Pump

With gas prices continuing a steady upward climb, you may be headed to the dealer in search of something less thirsty at the pump. But which cars' sticker price gives you the most bang for your buck? We asked Edmunds.com to look at the vehicles with the lowest sticker price per fuel-economy rating. The math was simple: divide the car's base price by its EPA rating for combined fuel economy. The result gives a look at how much each mile per gallon will cost you. Photos: Top 10 cars with lowest cost per mpg Topping the list is Ford's C-Max Energi.

The 1st District City Council race has garnered more than four times the money of previous races there, buoyed by the deep pockets and independent spending of labor and business leaders. In the runoff to replace council member Ed Reyes in the district near downtown Los Angeles, a combined $1.97 million has been raised on behalf of former Sacramento lawmaker Gil Cedillo and Reyes' chief of staff, Jose Gardea, according to campaign finance reports. The election almost ended in the primary: Cedillo received 49.32%, less than 1% shy of winning outright.

Americans, lately accustomed to paying about $1 per gallon for gasoline, may get some sticker shock abroad. Recent average prices at the pump for the cheapest-grade gasoline, from a survey of 85 locations: Most Expensive Hong Kong: $5.04 Oslo: $4.57 Paris: $4.47 Amsterdam: $4.35 Hamilton, Bermuda: $4.32 London: $4.27 Milan, Italy: $4.21 Brussels: $4.05 Buenos Aires: $3.97 Stockholm: $3.97 Least Expensive Caracas, Venezuela: $0.48 Lagos, Nigeria: $0.49 Kuwait City: $0.51 Jakarta, Indonesia: $0.

SHANGHAI - Gov. Jerry Brown's trade mission to China this week is intersecting with one of the most controversial issues of his governorship: California's $68-billion bullet train. The governor has staked part of his legacy on the rail network, a centerpiece of his vision for California. He is hoping that China, which is enjoying an economic boom and spent $77.6 billion on overseas investments last year, according to official figures, will pump some of its cash into the troubled project.

The average price of regular unleaded self-serve gasoline in California fell 2.8 cents to $1.48 a gallon for the week ended Monday, the Energy Information Administration said. The average price peaked April 12 at $1.62 a gallon. A year ago, Californians were paying $1.24 a gallon for regular gasoline. Nationwide, the average price was unchanged at $1.14.

The April 8 front-page article, "Get Used to High Gas Prices, U.S. Says," continues on page A25 with the headline "Gasoline Prices Expected to Stay High Through 2006." Isn't that an election year that the Bush administration and its oil industry friends have "an interest" in? Here's a way to remind fellow consumers, the oil industry and elected officials about the "important implications" of these obscene price increases. Let's all deliberately stop the pump at $20.06 instead of rounding it to $20. Think how often consumers and the gas stations will see that reminder that "you can't fool all the people all the time."

State inspectors investigating claims by nurses that faulty drug pumps had led to the accidental overdose of five patients at UC Irvine Medical Center found three deficiencies and issued an "immediate jeopardy" warning, alleging that patient care was at risk, hospital officials acknowledged Thursday. The warning earlier this summer is one of the most serious that can be issued against a hospital -- and typically federal or state inspectors stay on site until a plan to correct the problem is in place.

I see where the cost of crude that is used to make gasoline is at a very low price right now ["Energy Chief Says Gas Supply Stable, May Boost Oil Reserve," Sept. 28]. How come the "instant overnight" price at the pump does not come down [overnight]? When the price of crude goes up a bit, the "instant overnight" phenom of a higher price kicks in in a nanosecond. What am I missing here? Ray P. Keesler La Crescenta

How remarkable it is that gas prices are declining without mandates from the political class ("Pump Prices Starting to Ease," Sept. 13). People are actually capable of making up their own minds about how much gas they want to buy at whatever price, and finding ways around not having to buy gas. When demand falls and supply rises or is stable, price falls. All this wondrous stuff without new laws, price caps and corporate average fuel economy mandates from Washington and Sacramento.

Retail gas prices fell every day this week, easing off their national summer peak of $2.693 a gallon as U.S. storage facilities swelled with unused supplies. At the pump, the national average for gasoline dropped less than a penny Friday to $2.658 a gallon, according to AAA, Wright Express and the Oil Price Information Service. In California, the statewide average price for a gallon of regular gas fell to $3.010, down from $3.028 a week ago. The price was $2.671 a gallon a month ago and $4.596 a gallon at this time last year.

California gasoline prices may have already peaked for the first half of the year and should head lower soon, analysts said. Meanwhile, nationwide gasoline price averages over the first two months of the year rose at such a blistering rate that Americans were on pace to pay half a trillion dollars on gasoline in 2013 for the first time ever, analysts said. The high prices were causing big changes in the driving habits of American motorists, with gasoline consumption dropping sharply.

In a step that has become more routine over the last decade, water exports to the San Joaquin Valley and Southern California have been reduced to avoid killing endangered delta smelt. State and federal water managers said Tuesday that early winter pumping from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta has been curtailed because too many of the native fish were dying at the delta's export pumps. At this point it is difficult to say what effect the pumping cutbacks could have on water deliveries.

WASHINGTON - In unveiling a new stimulus plan, Japan's central bank for the first time set an ambitious inflation target aimed at breaking the nation out of its long deflationary trap and economic stagnation. But many analysts and investors were disappointed with Tuesday's action. They said the moves by the Bank of Japan, in response to relentless nagging by Japan's new prime minister to be more aggressive, fell far short of what was needed to put the world's third-largest economy on a path of sustained growth - offering little hope that Japan would provide a boost to the fragile global economy any time soon.

It starts with the lights. The Clippers never dim the Staples Center lights, allowing their shrieking crowd to become one with their soaring team. The Lakers darken the arena as if they are performing in a nightclub, the Clippers act like they are playing Coachella. It continues with the court, which squeaks and thumps and rumbles when the Clippers are covering it with the sort of effort that sends Blake Griffin sweat spitting into the stands. When the Lakers play, with the exception of a few hard Kobe Bryant breaths, this same court is quiet.

If you loved the Rose Bowl, you might also enjoy Monday night's Bowl Championship Series title game between Notre Dame and Alabama. Think of this as a pumped-up version of Stanford versus Wisconsin, a defensive, clock-control matchup that ended in a 20-14 Cardinal victory. Notre Dame and Alabama boast fine defenses and like-minded philosophies on how championships are won. Times staff writer Chris Dufresne examines the BCS title game's story lines. Take it or leave it No one said the BCS is perfect or that the best team has to win. You could even argue one-loss Oregon is the best-looking team playing right now. Notre Dame is 12-0 but survived several harrowing finishes to finish the regular season undefeated.

It was about a quarter past midnight - 2012 had just gone - when singer and guitarist Jeff McDonald of Los Angeles band Redd Kross burst out with a joyous, simple, one-word declaration that captured the mood at the storied Alexandria in downtown Los Angeles. "Yes!" he shouted into the microphone after banging his head and guitar chords through "Blow You a Kiss in the Wind" on early Tuesday morning, well aware of the power that he and his brother Steve's band had just generated. Performing a double bill with fellow Los Angeles band (and long-ago Atlantic Records label-mates)

Peer Portner, 68, the inventor of an implanted electrical pump for heart-failure patients, died of cancer Feb. 9 at his home in the San Francisco Bay area, according to an announcement from Stanford University. Originally trained as a nuclear physicist, Portner became a consulting professor of cardiothoracic surgery at Stanford University School of Medicine. He began working with doctors at the school in the early 1970s to develop his pump, called the left ventricular assist device.

Every time I go to the gas pump, I wonder if President Clinton feels my pain. H. EUGENE DOSS Diamond Bar

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.

Where is the John Muir of the San Gabriel Mountains? The Ansel Adams of the San Bernardinos? The Donner Party of the San Jacintos? All right, maybe one Donner Party was enough. But Muir, Adams and company are among the reasons the inland mountains of Southern California have never quite matched the attention won by their taller northern neighbors, the Sierra Nevada. Still, hikers, board-riders, skiers and snowball-tossers in Southern California find no shortage of peace and exhilaration.