The Mercury News Posted on Thu, Apr. 03, 2003 Associated Press

RIVERSIDE, Calif. - A man who allegedly expressed anti-American sentiments after crashing through a military base barricade was arrested Wednesday on charges of damaging government property.

Authorities said Eid Elwirelwir, a 26-year-old a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Venezuela, drove his car through a coiled-wire barricade at March Air Force Base on March 31. The car then crashed into a locked chain-link fence blocking entrance to the base. He was not injured.

Elwirelwir was initially arrested by Marine Corps sentries guarding the gate. At that time, he expressed numerous anti-American sentiments and said he believed he had been oppressed by the United States because he is Muslim, the FBI said in a criminal complaint.

On Wednesday, members of the FBI's joint terrorism task force went to Elwirelwir's Riverside home and took him into custody without incident. He remained in the custody of federal agents after an initial court appearance.

March Air Force Base is in Riverside County about 70 miles east of Los Angeles.

<a href=www.newsday.com>NewsDay.com By Randi F. Marshall STAFF WRITER April 3, 2003

As crude oil prices continued to fall yesterday on hopes that the war in Iraq may be near an end, area heating oil dealers, gasoline retailers and consumers were hoping they would reap the benefits.

Already, home heating oil retail prices have fallen from peak levels of the past three months. While gasoline prices have remained relatively stable recently, experts say they, too, will eventually respond to the crude oil declines.

To be sure, the usual seasonal factors play a role in the drop. "Everybody's consumption is cutting down," said Thomas Ortmuller, owner of Franklin Petroleum in Oceanside. "The prices are going to be less and less as we get into the summer months. It's just basic economics."

Turmoil in Iraq, Venezuela and Nigeria added to pricing pressure on oil during the winter. "Everything that could go wrong went wrong," said Kevin Rooney, chief executive of the Oil Heat Institute of Long Island.

But now, some experts say those troubles are resolving themselves just as people need less fuel. Said Rooney: "It's like, 'Boy, why couldn't this have happened back in January?' We all would have saved a lot of money."

Crude oil for May fell $1.22 to $28.56 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange yesterday. Prices have dropped by more than $10 from their peak levels of late February and early March.

Heating oil wholesale prices dropped by 18 cents since the beginning of March, and are likely to keep falling, according to Rooney. Retail prices fell by roughly 11 cents in the last two weeks, he added.

Hawkins Cove Oil Supply Corp. in Glen Cove, for example, is now charging roughly $1.709 per gallon, compared with nearly $1.80 at its peak in March, according to owner George Hawkins.

By contrast, gasoline prices remain near their highs at $1.779 per gallon for regular self-serve gasoline on Long Island, and $1.829 per gallon of regular, self-serve in Queens.

As the months grow warmer, more home heating oil dealers buy most of their oil on an as-needed basis rather than through long-term contracts at fixed cost, so prices fluctuate along with the worldwide market. Franklin Petroleum, Hawkins Cove and other small, family-owned businesses purchase much of their supply daily, from large firms such as ExxonMobil and ConocoPhilips.

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Thursday, April 03, 2003 By: Robert Rudnicki

According to a poll carried out by US polling firms Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research and Public Opinion Strategies, if a revocatory referendum was to be held in Venezuela then President Hugo Chavez Frias would lose the vote with 60% of the population voting against him.

However, the poll showed that the President still has a major supporter base, with 38% of those polled saying they would vote for the President to remain in office.

The poll also asked Venezuelans if the term "dictatorial" described the President well ... 44% of those polled said it did.  As for democracy, 51% said they though democracy has received a setback under President Hugo Chavez Frias' rule.

PressTelegram Article Published: Wednesday, April 02, 2003 - 7:50:02 PM PST

The state's Energy Commission did not find any evidence of price gouging by the oil industry in connection with recent record-high gasoline costs. Fine, but we're hardly relieved.

Simply because the commission didn't find evidence doesn't mean it didn't happen. The fact that gas prices tend to go down once the state probes begin a pattern that appears to be repeating itself here is highly suspicious.

And, even if we accept that there was no gouging, California's oil and energy markets are so ripe for manipulation that it could happen at any time.

Gasoline prices hit a $2.14 average in mid-March, a record high for the state. Prices began to drop by a few cents last week.

Certainly there are market factors at work, such as the unrest in Venezuela, the higher costs of adding Ethanol to gasoline instead of the more toxic MTBE (by federal mandate), and others. However, refinery production increased while prices were going up, so tighter supplies can't be blamed here.

Much of the problem is a lack of competition. California is so isolated from other gas-producing states that it is highly vulnerable to price increases. It doesn't take the kind of overt collusion that caused the energy crisis companies can just watch each other's pump prices and keep raising them along with competitors in a vicious circle. It may not be as evil as what Enron did, but it's still wrong.

Evidence or no evidence, the state needs to keep a constant and vigilant eye on the oil and energy industries to protect consumers from price gouging.

PressTelegram.com

AL West: Alex Rodriguez makes history, gets blown away by Francisco Rodriguez.

Article Published: Wednesday, April 02, 2003 - 9:50:38 PM PST By Gabe Lacques, Staff writer

On a day dominated by an unprecedented milestone, the first A-Rod vs. K-Rod showdown and another display of offensive prowess by the Angels, Bengie Molina managed to make a statement of his own.

Before the game, the Angels catcher received his 2002 Gold Glove award. Then, he proceeded to show that an offseason workout program designed to make him more flexible, more durable and more valuable in '03 was not in vain.

Molina broke the game open with a two-run double in the fifth inning, had three hits, drove in four runs and even scored on a sacrifice fly to shallow center field, helping the Angels defeat the Texas Rangers 11-5 before a Wednesday afternoon crowd of 25,821 at Edison Field.

Alex Rodriguez hit his 300th home run in the fifth inning, a three-run opposite-field shot off Ramon Ortiz, and at 27 years, 249 days became the youngest player in baseball history to reach that mark. Later, he flailed futilely at three Francisco Rodriguez fastballs in the seventh inning, as the Angels' 21-year-old prodigy made his season debut to a standing ovation and then gave the crowd what it wanted by striking out the side.

Troy Glaus, Brad Fullmer and Darin Erstad hit home runs to key the Angels' 14-hit attack, and Ortiz battled through some sickness to last five innings for his first victory of the season.

Nearly lost in the fireworks was a quiet victory for Molina, who bristles when scouts or the media make light of his lack of speed. In the fourth inning, he drove in Glaus with a double to the gap in left-center field and moved to third on a single by Adam Kennedy. David Eckstein followed with a soft fly ball to shallow center field.

Doug Glanville caught the ball. Molina broke from third, began his long trip home, yet made it safely just under the tag of catcher Todd Greene.

His emotional reaction after sliding home was no coincidence.

"Just to score a run and know that last year, I wouldn't have done that, and knowing that I can go every day makes me happy,' said Molina, who has opened the season with four hits in 12 at-bats. "It's too early to say that I'm performing well. But it's not too early to say how I feel. I'm feeling very good right now my body, my arm feels good.'

It's a stark contrast to the past two seasons, when injuries to both hamstrings forced Molina to miss 60 games. His batting average fell from a career- best .281 to .262 and then .245, and the whispers that he was no longer viable offensively were harder to ignore.

"I've been able to hit my whole career,' he said. "Everybody's judging me by one year. I know I can hit. It's a matter of staying in a groove.'

Staying healthy will help Molina stay in a groove, and he hired a personal trainer this winter to help him do so.

"Bengie worked very hard in the offseason and he's swinging the bat this spring the best I've seen in a couple of years,' manager Mike Scioscia said. "Hopefully it will carry over.'

That Rodriguez's home run came off Ortiz was of little surprise. He's now 12 for 35 with six home runs lifetime off Ortiz. But Ortiz also feels comfortable against the Rangers. He improved to 10-1 in his career against them.

He said he wasn't sure he would last more than one inning because he was weakened by flu-like symptoms. But while he wasn't efficient, needing 87 pitches to complete five innings, his only damaging mistakes were poorly placed fastballs to Rodriguez and Doug Glanville, who hit a solo homer in the third.

But Fullmer's two-run homer in the fourth, Molina's two RBI hits and Erstad's sixth-inning home run pushed the lead to 9-4, which meant Francisco Rodriguez could come right at Alex Rodriguez in their much-anticipated seventh inning showdown.

And that he did, pumping three 95-mph fastballs by him to set him down on four pitches. He also struck out Hank Blalock and Juan Gonzalez in the inning, but did give up the first earned run of his career an inning later when Rafael Palmeiro hit a hanging slider out to right.

Still, Rodriguez struck out the side for fifth time in 15 career games, including the postseason, and again showed he's not terribly concerned with who's in the batter's box.

"A-Rod vs. K-Rod ... I don't look at it that way,' he said. "It's Francisco vs. Alex. Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez ... I don't put more pressure on myself and say, it's Alex Rodriguez.'

ANGELS NOTES: Kennedy was injured Wednesday when he and right fielder Tim Salmon collided converging on a pop fly. Salmon's left knee caught Kennedy in the right hamstring, and now the Angels' second baseman is day-to-day with a hamstring contusion. Oddly enough, Kennedy's injury came at a time the Angels appear to be 100 percent healthy. Glaus, who has been battling tendinitis in his right wrist, and Erstad, who had off-season hand surgery, each hit their first home runs of the season Wednesday. Erstad has started the season hitting .455 (5 for 11) and Glaus is at .364. ... The Angels claimed right-handed pitcher Elio Serrano off waivers from Colorado on Wednesday. To clear room on the 40-man roster, they designated left-handed reliever Mark Lukasiewicz for assignment. Serrano was claimed by the Rockies from Philadelphia earlier this year; the 24-year-old Venezuela native went 1-3 with a 2.92 ERA in Triple-A last season. Lukasiewicz, 30, appeared in 41 games the past two seasons with the Angels, posting a 5.35 ERA. The Angels have 10 days to trade, release or place Lukasiewicz on waivers.