Residents struggle with rising prices at the gas pumps
May 20—BLUEFIELD, Va. — Prices jumping upward at gas pumps in both Virginia and West Virginia are making residents take harder looks at their budgets and how often they can get behind the wheel.
In Virginia, the average price for a gallon of regular gasoline was $4.45, up from $4.25 a week ago and $2.95 a year ago. Locally, the cost of a gallon of gas ranged from $4.29 to $4.34 around Bluefield, Va.
Across the state line in West Virginia, the average price was $4.43 a gallon, up from $4.23 a week ago and $2.99 a year ago. In the Princeton area, a gallon of gas was selling Thursday from $4.49 to $4.35. A price of $4.53 was seen in Bluefield.
The national average for a gallon of gasoline was $4.58 Thursday. People on low or fixed incomes are looking for ways to cope.
"Well, I'm on a fixed income and I'm a retired school teacher, so it does affect me, yes," said a retired Tazewell County teacher who declined to give her name. "I have family in Abbs Valley and I'm going there now. I have to really limit my trips. I can't just take pleasure trips anymore."
She added that she recently took a trip to the Smokey Mountains with her sister and two nieces. They split the cost of gas.
"But what can you do?" she asked. "It's so high."
Nick Poe of Bluefield, Va., was walking his dog, Precious, downtown when he was asked about the rising prices at the pumps. His strategy is to consolidate trips whenever possible.
"I'm trying to get as many things done at a time as I can," he said. "Or I walk to a place if I can."
The need to commute to work or drive to do business limits options for some people.
"It's tough," Matthew McFarland of Bluefield, Va. said. "What can you do? We've got to get back and forth to work. What else can you do?"
One Mercer County resident said she has seen the price of filling up her truck's gas tank go from $50 to $85.
"I work as a property manager in the area between here (Bluefield, Va.) and Princeton," said Katey Adkins of Princeton. "I have to fill up twice a week. It's been kicking my butt. The gas hike is just ridiculous."
— Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com
Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com
