Gas Stations

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

Saying alcohol and gasoline don't mix, the City Council this week voted 6 to 1 not to issue new permits for the sale of beer or wine at gasoline stations. The Torrance council followed the recommendation of its Police Department and joined more than 40 cities and two counties statewide that have made it harder to buy a cold six-pack at the same place a person fills up the gas tank. Gas stations in the city that already sell beer and wine will not be affected by the ban.

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.

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.

Fifteen gas stations statewide have been fined $63,500 for marking their prices up so much after Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast that they boosted their profits by 25% or more, state Atty. Gen. Eliot Spitzer said in Albany. Prices soared nationwide after the hurricane damaged refineries and offshore drilling and production rigs, but Spitzer said he focused on retailers' increase in profit when it far exceeded any rise in the wholesale cost of gasoline charged by the distributor.

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.

The solution? Jobs Re "Putting the move in movement," Oct. 27 So people want to know how to end the Occupy movement. I have a suggestion: Go down to an encampment and offer someone there a job. Offer them good jobs, full time if they need it, at reasonable pay with reasonable benefits. If you have no jobs to offer, consider lobbying your representatives to create some jobs. Yes, I said those evil words: Government should create jobs. Otherwise, how do we staff our public schools, libraries, DMV offices and so on?

The massive power outage was apparently good for slots, but not so good for tacos. In the small town of Alpine, just east of San Diego, residents converged like moths on the neon lights of Viejas Casino, one of the only businesses not rendered pitch black by Thursday's power outage. Rowina Johnson, a cashier working the graveyard shift, said that as long as darkness reigned elsewhere, the casino was hopping. "While the power was out, they were pretty busy," she said of the casino's workers.

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.

Ralphs operator Kroger Co. rang up double-digit increases in fiscal first-quarter revenue and net income as the grocery chain's fuel stations and loyalty discounts helped draw more frequent shoppers when gasoline and food prices rose. The nation's largest traditional grocery operator now expects better results for the full year than earlier projected, even though U.S. economic improvement appears to be stagnating. That could help Kroger if people eat more meals at home instead of in restaurants and look for ways to manage spending because of high gas prices.

If your family budget is running on fumes, getting free fuel for the car is mighty appealing. But before you book your summer vacation hotel, check under the shiny hood of its offer to pay $10 or even $75 of your gas costs. Nothing is really free, and these proliferating promotions are no exception. Hotels usually wrap fuel cards and credits into packages. Like vehicles on a dealer's lot, these come loaded with extras: room upgrades, breakfast, road snacks and more. If you don't want the extras, or they don't pencil out as savings, pass them up. Do the same with a $10 gas-card offer if you have to slog through a slew of the hotel's online promotions to see how it stacks up. We're talking less than 3 gallons of gas here.

Israelis waited in long lines to fill up at gas stations as union workers halted fuel supplies ahead of a threatened general strike set to begin today. Workers are protesting government plans to overhaul the country's venerable welfare state. "There will be no buses, trains. The airport will be shut. There will be stoppages in the supply of electricity and water," said David Pik, a spokesman for the Histadrut union group.

You think it’s costing you a bundle to fill up your car? The $4.28 a gallon price is nothing — at least, not when you compare it with the $9 a gallon that some rental car agencies are charging when you forget to return the car with a full tank. Think of it this way: If you have a car with a 13.8-gallon tank, you’ll owe the car rental company $124.20 if you return it empty. Ouch. Hertz is charging an eye-popping $9.29 a gallon for customers who forgot to fill up before dropping off the car at its Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)

Bernard B. Roth, founder of South Gate-based World Oil Corp. and an early promoter of self-service gas stations at a time when pumping your own gas was considered novel and possibly dangerous, has died. He was 95. He died Sunday night at his Beverly Hills home from complications of old age, his sons Steve and Bob said. Like many of Southern California's older entrepreneurs, Roth came to California from elsewhere. Born June 27, 1915, in St. Louis, Roth was 15 when he moved with his family to California and only 22 when he bought his first gas station at Florence and Normandie avenues in South Los Angeles.