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Higher gasoline prices are on the way NEW YORK (AP) — Drivers, here's the bad news: You'll be paying more for gasoline in the coming weeks. The good news: You'll likely pay less than last year. Or the year before, or the year before that. The price of gasoline held steady into early February, but an increase is almost inevitable this time of year. Pump prices have gone up an average 31 cents per gallon in February over the past three years. And although this year's rise might not reach the heights of years past, there are reasons for drivers in some regions — like the Northeast — to worry about a painful spike. ''We're going to get increases and they are going to be noticeable,'' says Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst at Gasbuddy.com and the Oil Price Informa- tion Service. ''We're going to get that pop rela- tively soon.'' The price of crude oil has risen 8 percent over the past month, to $100 per barrel. And analysts expect fuel supplies to begin to decline as refineries dial back pro- duction to perform main- tenance and make the switch to summer fuels. Gasoline prices are already creeping higher. The nationwide average price has risen for seven days in a row to $3.34 per gallon, the highest level since October, according to AAA, OPIS and Wright Express. Califor- nia, Connecticut and New York drivers are paying an average of $3.65 or more, the most in the lower 48 states. Montana and South Carolina drivers are pay- ing $3.10 or less. But the nationwide average is not expected to quite reach its high point of last year of $3.79 per gallon, set February 27, never mind the highs of $3.94 in 2012 and $3.98 in 2011. AAA predicts a peak of between $3.55 and $3.75 per gallon. Gasoline prices are 8 percent lower than last year at this time, even though crude oil prices are about the same, in part because gasoline supplies are plentiful. Refiners have kept operations humming to meet increased demand for heating oil during the frigid winter, and have produced more gasoline as a result. But the stormy weather has left cars buried under snow, where they don't use much gaso- line. Now, however, with the end of the winter in sight, refinery output is expected to slow down as refiners conduct typical seasonal maintenance. Even refiners that are up and running sometimes reduce production at this time of year. They'll soon switch to making more expensive summer gaso- line that is formulated to meet clean air rules, and they don't want to be stuck with unsold winter gas. 'House of Cards' cast enjoys support from insiders LOS ANGELES (AP) — The political thriller ''House of Cards'' launched its second sea- son with support from fans in real-life Washing- ton power circles. The online series about a scheming, sometimes murderous couple, played by Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright, premiered in its entirety Friday on Netflix. President Barack Obama's official Twitter account notes the occa- sion along with the request: ''No spoilers, please.'' The tweet was not signed to indicate it came directly from the president, however, and the account is run by his group Organizing For Action. Wright won a Golden Globe Awards for her por- trayal of Claire Under- wood, wife of Spacey's vice president-to-be Frank Underwood. She says Obama ''knows good stuff.'' And Kate Mara, who plays reporter Zoe Barnes, double-checked the authenticity of the tweet before celebrating. She calls the Obama mes- sage ''one of the coolest things that's happened to me.'' Mara says the 13- episode season is ''just as dark as the first.'' In a meeting with tech- nology company CEOs in December, Obama play- fully asked Netflix CEO Reed Hastings if he'd brought advance copies of the show. ''I wish things were that ruthlessly efficient. That's true,'' Obama joked. ''I was looking at Kevin Spacey. I was thinking, 'This guy is get- ting a lot of stuff done.''' Camel escapes, attacks man in Southern California PALMDALE, Calif. (AP) — A camel escaped from an enclosure in a Southern California high desert community Friday, stomped a 72-year-old man who tried to capture it, and chased other peo- ple before it calmed down and was corralled. The camel escaped in the unincorporated com- munity of Acton and was reported chasing cars shortly after 8:30 a.m., Los Angeles County sher- iff's officials said. ''My dad ... tried to catch it and it must have cornered him or some- thing, and it took off after him, bit him on the head and knocked him down and stomped on him,'' Skylar Dossenbach told KCBS-TV. ''He crawled under something and the camel tried to pull him out from under it.'' Her father was hospi- talized and needed stitch- es for a gash to his head, she said. His name wasn't immediately released. ''A neighbor came out and saw the commotion and got the camel away from him,'' Dossenbach told KABC-TV. ''And the camel actually started chasing them, and they had to jump in a car, and the camel was running around after everybody.'' Dossenbach said she finally ended up capturing the camel. ''I just put a halter on him, fed him a treat and he calmly walked down to my round pen and I cor- ralled him,'' she said. The camel was seized by animal control officials because the owner does not have a permit and because of the injury, agency spokeswoman Betsy Webster said. The owner could be cited for endangering res- idents, sheriff's officials said. Dossenbach said the camel and other animals, including a buffalo and an ostrich, previously escaped from the owner's property, which she described as a zoo. There have been as many as five escapes this year, she said. Dossenbach said she believed no one lives on the property but a caretak- er comes by daily to feed and water the animals. 5 siblings reconnect; 2 crossed paths at Walmart SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — The lives of five brothers and sisters born in North Dakota who were separately adopted at infancy took the twists and turns that 50 years bring. Some moved to dif- ferent states; some mar- ried; some had children. But none of them ever knew the others existed. Then, the obituary of their biological mother presented a clue. And when they finally met, one brother realized he wasn't so unfamiliar with one of his siblings. John Maixner had been greeted a half a dozen times or so by his sister at their local Walmart in Dickinson, N.D., where she has worked for 23 years. Buddine Bullinger, 56, knew her biological's mother name but never attempted to contact her. Last January, a Walmart co-worker — the only person she had ever told the name —told Bullinger the local paper had print- ed the mother's obituary. It mentioned a surviving daughter, Deidre Handt- mann. Bullinger at first resist- ed contacting Handt- mann. But weeks later, Bullinger asked the funer- al home to help her reach her sister. ''February 19 was the first time I heard her voice,'' Handtmann told The Associated Press Wednesday. ''I will never forget that day.'' They arranged to meet at Handtmann's home in Bismarck, N.D. ''It was unbelievable,'' Bullinger said. ''We are in our 50s. I was so nervous to meet her, and when I opened that door, I didn't know what to say. You don't know what to do. It was so special.'' Handtmann had recon- nected with her mother 19 years before her passing. She said her mother never mentioned having given other children up for adoption. US: Taliban struck shortly after insider attack WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon says that shortly after two U.S. sol- diers were gunned down by two men wearing Afghan army uniforms in eastern Afghanistan, Taliban insur- gents attacked the district center where the Ameri- cans had been operating. The scenario as described Friday by a Pentagon spokesman, Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby, appeared to leave open the possibility that the machine-gun attack that killed the two Army Special Forces soldiers Wednesday was coordi- nated with the Taliban. Kirby said he would not speculate on whether the two events were con- nected. The matter is being investigated jointly by American and Afghan officials. The Pentagon identi- fied the two U.S. soldiers as 22-year-old Spc. John A. Pelham of Portland, Ore., and 41-year-old Sgt. 1st Class Roberto C. Skelt of York, Fla. Career diplomats eye credentials for ambassadors WASHINGTON (AP) — The trade association that represents America's career diplomats is push- ing new guidelines to ensure ambassadors are qualified for the job after a string of embarrassing comments by appointees to top overseas posts. The American Foreign Service Association says its proposed qualifica- tions are not in response to any recent cases. It also says the thorny issue of political diplomats is not unique to the Obama administration. Association President Robert J. Silverman says political appointees who have demonstrated skills in private industry or have held leadership positions would be acceptable can- didates as ambassadors, even if they have never served as a diplomat. But he says more needs to be done to ensure that large campaign contribu- tions don't necessarily pave the way for ambas- sadorships. Animals customize milk for baby's sex WASHINGTON (AP) — A special blend of moth- er's milk just for girls? New research shows animal moms are customizing their milk in surprising ways depending on whether they have a boy or a girl. The studies raise ques- tions for human babies, too — about how to choose the donor milk that's used for hospitalized preemies, or whether we should explore gender-specific infant for- mula. ''There's been this myth that mother's milk is pretty standard,'' said Harvard University evolutionary biologist Katie Hinde, whose research suggests that's far from true — in monkeys and cows, at least. Instead, ''the biological recipes for sons and daugh- ters may be different,'' she told a meeting of the Amer- ican Association for the Advancement of Science on Friday. Pediatricians have long stressed that breast milk is best when it comes to baby's first food. Breast-fed infants are healthier, suffer- ing fewer illnesses such as diarrhea, earaches or pneu- monia during the first year of life and less likely to develop asthma or obesity later on. But beyond general nutrition, there have been few studies of the content of human breast milk, and how it might vary from one birth to the next or even over the course of one baby's growth. That research is dif- ficult to conduct in people. So Hinde studies the milk that rhesus monkey mothers make for their babies. The milk is richer in fat when monkeys have male babies, especially when it's mom's first birth, she found. 7A Saturday, February 15, 2014 – Daily News VOTING IS UNDER WAY! Vote for your favorite Tehama County Businesses before Wednesday, February 26. Online Ballots Only at www.redbluffdailynews.com Five Lucky Voters will be selected at random from all eligible ballots on March 4. Each will receive a $100 Shopping Spree at the Tehama County business of their choice! 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