Consumer alert!

The price of a barrel of oil skyrocketed today.

Gasoline prices in the Monroe area are RELATIVELY low today, with some stations pricing it at $2.86 a gallon or less.

Wednesday has been declared an Ozone Action Day. You’re not suppose to fuel your vehicle, let alone drive it.

Gas prices probably will start rising quickly.

Do you buy now, drive later? Top it off tommorrow?

If you’re priority is a lower price, you’d better run out now and get some gas.

The Department of Justice has reached an agreement with Doctors Associates, the private firm that franchises Subway sandwich shops, to make the 20,000 shops more accessible to the handicapped.

The effort will start with the firm surveying franchised establishments to make sure they are barrier-free.

Some details of the settlement can be found here.

Time and again I’ve cursed the Energizer bunny because my Energizer batteries died when I was taking photos with my digital camera.

But now the company has a product that keeps going, going and going. Its Titanium e2 lithium batteries are ideal for powering digital cameras, portable CD players or MP3 players. If you’re going to the be snapping photos at the Monroe County Fair this week, you might want to buy some before you go.
The company says the lithium batteries will provide power for about 630 digital photos using the typical point and shoot camera, compared to about 90 photos using the typical alkaline batteries.

I tried them, and I’m not sure what the photo count was, but I’m pretty sure they lasted at least five times longer than normal alkaline batteries. Of course, they’re a bit pricier, but not when you consider how many more photos you’ll be able to take before replacing them.

At one Monroe store, a four-pack of the traditional Energizer alkaline batteries was selling for $4.79. Titaniums were selling for $5.19.

Bush Administration budget cuts are killing the Consumer Product Safety Commission, according to its most senior member.

Thomas Moore said the cuts are leaving the agency only enough money to do what is absolutely necessary to ensure public safety from defective products. Read more here.

Though two of its own scientists urged the Food & Drug Administration to take the diabetes drug Avandia off the market because it sharply raises the risk of heart failure, an FDA panel on Monday decided to continue to allow it to be sold.

Critics complain it’s more evidence the federal regulatory agency is in the pocket of big drug companies. Here’s the latest.

If you get an e-mail saying there’s a cool screensaver attached, just delete it. It’s a Trojan horse virus that will infect PC’s running windows.

Here’s the story.

We’ve all heard those studies that a glass of wine is good for both digestive and heart health.

Now British researchers say the more the more a person drinks alcohol, the greater the risk of developing colon cancer.

A study partly funded by Cancer Research UK concluded that drinking a large glass of wine or a pint of beer each day increases the risk of getting colon cancer by 10 percent. People who drink two pints of beer a day or two large glasses of wine have an increased risk of 25 percent, the study found.

“The research shows quite clearly that the more alcohol you drink the greater your risk of bowel cancer,” said Tim Key, Cancer Research UK epidemiologist and director of the cancer epidemiology unit in Oxford.

The study, published online in the International Journal of Cancer, questioned 480,000 people in 10 European countries about their drinking habits.

All participants were followed up for a period of six years during which time 1,833 people developed colon cancer.

The Federal Trade Commission wants to hear from businesses, consumers and other entities about the about the use of Social Security numbers by the private sector, whether that increases chances of identity theft, and what alternatives might exist to using Social Security numbers for proving identification.

To learn how to comment and find out what type of comments are sought, visit this Web site.

The National Consumers League has released its list of what it calls the five worst teen jobs due to the risk of death or injury involved.

Here’s the list:

1. Agriculture: Fieldwork and processing.

2. Construction and working at heights.

3. Outside helper: Landscaping, groundskeeping, lawn service.

4. Driver/operator: Forklifts, tractors and ATVs.

5. Traveling youth sales crews.

The NCL says the list is based on government statistics and reports, state labor information and news accounts of injuries and deaths. It says a young worker is injured on the job in the U.S. every two minutes and a teen dies due to workplace injury every five days.

A new University of Southern California study finds that people who spent a lot of time in the sun as children have a lower risk of developing multiple sclerosis later in life.

The study doesn’t seem to speak to the risk these people might have of developing skin cancer later in life.

Here are details.

ConsumerAffairs.com had this little blurb that will help you figure out if the price you’re paying for the new Harry Potter book is magical or a curse:

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was released on July 21, and people lined up everywhere to grab a copy of the $35 book. What price should you pay? Very aggressive retailers are selling it in the vicinity of $17.99. (Wal-mart is $17.87 and .97 shipping at their .com, and they are back in stock. Target is $17.99; Costco is $18.19; Amazon is $17.99 but shipping adds $3.99; Overstock.com is $17.49 but shipping adds $2.95; and Frys had it for a short time for an amazing $15.99.) With these prices in mind, you have a good sense of what is a good price and what is a lousy one. 

Fast Company magazine has a fascinating article that lays out the real price of bottled water — not just the price we pay for it, but its social and environmental costs.

Here’s the article.

The Better Business Bureau of Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan warns that itinerant pavers have resurfaced in the area.

They convince homeowners, particularly elderly ones, that they’ll do a high-quality job at a low price. They usually do a low-quality job and pressure the homeowner into paying a high price.

The BBB says the pavers are very persistent and might start paving before the homeowner even agrees. BBB President Richard T. Eppstein offers this advice: “We suggest that if an intinerant paving guy comes to your company or home, tell him you are calling the police. Then do it!”

There’s a new e-mail making the rounds with an attachment that launches a computer worm. Just delete this message if you get it:

Counterfeit checks with the KeyBank logo have been associated with various lottery scams around the country.

Here’s the alert from the U.S. Comptroller of the Currency.