survey of 2,856 gas outlets in Minnesota. This compares with the national average that has increased 12 cents in the last week to $2.42 per gallon, according to gasoline price website MinnesotaGasPrices.com.
Regular gas prices in International Falls, according to the site, ranged from $2.37 to $2.59 per gallon this week.
Including the change in gas prices in Minnesota during the past week, prices Sunday were 105.6 cents per gallon lower compared to the same day one year ago and are 41.5 cents per gallon higher than a month ago. The national average has increased 37.4 cents per gallon during the last month and stands 103.8 cents per gallon lower than this day one year ago.
“The spring spike has hit pumps across the nation, and it certainly has motorists wonder what in the heck is going on,” said Patrick DeHaan, GasBuddy senior petroleum analyst. “New records were broken last week in California as prices spiked at their fastest pace ever, even faster than when Chevron’s sprawling Richmond, Cali. refinery caught fire. Meanwhile every single state- all 50 of them- saw a price increase in the last week, with a common theme behind the increases: refinery this, refinery that,” he said.
DeHaan noted that In the last two weeks, a rash of refinery problems has pushed up wholesale prices significantly: an explosion at a California refinery, unexpected cold-related shut downs along the East Coast and Great Lakes, and maintenance that’s beginning at other refineries across the country. If that wasn’t enough, throw in the transition to cleaner, more costly blends of gasoline and declining gasoline inventories, and it’s a bleak picture.
DeHaan said while the massive spikes on the West Coast will likely slow over the next week, “increases will persist country wide, and the general upward trend will likely remain in place for 6-8 more weeks before motorists see declining prices ahead of Memorial Day weekend as maintenance work wraps up and the transition to summer gasoline concludes.”
GasBuddy.com is a tool to help motorists save money at the pump by collecting gas price data and displaying it on websites and on a free smartphone app that has been downloaded over 37 million times. The site operates MinnesotaGasPrices.com and more than 250 similar websites that track gasoline prices at more than 140,000 gasoline stations in the United States and Canada.
As part of a state service project, National Honor Society students at Falls High School recently completed a three-day coat drive. The group collected 28 coats and other warm-weather clothing and supplies. Items were donated to Friends Against Abuse and the Clothes Closet at St. Thomas Aquinas Church.
With the help of Mason Wilson, The Canvas Butcher, kindergarten students in Molly Pavleck’s class use watercolors to paint a 24”×48” canvas inspired by Eric Carle’s book, “The Tiny Seed.” Wilson was brought to the classroom by a grant from the Mr. Pete Foundation which honors longtime Falls Elementary teacher, Mike Peterson.
Mason Wilson shows students the beginning stages of a canvas they painted Tuesday.
Creativity was swirling around in all different colors at Falls Elementary School Tuesday.
Mason Wilson, also known as The Canvas Butcher, spent time in Molly Pavleck’s kindergarten classroom working on a canvas painting with students. The activity is the result of the first Mr. Pete Foundation grant, which was awarded to Pavleck in January. The group’s painting is the first in a series based on children’s books.
The foundation and grant is in honor of longtime Falls Elementary teacher, Mike Peterson, who suffers from Lewy Body Dementia. An October benefit to raise money for the foundation brought in about $20,000 to be distributed to teachers through an application process.
Pavleck was a student of Peterson’s in 1988. She applied for a grant on behalf of the entire kindergarten class at Falls Elementary School. The four classrooms will engage in a series of art lessons with Wilson this month. At the culmination of the lessons, the students will hold an art show March 27 to display their work.
The foundation’s Facebook page notes organizers are excited this group of students will get to carry on the passion for individuality, creativity, and fun that Peterson emphasized in his classroom.
