Gasoline prices plummet in Idaho Falls

Vehicles lined up Thursday at the Good 2 Go Conoco Station at North Yellowstone and Hitt Road, where prices got as low a $2.66 a gallon for regular unleaded. (Melissa Bristol photo)

Gasoline prices in Idaho Falls dropped below $3 a gallon at some stations this week, with competition between two convenience stores at Hitt Road and Yellowstone going at it particularly hard.

"You're more likely to see an old-fashioned price war when prices are on the wane," said Dave Carlson, spokesman for the Idaho AAA office in Boise.

When Dad's opened its station on Hitt in early October, it was selling its Sinclair gas for 45 to 50 cents a gallon less, prompting the Good 2 Go Conoco station across the road to follow suit. "We thought it would kind of take root up and down the I-15 corridor, but it didn't," Carlson said.

Although wholesale rack prices were going down, a lot of dealers were engaging in profit taking, sometimes as much as 30 or 40 cents a gallon, Carlson said.

At lunchtime today, the price for regular unleaded at Dad's was $2.89. Across the road at Good 2 Go, the price was $2.94. The average price in town was $3.05, below the national average price on Friday for regular unleaded was $3.21 a gallon.

Prices are going down because supplies are ample and winter grade gasoline is cheaper to produce. "It should have been coming down well before now," Carlson said.

Jones Sew & Vac moving to First Street

The Jones Sew & Vac remodel is already underway, just west of the Calvary Chapel Thrift Store.

Jones Sew & Vac will be leaving its longtime location on Hitt Road to a remodeled spot on First Street, between the Rose Shop and Calvary Chapel Thrift Store. They are hoping for a Dec. 1 opening, said James Wilson, who handles ordering and receiving for both the Idaho Falls store and the one in Pocatello.

Wilson said the main consideration is space. The new location will have close to 4,000 square feet, compared to the 1,000 square feet they have at their present Idaho Falls location.

INL scientist receives award from American Nuclear Society

Dr. Piyush Sabharwall

Piyush Sabharwall, a scientist in the Nuclear System Design and Analysis Division at Idaho National Laboratory, will receive the American Nuclear Society Young Members Excellence Award at the ANS annual meeting later this month. Each year the society gives the award to an early-career nuclear scientist who demonstrates outstanding technical abilities.

Sabharwall's research is in developing new technology for very high temperature nuclear reactors. He also works on ways to integrate nuclear power and renewable sources, like wind energy, into the power grid -- coupling a constant source with one that varies with the weather. Sabharwall's solutions could lead to a cleaner and more energy efficient future for the United States.

In addition to his own research, Sabharwall is a board director on the Idaho NASA Space Grant Consortia. Sabharwall came to INL in 2005.  He received his Ph.D. in 2009 from the University of Idaho, and completed a master's in engineering management this past spring by taking advantage of the U.S. Department of Energy's education program.

Happy's plans opening at new location Friday

The door to Happy Chinese Restaurant at its new Shoup Avenue location, with the Rogers Building reflected in the glass.

Happy Chinese Restaurant has closed on Park Avenue and plans to open Friday at its new location at 504 Shoup Avenue, where Grand Victorian Wedding Chapel was.

Jay and Lily Li came to Idaho Falls from Rexburg in 2003 to take over Happy's on Park Avenue, which originally started in the '80s. When it came time to find a new location that would give them more kitchen space, they didn't want to leave downtown and when the space at Park and B Street became available they put their moving plans in motion.

The new location has about 5,000 square feet, nearly twice what they've had on Park. The space will be about evenly split between the restaurant area (seating 135) and the kitchen, Lily Li said. "We will have better updated equipment for cooking," she said.

By the way, I think it's OK to say "Happy's" even though the name is Happy Chinese Restaurant just the same way it's OK to say "Chesbro's" even when the actual name is Chesbro Music Co.

More national fodder from the ongoing nuclear energy debate

I missed the local screening of "Pandora's Promise" last week, so I'm really on the lookout for any nuclear energy links that I think might be of interest to the local community. This has been a challenge since Dan Yurman closed shop on is Idaho Samizdat: Nuke Notes blog, but a lot of what he posted was pretty esoteric while I'm on the hunt for more general interest stuff.

This ran on the Salon.com Web site this morning: Climate experts to enviros: The time has come to embrace nuclear power.

Of course you can read the comments that follow this article, too, and read the links people post there.

Interesting nuclear power link from the New York Times

British Prime Minister David Cameron speaking Monday at the Hinckley Point B nuclear power station in southwest England. (New York Times photo)

I found this recent story from the New York Times  interesting for a number of reasons, not the least of which was a mention of Areva, whose uranium enrichment project west of Idaho Falls has been on hold for nearly two years. It pretty much sums up the challenges nuclear power is facing at the moment. Here's the link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/22/business/international/britain-and-edf-sign-nuclear-plant-deal.html

Deck goes onto D Street bridge

On the way home Thursday, I thought it worth the effort to climb the dirt pile on the north end of the new D Street underpass project to get a level view of what's going on. The long-awaited project is scheduled to be finished sometime in 2014.