Gas prices jump 7 cents in 2 weeksCAMARILLO, Calif. — The average price of gasoline has jumped by 7 cents over the past two weeks, to $1.84 a gallon.Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg said Sunday that despite the increase, the price is 70 cents per gallon cheaper than a year ago.Lundberg says the moderate price hike is due to growing demand for gasoline across the nation and higher crude oil prices.In the Lower 48 states, the highest average price of regular gasoline was $2.51 per gallon in Los Angeles. The lowest was $1.33 in Tucson, Arizona.The U.S. average diesel price is $2.07 per gallon, down less than a cent from two weeks ago and down 96 cents per gallon from what it was a year ago.

Mushers start quest to win IditarodWILLOW, Alaska — Eighty-five mushers set off Sunday to conquer the toughest terrain this nation has to offer, vying to become the first to reach Alaska’s western coast with their dog teams and win the Iditarod.Scott Janssen, an undertaker from Anchorage who is known as the Mushing Mortician, was the first to leave across Willow Lake in the staggered start.Dallas Seavey was only wearing a long-sleeved shirt as he packed his sled under blue skies and warm temperatures. He said it felt just like another day for him and his dogs, doing their thing.That could be bad news for the field as Seavey has won three out of the last four races.“If we have a good race, we should have a good finish. If we can maximize this team, we’ll get there fast,” he said of the dash for the finish line under the burled arch in Nome. The winner is expected in about nine days after traveling over two mountain ranges, the Yukon River and battling the fierce winds along the Bering Sea coast.