<html><div style='background-color:'><DIV class=RTE><STRONG>Not everyone has taken advantage of Katrina as a reason to gouge the public with higher gas prices. I took off from Moscow on Thursday morning just as the prices started to rise here in Moscow. I knew I was going to pay a lot extra at the pumps, but I had planned this trip for awhile and didn't want to miss out getting together with the kids. While I was enjoying my visit in Beaverton, OR I was keeping a wary eye on the gas stations. . . . but a funny thing happened. The prices weren't going up. I kept hearing news on TV that gas was going up everywhere around the country. When the time came for my return to Moscow on Monday, I found a station near the freeway and went to gas up. I had a choice. . . one station was 2.69 (very busy) and the other was 2.71 (no line at all). Being the
impatient type, I splurged and paid the higher price. . . knowing I wasn't going to find it that cheap along the way. Curious, I asked how come the price was so much lower in the Portland area. . . and what was I told? Why raise the price when that's the same gas that was in the ground before Katrina hit the Gulf.</STRONG></DIV>
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<DIV class=RTE><STRONG>Between Portland and Moscow prices were as high as 3.49.</STRONG></DIV></div></html>