Honolulu gas prices hold steady as Mainland prices fall

Honolulu gas prices remained stable over the past week as Mainland prices turned downward.

The average price of a gallon of regular in Honolulu was $3.06 Sunday, a penny more than a week ago, according to GasBuddy.com, which tracks 214 outlets on Oahu. That was down $1.016 a gallon from a year ago, but up 14 cents from a month ago.

Meanwhile, Mainland prices began to fall after seeing a spike earlier in the year. The national average was $2.43 per gallon on Sunday, down 2.4 cents in the past week.…

USW: "Local issues" remain hurdle for Tesoro, other refineries

Although an agreement has been reached at a national level between striking refinery workers and the companies that own them, union leaders report that “local issues” remain a hurdle at facilities owned by San Antonio-based Tesoro Corp. and other companies.

Negotiators with the United Steelworkers and oil giant Shell reached an agreement on Thursday afternoon, promising to bring an end to a refinery strike that started on Feb. 1, but ballooned to 15 facilities and involving some 7,000 workers.

The…

Casey wants panel to boost disaster response to derailments

Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey is urging the passage of federal legislation that would create a task force to address the increasing number in Pennsylvania of derailments of trains carrying crude oil.

The Response Act would create a Federal Emergency Management Agency National Advisory Council subcommittee that would help first responders deal with derailments. Data from Casey’s office shows what it called a dramatic increase in crude-oil rail car derailments since 2008. There have been several in…

Nashville apartment developer under contract to buy SoBro land

After a nearly five-year gap, Marty Heflin is poised to once again develop apartments and condos in Nashville.

Heflin, founder of Range Light Partners LLC, is under contract to buy about 1.25 acres in SoBro. The property is between Peabody Street and Lea Avenue, less than two blocks from Nashville’s massive Music City Center convention facility.

According to multiple real estate sources, Heflin is pursuing a multifamily development, most likely apartments. That would make sense, given not only…

Real estate market strong in February

The number of homes offered for sale and placed under agreement jumped in western Pennsylvania last month, according to new data released Monday.

Home sales jumped 6.2 percent to 2,899, and new listings were up 5.8 percent to 2,236 in February compared to a year ago, West Penn Multi-List said. The average home sale price was $149,074, up nearly 10 percent from a year ago.

West Penn Multi-List President Tom Hosack credited better weather in February compared to a year ago in keeping the real estate…