Gas Station

George Lindsey, the Southern-born character actor who played dim hayseed Goober Pyle, the genial gas station auto mechanic on "The Andy Griffith Show" and "Mayberry R.F.D.," died early Sunday morning. He was 83. Lindsey, who later was a regular on the long-running country music comedy show "Hee Haw," died at a healthcare center in Nashville after a brief illness, said his manager and booking agent, Carrie Moore-Reed. "George Lindsey was my friend," Andy Griffith said in a statement.

A gas station that also offers E85 ethanol and biodiesel fuels has opened in Fullerton, becoming the first of more than 200 so-called clean mobility centers slated for the state. The Propel Clean Mobility Center at 1124 E. Chapman Ave., which opened Wednesday, was partially funded by grants from the California Energy Commission and the U.S. Energy Department. "People are looking for alternatives. They're looking for transportation options that aren't dependent on petroleum," said Matt Horton, chief executive of Propel Fuels in Redwood City, Calif., which at its new Fullerton station also offers a self-service bicycle repair station, recycling containers, free air and water, and maps of rail stations, bike paths and busways.

Hollywood can thank “The Hunger Games” for raking in the bucks - more than $250 million overall, with $61 million over the weekend - but word lovers can thank the movie for something else: the spread of "dystopia" and "dystopian. " The words seem to be everywhere, popping up in news articles and opinion pieces on young adult fiction, visual arts, motion pictures (and not just “The Hunger Games”), hate-crime laws, video games, a trip to the gas station and an anti-President Obama ad by Rick Santorum.

George Lindsey, the Southern-born character actor who played dim hayseed Goober Pyle, the genial gas station auto mechanic on "The Andy Griffith Show" and "Mayberry R.F.D.," died early Sunday morning. He was 83. Lindsey, who later was a regular on the long-running country music comedy show "Hee Haw," died at a healthcare center in Nashville after a brief illness, said his manager and booking agent, Carrie Moore-Reed. "George Lindsey was my friend," Andy Griffith said in a statement.

Connie Hines, an actress who portrayed Carol Post, whose husband Wilbur was the only person who could talk with Mister Ed in the 1960s television show, has died. She was 79. Hines died Friday at her home in Beverly Hills from complications of heart problems, said Alan Young, her "Mister Ed" costar. "I lost a great friend. She was always joyous," Young said Monday. In the show, which ran from 1961 to 1966 on CBS, the Posts moved into a rambling country home and found a horse in their barn.

Angelyne, the healthy bleached blonde non-celeb who has spent years on L.A. billboards promoting herself, gets her break: "Earth Girls Are Easy," now nearing completion from De Laurentiis Entertainment. Starring Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis, it's a musical comedy about three men from a distant planet who come to Earth and land in the Valley. Director Julien Temple ("Absolute Beginners") described Angelyne's role as "what we call a walk-on-part--a lean-in part.

A gas station that also offers E85 ethanol and biodiesel fuels has opened in Fullerton, becoming the first of more than 200 so-called clean mobility centers slated for the state. The Propel Clean Mobility Center at 1124 E. Chapman Ave., which opened Wednesday, was partially funded by grants from the California Energy Commission and the U.S. Energy Department. "People are looking for alternatives. They're looking for transportation options that aren't dependent on petroleum," said Matt Horton, chief executive of Propel Fuels in Redwood City, Calif., which at its new Fullerton station also offers a self-service bicycle repair station, recycling containers, free air and water, and maps of rail stations, bike paths and busways.

After complaints from dozens of angry neighbors, the Moorpark City Council has postponed a decision on whether to allow a Mobil gas station at Spring and Tierra Rejada roads. The council postponed its decision until May 29, saying it wanted to obtain more information on an earthquake fault under the proposed gas station site.

I am a white educator from the inner city who ventured to Redondo Beach Friday afternoon, May 1, 1992, to find gasoline for my car. I became alarmed when two Redondo Beach police officers drove into the crowded service station where I was waiting. They quickly exited their vehicle and approached the two occupants of the truck in front of me. They called to the driver as he was pumping his gasoline and asked him what he was doing there. The officers then questioned his male companion--both of whom looked to be in their 60s. The officers then looked in the direction of my friend, Terry Coleman, who happens to be a retired African-American police officer, but said nothing.

A masked gunman handcuffed an employee at a Simi Valley gas station and raided the cash register, authorities said Thursday. The man robbed the Mobil station at 2340 Kuehner Drive about 10 p.m. Wednesday, police said. He ordered the employee into the gas station office, handcuffed him and stole an undisclosed amount of cash before fleeing, police said. No shots were fired and there were no injuries. Police are still investigating the incident.

Tioga Road, the east-west ribbon of roadway that accesses Yosemite National Park 's back country, will open for the season at noon Monday, the earliest opening date for the road since 1987. Last year, the road that leads to Tuolumne Meadows didn't open until June 18 because of higher-than-average snow pack, thwarting Me m orial Day plans for hikers and backpackers. But this year it's the complete opposite. California is experiencing a very dry year , with snow pack about 50% of normal, according to a park statement.

MILWAUKEE  - Mitt Romney edged closer to capturing the Republican presidential nomination on Tuesday as he beat back a challenge from rival Rick Santorum in Wisconsin and swept the field in Maryland and the District of Columbia. Santorum had counted on an improbable upset in Wisconsin to stop the party from coalescing, if reluctantly, around Romney, whose wins in the other two primaries were all but a foregone conclusion. But with Romney and President Obama clashing anew on Tuesday, Santorum was also fighting the widening perception that the race for the White House was transforming quickly into a two-man general-election contest.

Want to watch a car take flight? You are in luck. Terrafugia, makers of Transition -- the world's first flying car -- has released video of a production-type prototype flying over Plattsburgh, N.Y. today. The flight was the first successful test of the two-seat personal aircraft that you can park in your garage, drive on the road and fill up at a gas station. "This is a very exciting time for Terrafugia," said Carl Dietrich, the company's CEO and CTO. "We are on our way up -- literally and figuratively!"

Hollywood can thank “The Hunger Games” for raking in the bucks - more than $250 million overall, with $61 million over the weekend - but word lovers can thank the movie for something else: the spread of "dystopia" and "dystopian. " The words seem to be everywhere, popping up in news articles and opinion pieces on young adult fiction, visual arts, motion pictures (and not just “The Hunger Games”), hate-crime laws, video games, a trip to the gas station and an anti-President Obama ad by Rick Santorum.

Eleven Los Angeles police officers fired more than 60 shots, police sources said Friday, in the fatal wounding of an armed carjacking suspect in Koreatown at the end of a televised slow-speed pursuit. Authorities said police fired Thursday night after the suspect pointed his handgun at customers at a gas station, endangering people there. "When he pulled out his revolver and pointed it at people inside the store, the officers took action, fired their rounds, and the suspect expired at the scene," Cmdr.

A woman gave away her newborn baby because she wanted to conceal the birth from her female romantic partner, Long Beach police said. After giving birth to a girl at a home Monday, Paloma Espinoza, 28, of Long Beach handed off the infant to her mother, Sonia Hernandez. Hernandez called 911 and gave a false report that she found an abandoned baby in the parking lot of a nearby gas station and took the girl home, police said. In fact, the baby was never at the gas station, said Sgt. Rico Fernandez.

Ventura police are looking for a man who pulled a gun on the clerk of an Avenue gas station over the weekend and made off with a handful of cash. The robbery happened about 8 p.m. Saturday at the Arco gas station at 887 N. Ventura Ave., authorities said. Police Cpl. Dave Wilson said the suspect entered the gas station and approached the clerk as if to buy a soda. He then pulled out a handgun and demanded money. After taking an undetermined amount of cash, the suspect ran away, Wilson said.

A knife-wielding man robbed a Moorpark gas station early Thursday morning, authorities said. The 18-year-old female clerk at the Shell gas station at 301 W. Los Angeles Ave. was shaken, but unharmed in the 3 a.m. robbery, said Sgt. Mark O'Donnell of the Ventura County Sheriff's Department. The robber, described as about 6 feet tall, weighing 180 pounds and dressed in dark clothing with a dark covering on his head, threatened Crystal Deharo with a knife and demanded money, deputies said.

How do you make a Costco beautiful? It's been a thorny topic in the west San Fernando Valley for more than a year, ever since Westfield Group, owner of the landmark Topanga and Promenade malls, announced plans for a 30-acre development between the two shopping centers. Many residents were expecting a Bloomingdale's, high-rise towers, upscale dining. What they got was a Costco. "It's just a box with a parking lot," said Shirley Blessing, a 41-year resident. Plans to include a 20-pump gas station didn't help matters.

They spoke just twice. The first time was 10 years ago when Mark Stroman, armed with a sawed-off shotgun, pushed through the door of a Dallas gas station and furiously asked the dark-skinned clerk, Rais Bhuiyan, "Where are you from?" The second was a brief phone call this summer before Stroman was about to be executed. "I forgive you and I do not hate you," Bhuiyan told the man who had shot him in the face, blinding him in his right eye. "Thank you from my heart," Stroman said.