WEEK IN REVIEW
Monday Gasoline prices fall
Gasoline prices have tumbled for nearly three straight weeks in Houston at a time when they usually rise, as stockpiles remain high, crude prices stay low and fuel demand weakens. “This is not a trend that we usually see in the spring,” said Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy.com. “It’s usually a drop here, a drop there, and most of the other time it’s gas prices going up.”
Coach buys Kate Spade
Coach, the U.S. maker of high-end accessories, said that it would buy the rival fashion house Kate Spade in a $2.4 billion deal, the latest in a series of acquisitions aimed at building an accessible luxury group.
‘Like cattle cars’
Investor Warren Buffett said that United Airlines bungled the case of the passenger dragged off a plane last month, and he criticized the CEO’s handling of the incident. Buffett also said airplanes “may become like cattle cars,” but that’s because a significant number of passengers will put up with crowding in exchange for cheaper fares.
Tuesday Home prices bubbly?
Home prices in Texas are rising faster than underlying economic fundamentals would otherwise indicate, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, a sign that a housing bubble could be in the making in some local markets. Anil Kumar, a Dallas Fed economist who developed an index on the issue, said he’s not calling it a bubble yet but added that prices are getting bubbly.
Low spirits at Spirit
News emerged of anger and confusion boiling over at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport as nine Spirit Airlines flights were canceled, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded, according to airport officials. What followed was chaos as frustrated passengers clashed with Spirit employees, and law enforcement officers tried to maintain order.
Wednesday Happier air passengers?
Airline satisfaction continued climbing despite recent headlines of a brawl at a Spirit Airlines ticket counter and the forced removal of a passenger from a United Express flight, J.D. Power reports.
ER study disputed
The free-standing emergency room industry has launched a fierce challenge to a recent academic study examining the pricing of emergency care in Texas.
Surprise vote on methane
The Trump administration’s efforts to unwind former President Barack Obama’s climate change legacy were dealt a blow after the Senate rejected legislation to repeal a regulation limiting the amount of methane that oil and gas drillers can vent or flare on federal lands.
Thursday Barely recovering
Nearly a year after the oil bust reached its bottom, Houston’s economy is only barely starting to recover, according to an analysis by Bill Gilmer, director of the Institute for Regional Forecasting at the University of Houston’s Bauer School of Business.
Where the money goes
Last year, CenterPoint proposed a rate increase of $31.4 million — about $2.50 to the average monthly bill in Houston — saying it wanted to recoup money spent improving the safety of the gas distribution system. But a review of that rate request by a coalition of local governments found that nearly all that money would go to cover the costs of employee benefits, pensions and bonuses for executives in 2016.
Friday Ruling favors surgeon
A state district judge in Harris County essentially upheld a jury award of more than $6 million to a Houston heart surgeon who claimed Memorial Hermann Health System defamed his reputation in an effort to protect its business from other hospitals and competitors.