Nation in brief

Gas prices back on the rise after short drop

LOS ANGELES - After dropping to less than $2 per gallon last month, the national average price of a gallon of gas is rising again, in large part because of higher crude oil prices, an industry analyst said Sunday.

Between Oct. 8 and Friday, the combined national average price for all grades of gas rose from $2.02 to $2.07 per gallon, said Trilby Lundberg, who publishes a semimonthly survey of gas stations across the country.

The biggest-selling grade of gas, self-serve regular, was pegged at $2.04. Premium grade was priced at $2.23 a gallon, and mid grade at $2.14.

San Diego led the nation with an average price for a gallon of self-serve regular at $2.45. The best bargain was Tulsa, Okla., where the average price for self-serve regular was $1.83.

Lundberg said the national average price for all grades combined was $1.51 in December, then it climbed to $2.10 by late May. The average price dropped off to $1.88 by mid September, then began climbing again.

Former archbishop of Washington, D.C., dies

WASHINGTON - Cardinal James A. Hickey, former archbishop of Washington, who led the Roman Catholic Church in the nation's capital for two decades, died Sunday (Oct. 24, 2004). He was 84.

One of 13 Americans in the College of Cardinals, Mr. Hickey headed the Washington Diocese from 1980 to 2000. He died in a Washington nursing home after "his health slowly deteriorated over the past year," said Susan Gibbs, the diocese spokeswoman.

Born Oct. 11, 1920, in Midland, Mich., Mr. Hickey was ordained a priest 58 years ago and became a cardinal in 1988, eight years after he became archbishop of Washington.

Mr. Hickey came to Washington with a reputation as an activist priest. He became a crucial figure in dealing with the government on issues affecting the church in Central America.

In 1980, Mr. Hickey attended the tumultuous funeral of his friend, assassinated Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero, whose death precipitated a 12-year civil war that ended in 1992.

Mr. Hickey lobbied for increased spending to aid the poor, tried to persuade members of Congress to stop giving aid to the Nicaraguan Contras in the 1980s and pushed for bishops to take strong stands in favor of nuclear disarmament and against increased military spending.

Also ...

AIR AMBULANCE CRASH: Rescuers hiked near the Mexican border Sunday to reach the site where a private jet went down after taking off from San Diego, killing all five people aboard. The Learjet was acting as an ambulance when it crashed around 12:30 a.m. carrying two pilots, two paramedics and a nurse bound for Albuquerque, N.M., after delivering a patient.

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