Gas prices are high again, quickly spiking at the start of June.

Expect a flood of stories about gas prices with footage of the ticker scrolling high quickly as someone pumps their gasoline.

It is a near universal story, like weather, something that impacts everyone's personal economy as well as the national economy.

I've asked on Twitter about what you think would be a fair price. I got answers ranging from $2.50 to keep it under $4.

At least people have given up on the buck a gallon days. At least gas prices haven't gone up like cigarettes, though with so few people smoking (seemingly, I acknowledge due to ban on public smoking), perhaps higher prices would push for more conservation.

Let the drum beat begin.

It's almost right on schedule, though earlier, but the news cycle seems perfect for the latest round of gas price stories. We've had the election, then the fiscal cliff, then gun debate, and now gas prices.

In between, sure, there have been sensational gasps that dominated for a day or two or even a week: the crazed ex-LAPD officer, the South African double-amputee Olympian, the poop cruise, and the power outage at the Super Bowl.

I'm sure something will happen at the Oscars to take a day or two of our relentless coverage of the world.

But gas prices, rising toward $4-a-gallon very quickly, are something we all pay, more than just when we race to work or school, but also we pay when we shop, whether at bulky grocery stories, downtown merchants or online. Those products need to be moved and transported.

One dedicated follower of the gas prices is The Morning Sun in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, where a single company sells the gas to the stations. This was as big deal when gas prices jumped quickly from $1-a-gallon to $2-a-gallon. It's a story everyone has an opinion on and it's never a kind opinion. But unlike cigarettes, we can't quit buying gas.

I must confess, fuel economy has never been a high-ranking political, personal or financial concern. But with my new car, a Dodge Journey, I have an option of having the display set to gas mileage, and since I switched to that setting last week, I have seen my fuel economy increase from 15. 4 miles per gallon to 16.6 miles per gallon just by trying to stay as much as possible in the green zone, more coasting, less speeding. I've only gone a few miles on the interstate, so it is almost exclusively the same city driving, mostly to and from work with trips to children's dance or school or else to store in between.

I still try to get where I'm going as efficiently as possible, but it's like a game, trying to get the number to go higher. No need zipping to that red light. Seems like a little technology can go a long way.

Meanwhile, more interviews of people pumping the fuel into their cars with headlines like 'Pain at the Pump' leading the newscasts.

Ok, I paid $2.85 this morning, not quite filling up in Rochester Hills. A nice family owns the station and I like to go there and say good morning. Same people have been there ever since I moved into the area.

Driving to the office, I passed stations in Pontiac that were on Perry Street, selling first for $2.57 and then $2.55. Wow, big difference, I think.

Then I realize we're approaching the five-year anniversary of the murder of David Bingham, a father of two who was shot to death after surrendering his vehicle to a pair of teenage carjackers at a Perry Street gas station. The victim, I recall, had done everything right when confronted by the teens, who took his truck, drove around the block and then returned to eliminate the witness to their crime.

They were none too bright, being caught a short while later by patrolling officers. They had the man's property on them, I recall.

Christopher Eugene Jackson is 22 and has served five years of a life term. He'll never get out, as far as the law is concerned now. And though he was younger than 18 when he shot Bingham to death, the recent Supreme Court decision will not help him. (He killed someone, and the US's top court ruled life without parole was unfair for teenagers who had not killed.)

I covered the trial of one teenager (the other one pleaded to a lesser charge and testified) and it was horrific, hearing the shooting as Mr. Bingham talked to a 9-1-1 operator and then watching the video from the station's surveillance tapes.

I'm guessing this can influence why gas is cheaper in some areas.

During the sentencing, Jackson walked out of court, saying, "I'm going to bounce back." He's a level four (the second highest level) prisoner in Manistee County. He was absolutely horrible in court, defiant and disrespectful to the judge, attorneys and victim's family. For no real reason, he shot a man who was filling up on his way to work, on the morning after the July 4th holiday in 2005.

I'll pay the extra $3 or $4.

So here we are, almost to Memorial Day and as usual, gas prices are still a story.

But this year, they're doing something else. They're falling.

It seems that locally, they fall faster in some areas. Yesterday, I kept seeing $2.85 or so for regular in Rochester Hills, but when I came into Pontiac to work, I saw $2.61. That was low enough to get my attention.

Funny how that price of oil impacts some stations, or perhaps localities, more than others.