Gas Stations

Remember when gas stations were cool? In the decades after World War II, gas was cheap and operators competed on service. Every time a car rolled in, a bell would ring and uniformed pump jockeys dashed out to fill the tank, wash the windshield and check the oil level. Sagging tires got a whoosh of air. Station owners made profits from car repairs performed in their garages and especially from selling oil, which vehicles burned quickly by today's standards. Some owners tried to catch customers' eyes with futuristic-looking designs for their buildings like the Googie-style Unocal station in Beverly Hills from 1965 with a swooping white roof.

To your grocery list, add electricity. Kroger Co., the country's largest grocery store owner, with chains including Ralphs and Food 4 Less, plans to install a total of 225 vehicle charging stations at 125 supermarkets in California and Arizona. San Francisco-based Ecotality Inc., which operates the nation's second-largest network of public electric charging stations for vehicles, announced Monday that it would handle the installation. Kroger, based in Cincinnati, said it would invest about $1.5 million to install Ecotality's Blink charging stations and DC Fast Chargers.

Six of the 15 Southern California Costco gasoline stations that shut their gas pumps this week during a record-breaking run-up in wholesale fuel prices are again open for business, said Jeff Cole, vice president of gasoline for the company in the U.S. Another was reopening at 6 p.m., Cole said. The remaining eight Costco gas stations that closed are scheduled to reopen by noon Saturday, Cole added. The stations closed as wholesale prices for California gasoline climbed to a record-setting $4.39 a gallon this week.

A dead man found in an Anaheim gas station driveway probably died of self-inflicted stab wounds, authorities said Wednesday. Police first suspected Richard Swartz, 66, whose last known address was in Costa Mesa, was murdered. His body was found in the driveway of a Mobil gas station at Lincoln Avenue and Sunkist Street in Anaheim on March 19, according to Anaheim Police Sgt. Bob Dunn. Swartz was pronounced dead 30 to 45 minutes later at a hospital. Based on evidence and the autopsy, police determined that he most likely killed himself, Dunn said.

Sunoco Inc. plans to end nearly 120 years in the U.S. refining business, selling off its two remaining plants as higher crude prices and slumping demand squeezed profits in the latest restructuring of the sector. The Philadelphia company will remain a gasoline retailer through its 4,900 stations across the East Coast and Midwest, but will put its two Pennsylvania refineries on the block. The move is the latest shift in the U.S. refining market, which has seen a wave of companies disposing of refining assets, selling off plants or mothballing them over the last two years as firms reorganize businesses to adjust to the changing economics in the oil products markets.

With every gas station in Los Angeles being turned into a shopping center soon it will take a tank of gas to find and get a tank of gas. MARGARET KARTALIAN Van Nuys

California Atty. Gen. Kamala D. Harris has filed a civil lawsuit against BP West Coast Products, BP Products North America Inc. and Atlantic Richfield Co., accusing them of violating state laws on hazardous materials and hazardous waste. The lawsuit accuses the parties of failing to properly inspect and maintain underground tanks used to store gasoline at more than 780 gas stations in California. "Safe storage of gasoline is not only common sense, it is essential to protecting the integrity of California's groundwater resources," Harris said.

BP's businesses include: Gas stations: About 22,400 retail outlets worldwide, including 11,500 in the U.S., under the names BP, Arco, Amoco and Aral (Germany) Convenience stores: About 1,200 AM/PM mini markets, primarily in the western U.S. Motor oil: Castrol Restaurants: About 1,000 Wild Bean cafes, specializing in coffee, baked goods and sandwiches, in Europe, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand Refineries: Sixteen refineries, owned wholly or in part, including one in Carson Alternative energy: Eight wind farms in the U.S., including one at San Gorgonio Pass near Palm Springs

Oil giant BP, as a devotee of British understatement might say, has something of an image problem. Its environmentally devastating spill in the Gulf of Mexico — and new questions about risky decisions it made in an effort to cut corners and save money — have led to congressional hearings, federal investigations and a 25% drop in the company's stock price. The crisis has also prompted worldwide derision, demonstrations and fury. All perfectly understandable under the circumstances.

Two recent robberies of gas stations on Ventura Avenue may be connected, authorities said. Gasco, in the 700 block of North Ventura Avenue, was robbed about 11:30 a.m. Saturday by two men who demanded money but did not show a weapon, Ventura Police Lt. Brian Roberts said. One fled on foot and the other on a light-blue bicycle, Roberts said.

California Atty. Gen. Kamala D. Harris has filed a civil lawsuit against BP West Coast Products, BP Products North America Inc. and Atlantic Richfield Co., accusing them of violating state laws on hazardous materials and hazardous waste. The lawsuit accuses the parties of failing to properly inspect and maintain underground tanks used to store gasoline at more than 780 gas stations in California. "Safe storage of gasoline is not only common sense, it is essential to protecting the integrity of California's groundwater resources," Harris said.

Record gasoline prices in 2012 and calls for investigation of California's fuel markets have brought into focus a persistent peculiarity of the state's service station world: the wild swings in price any brand has from one location to the next. Known in the industry as zone pricing, the controversial practice was apparent one afternoon when Culver City resident Michael Denis, on a jaunt to downtown Los Angeles, stopped at a Chevron station to feed his Fiat 500 some gasoline at $4.69 a gallon.

BAKER - The temperature hit 114 degrees in July, but most folks passing by the "World's Tallest Thermometer" in this Mojave Desert pit stop never knew it. Once a shimmering beacon of light to Las Vegas-bound drivers heading up Interstate 15 with fat wallets and paper-thin dreams, Baker's 13-story thermometer marks California's last-stop oasis of bathrooms and burger joints before the Nevada state line. Now it's an eyesore. The pinkish roadside oddity has been on the blink for years.

An elderly man was charged with murder in the shooting death of a 65-year-old woman after his motorized wheelchair "made contact" with her car at a Georgia gas station, authorities said. The collision, which occurred as Linda Hunnicutt was pulling in to the station about 1 p.m. Tuesday, led her to step out of her Buick Lucerne and briefly exchange words with the man, a spokeswoman for the Macon Police Department said. The man, identified as Frank Louis Reeves, then shot her in the chest,  police said.

The artist who painted the mural that greets drivers entering the little town of Welch in West Virginia's coal fields added the figure of Ed Shepard at the last minute. Ed, as everyone calls him, is a fixture in town. He has manned his service station for 62 years. Plain-spoken, self-educated, and blessed with a remarkable memory, at 89 Ed is a seemingly endless source of knowledge about Welch and surrounding McDowell County. McDowell County used to dig more coal than anywhere else in the country.

When Mike Williams moved to New York City from Miami four months ago, he expected cold winters and slushy streets. He was not especially worried by the arrival of a Category 1 hurricane named Sandy. They have plenty of hurricanes in Florida. But gas lines, nearly two weeks after the storm's departure? “I don't get it. I'm blown away,” said Williams, asking the question on New Yorkers' minds as they began gas rationing Friday, the latest downshift from the city's usual rapid-fire pace and a measure aimed at relieving hours-long - sometimes daylong waits - in gas lines.

The two oil firms, Shell and Mobil, said they haven't made any offers for Los Angeles-based Atlantic Richfield's 2,000 gas stations in the East. Mobil said it might "swap" some of its Western gas stations for some of Arco's Eastern stations. Arco, the sixth-largest retailer on the East Coast, declined to comment.

They spend their days exposed to the elements, getting their hands dirty and rarely receiving tips -- until now. New Jersey gas stations are all full service, a pleasant surprise to many out-of-state drivers who attendants say will tip them for their trouble. Not so the average New Jersey driver, although that appears to be changing as post-Sandy gas shortages persist.   FULL COVERAGE: East Coast hit by deadly storm "My guys are one of the most disrespected jobs.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie continued to express gratitude for the federal government's help  at a televised news conference Sunday in Hoboken, N.J. With Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano at his side, Christie sent love to New Jersey residents for their recovery efforts and promised guff - “my type of gentle persuasion” - to utility companies to help the nearly 1 million customers in the state who still lack power, most in...