The national average price of gasoline rose 11 cents last week as Isaac threatened the Gulf Coast and then swept ashore with high winds and flooding rains. But by Friday the price had leveled off to just under $3.83 per gallon. Monday, the average price declined - barely - by 0.2 cents, to $3.827 per gallon, according to the Oil Price Information Service, AAA and Wright Express.
That's the highest-ever price for gasoline on Labor Day, though it is 11 cents below this year's high of $3.94 per gallon, set April 6.
Analysts say that gasoline prices should drift lower in the coming weeks as Gulf Coast refineries ramp back up, the summer driving season ends and refiners switch to cheaper winter blends of gasoline.
WASHINGTON - In a recent letter hailed by advocates in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, the Department of Health and Human Services clarified that provisions in the Affordable Care Act prohibiting sex discrimination in health insurance apply to transgender people.
With HHS declaring that it would be discriminatory for employers, insurers and others to deny health-insurance coverage or benefits based on "gender identity or failure to conform to stereotypical notions of masculinity or femininity," advocates hope that transgender people - those who identify with a sex other than the one they were born as - will take another step toward achieving equality in health care.
The letter does not mean that insurers have to cover surgery related to gender transition, according to a statement posted online by HHS, which plans to issue further guidance on the subject.
LONDON - British Foreign Secretary William Hague on Monday urged Ecuador to quickly resume negotiations over the fate of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
Assange, who is seeking to avoid extradition to Sweden for questioning over sex-crime allegations, has been sheltered inside Ecuador's Embassy in London - beyond the reach of British police - since June 19.
Ecuador has offered Assange asylum, but he will be arrested if he sets foot outside the embassy.
Hague said that Ecuador should resume talks "as early as possible."
Assange claims that the Swedish sex case is merely the opening gambit in a plot to make him stand trial in the United States over his work with WikiLeaks, which has published large troves of secret U.S. documents. Sweden and Washington reject those claims.
- Daily News wire services
