By KERA News & Wire Services
Dallas, TX – The 4th of July holiday failed to give Texas retail gasoline prices their customary boost this year.
According to the weekly AAA Texas price survey released Thursday, the average price of unleaded regular at Texas pumps fell 4 cents this week to $2.57 per gallon despite the peak of the summer driving season. Nationally, the average price fell 3 cents to $2.72 per gallon.
According to the auto club statement, crude oil prices are hovering at or below $75 per barrel after soaring as high as $91 this year.
The cheapest gasoline in Texas is found in Houston, where the average price fell 4 cents this week to $2.53 per gallon. The most expensive is in El Paso, where the average price fell 3 cents to $2.69 per gallon.
Perry courts support from Texas Farm Bureau
Texas Gov. Rick Perry is promising to champion private property rights and push pro-agricultural policies as he seeks the endorsement of the Texas Farm Bureau.
Earlier this year the group threw its support to Perry's primary opponent, Republican Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. But now both Perry and his Democratic opponent Bill White are eager to get the group's nod for the November election.
Perry, a former rancher and state agriculture commissioner, portrayed himself as a longtime friend of rural Texas at the group's meeting Thursday in San Marcos. Perry says farmers "embody the rugged endurance of the American spirit and that unique Texas stubbornness that has caused our republic and our state to endure."
White says he would protect private property rights, expand transportation infrastructure and cut back on excessive business regulation
Texas AG demands Travelers stop airing false ad
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has told Travelers Insurance to stop airing a TV advertisement that he says is deceptive.
Thursday's cease and desist letter, to The Travelers Companies Inc., says the ad wrongly tells Texas homeowners to purchase additional vehicle insurance or risk losing their homes if they have inadequate insurance after a traffic accident.
Abbott says state law already protect homeowners so "it is improper for Travelers to scare Texans into buying insurance they may not need."
The AG says, under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, Travelers could be liable for up to $20,000 based on each airing of the ad.
A Travelers Companies Inc. spokesman did not immediately return a call from The Associated Press.