The area this week

Gas

Gas prices in Texas fell about 5.7 cents this week, according to Gas Buddy’s daily survey. This brought the average gallon of gas to $2.41 in the state. Nationally, prices fell a little less than 6 cents, bringing prices to $2.67 per gallon across the country. These prices compare with this time last month, where prices are almost 25 cents lower in the state and more than 22 cents lower nationally. Prices both state-wide and nationally are more than 10 cents higher than this time last year. GasBuddy is recommending motorists hold off on filling their tanks due to a 7 percent single-day drop in crude oil. These prices are expected to continue to drop due to certain circumstances surrounding the market at the moment, leaving time for people to get their tanks filled with these dropping prices.

Weather

Weather this week was cold with an increase in temperature as it closed out. The early part of the week had temperatures in the 40s and 50s with clouds and a little rain. By Thursday, the high was 70 degrees, but had a low of 32, as the morning and evening featured more of what we saw early in the week. The weekend saw more of the same, with temperatures jumping around between 70 and 40 degrees, and the lows staying in the 30s. We are projected one day of showers next week.

Water

The main water line in Breckenridge broke Monday morning and left the city without water for more than 24 hours. Crews worked to try to patch the pipe. The pipe split and the leak drained both water towers in about 10 minutes. The leaks delayed school opening on Tuesday morning until 10 a.m. In an interview with KTXS, City Manager Andy Mc-Cuistion said he thought the leak was where the old and new pipe met, and that the old pipes had already caused eight previous leaks.

This fiasco also ties in with the boil water notice, placed on Nov. 12 with the cited reason being construction problems in the water system. The notice was for the entire city and was to be left on for at least 48 hours.

County Commissioners

The County Commissioners met longer than usual in this week’s meeting. The main item of the day dealt with shift workers in the Sheriff’s Department being compensated for their vacation time they did not have the opportunity to take this fiscal year. In a 30-minute discussion, the commission decided to change the employee code of conduct, specifically the clause that states an employee will not be able to receive vacation compensation through money. The clause will now exclude shift workers in the Sheriff’s Department. Other business included the commission agreeing to the selling of two backhoes at auction, and leaving the burn ban off.