North Dakota Transportation

It's hard to say which is stranger: that the University of North Dakota next spring will become the first U.S. institute of higher education to set up its own airline, or that many of the new carrier's co-pilots will be from Taiwan. Call it serendipity. North Dakota has lacked scheduled air service between its major cities since deregulation more than a decade ago. Training facilities for pilots are virtually nonexistent in Taiwan. The university has a degree program to teach flying.

It's hard to say which is stranger: that the University of North Dakota next spring will become the first U.S. institute of higher education to set up its own airline, or that many of the new carrier's co-pilots will be from Taiwan. Call it serendipity. North Dakota has lacked scheduled air service between its major cities since deregulation more than a decade ago. Training facilities for pilots are virtually nonexistent in Taiwan. The university has a degree program to teach flying.

The Energy Department's weekly fuel price survey shows $3.941 as the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline. But the number has been driven recently by the East and West coasts, which have the highest prices in the 48 contiguous states. A gallon of regular gasoline on the West Coast is averaging $4.231 a gallon. On the East Coast, the average is $3.911 a gallon. That compares with the Rocky Mountain states ($3.748 a gallon), the Gulf Coast states ($3.802) and the Midwest ($3.905)

This is not a story for the faint of heart--or the weak of bladder. It's about those times when you really, really, really have to go and you're driving across South Dakota and the next rest stop is 95 miles away. One option, of course, is to pull over and relieve yourself behind a tree. Another is to find an empty container in your car--perhaps that super-sized soda you so regret swigging--and urinate in that. Far too many people these days apparently are choosing the latter.