Sybil Wilkes ‘What You Need To Know:’ Gas Prices Rise Due to Heat and More

1. As Temps Climb, So Do Gas Prices

As Temps Climb, So Do Gas Prices

What You Need to Know:

As millions of Americans are doing their best with record-setting high temperatures, there is an additional challenge: escalating gas prices. The American Automobile Association (AAA) reported the national average for gasoline prices Monday was $3.76 per gallon for regular unleaded. That’s an increase of 16 cents per gallon over the last week. Of course, it’s higher in California where, on average, vehicle owners are paying $5 per gallon.

 What’s the connection between record-setting temperatures and the average price of gasoline? The refineries. Refineries in the southern states, located in areas including Texas and Louisiana, where temperatures are among the highest, can’t operate at full capacity, because they are hampered by the heat.

2. Hellish Temperatures Create a Breeding Ground For Environmental Racism

Hellish Temperatures Create a Breeding Ground For Environmental Racism

WRITTEN AND CONTRIBUTED BY KHAMERON RILEY

What You Need to Know:

As soaring temperatures become the new norm, the devastating impact of extreme heat waves in the United States is felt most acutely by the nation’s poorest neighborhoods. Amid a climate crisis that is causing record-breaking heat, a stark disparity in access to life-saving air conditioning systems has emerged, leaving vulnerable communities struggling to survive scorching days.

In towns like Denver, where temperatures have neared triple digits, low-income residents are left to fend for themselves without air conditioning. Air conditioning has evolved from a luxury to a basic necessity for survival. As climate change intensifies, longer and hotter heat waves grip the country, and the impoverished suffer the most with the fewest defenses.

3. .Scoping Knee Pain? Fuhgeddaboudit

. Scoping Knee Pain? Fuhgeddaboudit

What You Need to Know:

A panel of international health experts and patients just challenged the effectiveness of one of the most common orthopedic procedures and recommended strongly against the use of arthroscopic surgery for patients with degenerative knee problems.

The guidelines, published in the journal BMJ, relied on 13 studies involving nearly 1,700 patients that found the surgery did not provide lasting pain relief or improve function. Those studies compared the surgery with a variety of options, including physical therapy, exercise, and even placebo surgery.

The experts said that fewer than 15 percent of patients felt an improvement in pain and function three months after the procedure and that those effects disappeared after one year. In addition, the surgery exposed patients to “rare but important harms,” such as infection.

4. Another Black Woman Assaulted By Palmdale Police; This Time, She’s Suing

Another Black Woman Assaulted By Palmdale Police; This Time, She’s Suing

WRITTEN AND CONTRIBUTED BY COY MALONE

What You Need to Know:

Yeayo Russell, a Black woman, has filed a lawsuit against the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department for 2022 incidents resulting in excessive force and a wrongful arrest.

On July 14, 2022, Palmdale, California Station deputies conducted a traffic stop after spotting a car driving without headlights. While speaking to the driver, who was a man, police allegedly smelled alcohol and noticed that there were four women and three babies in the car being held by their mothers. Deputies decided to arrest everyone in the car for child endangerment, and the male driver was also arrested for driving under the influence and driving with a suspended license.

“You’re not taking my baby…You’re breaking his leg,” Russell could be heard yelling on the bodycam footage. A male deputy can be seen at the edge of the frame, throwing two overhand punches at the woman’s head while she pleaded with the deputy.

The lawsuit alleges that the deputy’s behavior was not only against Russell and the other woman present, but towards Black residents of the city in general. Russell’s attorney, Jamon Hicks, condemned the department for releasing the body camera footage one year later (see link below). “This is something that the public should have seen right away. And the fact that it took a year, and again credit Sheriff Luna for exposing it, shows the mentality of the county sheriffs in that area,” said Hicks.

5. Mortgage Points May Help Homebuyers Lower Monthly Costs Amid High-Interest Rates

Mortgage Points May Help Homebuyers Lower Monthly Costs Amid High-Interest Rates

WRITTEN AND CONTRIBUTED BY CATRINA M. CRAFT, CPA

What You Need to Know:

As interest rates have climbed, homebuyers have been confronted with higher borrowing costs.
That has led more home purchasers to opt for purchasing mortgage points.

Mortgage points let buyers pay an upfront fee to lower the interest rate on their loans.

In some cases, sellers will help to buy down rates to help ease transaction costs. Typically, one point is worth 1% of the loan value. Being able to lower that monthly payment can help give some more wiggle room in people’s budgets and help them reach affordability.

Set a timeline for living in your new home
For most instances, it is definitely a considerable cost saving to be able to buy down on points. However, if you buy points and then refinance, that will not allow enough time for your upfront payment to appreciate.