The aftermath of Hurricane Ike in Texas left travelers' pockets a little lighter on Saturday, but Florida Gov. Charlie Crist says Ike hasn't affected Florida's gas prices.
Today's Orlando Sentinel attempts to give explanation for the gas situation, but it relies on gas prices. This is not the biggest issue. The biggest issue is that there is no gas. I travelled to 4 gas stations Saturday in search of a pump offering regular gas. Prices have been on the rise for years, so their continuing rise wasn't as shocking as the yellow plastic bags covering so many gas pumps.
Everything in the article was relevant; it's just not in the best inverted pyramid.
The front-page article of the Sentinel waits until the jump -- and the end of the article -- to let the reader know why there is no gas. The verdict: gas is so expensive gas stations themselves aren't purchasing gas. Readers have to sift through what Gov. Charlie Crist said (Florida has not run out of gas), how much gas was in Tallahassee, and price gauging before getting to the heart of the matter.
Even the refer just below the fold conveys the $5.49 price tag for gas in Tallahassee when Suncoast Energys' gas on Semoran Blvd. is the same price, according to OrlandoGasPrices.com .
The article also releases information on the Texas oil refineries being shut down. The article says it can take days to get the refinieries up and running again, but the reporter should have found out how many days. People read this article to find out how it affects them and for how long. It's going to be somewhere around 9 days, according to Forbes.
Although Gov. Charlie Crist is an important political figure, sometimes the news is the news regardless of what he says. Crist spoke to inform Floridians why the gas is expensive, but the fact is it's gone. Perhaps that's important.
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