12 SEP 08: IKE AND SPIKE IN THE MORNING?

Now now, my friends - let's all be calm here. We don't need to panic today. If you see gas prices much higher than they were Thursday, it does NOT mean there was an aftershock from that "big bang collider" in Europe. We are NOT heading into an oil-black hole.

IF (please note that word) the rumor-spreaders of Thursday evening are right, Columbus drivers may find gas prices today not in the $3.75 range - but at $4.75 a gallon or higher. A big price spike REPORTEDLY was planned for midnight. This would confirm a statement I heard the other day, quoting football coach Tony Dungy: "Few good things happen after midnight."

No, I did NOT go driving around town at midnight to see if this rumor was accurate. That's exactly what the big oil companies want me to do - so I need a fill-up that much faster....

But shortly before post time, I walked down to a corner where I can have a good look at a Circle K sign down the street. The price for regular unleaded was still $3.79 a gallon -- and yes, I went out after 1:00 a.m. ET, in case the rumor started with someone on Central Time.

Does this gas rumor-mongering sound a bit familiar? If you've lived in Columbus for a few years, it should. We've just passed three years since the great gas panic, fueled sparked by rumors that gas stations across the city were about to either close or begin rationing [1 Sep 05]. Neither of those things happened, and prices soon dropped to around two dollars a gallon. Wow, that seems like decades ago....

This time, the speculation about gas prices came from a couple of sources. I'm told Federal Express told all Columbus drivers to fill up their trucks Thursday afternoon, because fuel might go up 60 cents a gallon. Like the old slogan says, they were absolutely positively saving money overnight.

Then a gas truck driver refilled the storage tanks at a downtown station, and reported the actual price hike might be as high as $1.25 a gallon. Now there's an inside source who ought to know, right?! Well, unless he's been in his truck all day listening to loose-lipped radio announcers....

Some people apparently heard the rumors early, as long lines for gas were reported Thursday afternoon in downtown Columbus and Auburn. Somehow I suspect the long lines of cars will disappear this weekend - especially in the drive-through lanes at restaurants such as Captain D's.

Unlike three years ago, there's actually some news to support the rumors. Wholesale gas prices have jumped since Wednesday from the three-dollar level to nearly five dollars a gallon. Yet crude oil futures prices dropped Thursday to around $101 a gallon. I hope this isn't some strange plot for those two prices to meet in the middle, around 50 bucks.

Some people I know call the wholesale gas price "speculative" - and it's admittedly jumped due to concern about Hurricane Ike. The storm is on a course to make landfall in the Houston area tonight. And you know it's a serious storm, when a major college football team in Houston moves its weekend game all the way to Dallas.

(But even in that part of the country, some people may be panicking. Oklahoma State moved up its Saturday kickoff time because of Ike - as if people expect half of Texas will be washed into the Gulf of Mexico.)

The concern along the Texas coast is that Hurricane Ike could damage some important oil refineries. A couple already have closed as a precaution -- heeding the old maxim, "Better oily than late."

This concern also has spread rumors of gasoline shortages as far as east Tennessee -- rumors which do NOT seem to be true right now. After all, METRA has yet to take the extreme step of announcing plans for Sunday bus service.

You may recall Hurricane Katrina disrupted some oil pipeline service for the Columbus area. That was one factor in the 2005 gas panic. At least this time, any potential trouble could be at the source - but then again, will repair crews be able to afford driving to the damage?

We'll see over the weekend if the rumors turned out to be dead wrong, or mistimed by a few hours. But suppose they're true - and gas costs close to five dollars a gallon in Columbus for a few days. Will local web sites have to add new features? For instance, new price checks for walking shoes and Segways?

E-MAIL UPDATE: Enough about gasoline -- let's talk about the cars themselves....

Hi Richard

I came across this today.... and i wanted to let you know something.

"The government is urging owners of 5 million recalled Ford vehicles to bring them to dealerships to repair a cruise control switch system that has been tied to engine fires."

The repair is them taking cruise control off your vehicle. Thats not repairing thats removing. I got ripped off I paid for the cruise control. O they they told me I would be notified when I could come back down there to have it replaced. Thats been over a year ago. But Im not holding my breath because I was also told that I would be notified when I could get something done about me having to replace my Intake Manifold. When I replaced mine there was a recall on the intake manifold I had but it was only good for police cars and taxi cabs.I was told that I would be notifed when the general public was. My car was purchased from an estate and the recall notice never came. I contacted Ford/Mercury asking that I be allowed to take advantage of the recall. I received an absolute NO.

So all and all I am out 600 bucks for a nylon/plastic intake manifold and no cruise control.

Sorry to rant to you but im mad at Ford.

feel free to correct all of my grammatical mistakes. Thanks

Sam

That's OK, Sam - in most cases, we strive to post messages exactly the way we receive them. They make the blog more like a fun puzzle for middle school English students.

Have you driven a Ford lately, Sam? Or is it more like Ford has driven YOU - driven you batty, that is?

I come from a family background which preferred Chevrolets over Fords. So when I bought my current humble Honda, there was a bit of explanation to do - such as assuring relatives it really WAS made at a factory in Pennsylvania.

But my current car does NOT have cruise control. I may have mentioned here before how challenging that can be on long road trips. Get out of the car after hours of pressure on the right foot, and some people might think I'd ridden side-saddle on a horse all day.

Our next message is about Columbus radio -- but NOT the kind most people hear:

Richard,

With all the news about law enforcement on your site, can you mention ScanMuscogee.com? The site is an offspring of ScanAmerica.us, but the local feed provider needs more visitors to donate toward the purchase of a new digital scanner in order to continue the feed (Columbus is planning to switch radio systems very soon). Features such as the archive are great. When you see something interesting occur in the local news, go back and listen to the radio traffic around that time to find out what really happened.

Thanks

I didn't realize Columbus was about to switch to "digital radio" for police scanners. Of course, I thought they were somewhat digital all along. You pressed your digit on a button, to change from one frequency to the next.

We actually mentioned "ScanMuscogee" here last fall [26 Nov 07] - but we admittedly didn't hear anything along the lines of police officers possibly beating up people at the Muscogee County Jail. Most officers have enough brains NOT to press the button to talk at times like that. But then, they might be busy wielding a nightstick with both hands.

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