In National news, Oil Giant Exxon Mobile announced last week that, once again, it has broken the US national record for quarterly profit at $11.68 billion dollars. Democratic House member Maurice Hinchey spoke out against Exxon-Mobile’s massive profits. In response to the numbers, Hinchey stated, “We’re dealing with this at a time when the budgets of households across the country are being stretched out to the limit and that stretching out is largely due to these skyrocketing gas prices. The big oil companies just continue to break records for their profits.” The current national average for gasoline is $3.88 a gallon. California has the third highest gasoline price in the nation, behind Alaska and Hawaii, with a State average of $4.21 a gallon. In Amador County, Gasoline prices this week are averaging $4.35 a gallon. The cheapest gas in the County is $4.29 for a gallon of regular unleaded, and can be found at John’s Pit Stop in Martell, the Mirastar station at Walmart, and the Valero station in Pine Grove.