By KERA News & Wire Services
Dallas, TX – Retail gasoline prices have dropped across Texas for a sixth consecutive week.
The weekly AAA Texas price survey released Thursday shows the average price of a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline fell a nickel to $2.62. Nationally, the average price fell 4 cents to $2.71 per gallon.
The cheapest gasoline in Texas is in the Fort Worth-Arlington area, where the average price fell 7 cents to $2.56 per gallon. The most expensive gasoline in the state, as usual, is in El Paso with a price average of $2.71 per gallon, down 4 cents.
The auto club statement notes that crude oil prices have hovered around $74 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, down $13 from six weeks ago.
Physician group files suit against health care law
A group of physician-owned hospitals are suing to block a ban in the new health care law on Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements to doctor-owned facilities.
Physician Hospitals of America and the Texas Spine & Joint Hospital filed the lawsuit Thursday in federal court in Tyler. They ask a judge to block the federal government from enacting the ban, calling it exclusionary and arbitrary.
Physicians Hospital of America, a national group representing about 265 hospitals in 34 states, said in a statement that the national health care law would "stop the growth of many of the best hospitals in the country."
The lawsuit is one of several filed around the country aimed at halting various provisions of the health care overhaul passed in March.
Men with large arsenal sentenced for illegal entry
Two men found with 147 assault rifles, 10,000 rounds of ammunition, high-capacity magazines and bayonets in Laredo have pleaded guilty and been sentenced for entering the United States illegally.
Federal prosecutors released the names of 20-year-old Damaso Alberto Rueda Cabrera and 53-year-old Arnulfo De La Cruz Sanchez on Thursday. Prosecutors also made the unusual announcement that on Tuesday, the men had made their initial appearances in federal court, pleaded guilty and been sentenced to terms of 10 days and 45 days, respectively, all in the same day.
In a prepared statement, U.S. Attorney Jose Angel Moreno said the investigation continued and that no further comment would be made by any of the agencies involved. Laredo police stopped the two men Saturday afternoon, acting on a tip from the Webb County Sheriff's Office.