OPINION — Are Parish drivers being gouged?

Jr. Food Mart at 5 p.m. Tuesday.

Crude is below $100 per barrel. The national average has dropped from above $4 per gallon, yet cheaper gas prices are as close as Bush.

With the Texaco by the Pearl River still at $3.929 and Jr. Food Mart in Bogalusa at $3.899, one has to wonder how much traffic is going out of town to buy gas?

Gas was $3.76 per gallon (on average) in Covington on Sunday and $3.65 on Tuesday — the same as in Picayune. If you shop at Winn-Dixie and participate in Fuel Perks, that means a 20-cent-a -gallon discount gets your gas for $3.729 in Bogalusa or $3.45 in Covington and Picayune.

And that raises the next question ... if you can save that much at the pump, why not just go to the grocery store there as well?

Gas prices aren't just less expensive in larger communities, they're cheaper in the country, as well. Just drive up Highway 21 and cross into Mississippi ... the little country store on the west side of the highway was at $3.63 LAST week and has dropped further!

Gas is already below $3.50 a gallon in the Jackson area and New Orleans Metro. The price ranges between $3.60 and $3.75 in the rest of the area — outside Washington Parish — which makes one think long and hard about paying an extra 30 to 40 cents a gallon.

We're all for shopping at home, but not at the expense of common sense!