News Briefs

SAN FRANCISCO - A note found on a food cart prompted authorities to pull a United Airlines passenger jet from service Sunday at San Francisco International Airport.

The passengers ticketed for United Airlines Flight 150 to Chicago had yet to board when the note was discovered shortly after 2 p.m. and were transferred to another plane. That flight took off at 4:30 p.m. with 307 passengers aboard, a delay of about two hours, airport spokesman Mike McCarron said.

The note was found by a crew member loading a catering cart. McCarron characterized the note as suspicious but would not say what it said.

The plane was returned to service after a police search revealed nothing unusual, McCarron said.

The incident caused no other delays at the airport.

The jump at the pump: Gas prices climb higher

LOS ANGELES - In another round of wallet shock at the pump, gas prices jumped 5 cents a gallon over the last two weeks, an industry analyst said Sunday.

How bad is it? Compared to the end of last year, the average cost of a gallon of gas has soared 56 cents, pushed up in large part by higher crude oil prices.

Between Oct. 8 and Friday, the combined national average price for all grades of gas hit $2.07, up from $2.02 from the previous two weeks, said Trilby Lundberg, who publishes the semimonthly Lundberg Survey of 7,000 gas stations across the country.

The biggest-selling grade of gas, self-serve regular, was pegged at $2.04, also an increase of 5 cents. Premium grade was priced at $2.23 a gallon, and mid-grade at $2.14, both up 5 cents from the previous period.

Of cities included in the survey, San Diego led the nation - again - in pump prices. The average price for a gallon of self-serve regular was $2.45. The best bargain was Tulsa, Okla., where the average price for self-serve regular was $1.83.

Consumers are feeling the sting of higher crude oil prices.

Fears about supply from top oil-producing countries and the growing appetite of emerging economic powers like China and India have helped push up crude oil prices about 80 percent from a year ago.

U.S. pump prices have been on a roller-coaster.

Lundberg said the national average price for all grades combined was $1.51 as of Dec. 19, then it climbed to $2.10 by late May. The average price dropped off to $1.88 by mid-September, then began climbing again.

Compared to late December, the national average price for all grades combined was up 56 cents, from $1.51 to $2.07.

Since the price drop through September, "Crude oil is the essential cause of the turnaround," Lundberg said.

Lundberg said supply now exceeds demand around the globe, and that repairs are being made to Gulf of Mexico oil facilities shut down or damaged in Hurricane Ivan.

"Crude oil prices can be expected to drop, but when is the question," she said.

The high pump prices have become an issue in the presidential campaign. John Kerry has accused President Bush of doing more to help energy companies boost profits than to help consumers with soaring energy costs. The Bush campaign has said Kerry worked in the Senate against the president's proposals to decrease the nation's dependence on foreign oil and develop renewable energy.