National gas prices broke the three-dollar barrier this week, with average prices in Virginia holding just below that. Across the Commonwealth, price increases have been most extreme, over $0.50 increase per gallon in the last year, in Roanoke and the Newport News / Virginia Beach areas, but all areas are now just below three dollars a gallon, with Charlottesville and Richmond, traditionally the highest priced places to purchase gas in Virginia, holding below the three-dollar barrier. I haven't purchased meat in a goodly while, and I was nearly rocked out of my seat to find that ground beef is coming in nearly $4 a pound for chuck. I mean, really?
