Yawger Memorials

Sun-Star file photograph. CHRISTOPHER WINTERFELDT/cwinterfeldt@mercedsun-star.com Marci Stenberg's legacy chronicling local events as a longtime Merced Sun-Star photographer will live on at Stephen Leonard Park. Organizers are asking for the public's help funding a plaque for the memorial, placed adjacent to the splash pad for children at the park in Merced. Stenberg worked with the newspaper from the late 1980s until her sudden death Dec. 20, 2012, at the age of 66. She loved nature, Yosemite and children, making the splash pad a natural way to remember her, said Eric Stenberg, her son. She had three sons and seven grandchildren. The fund-raising campaign launched June 29 with a goal of raising $3,000 for a permanent plaque. The campaign is spearheaded by a committee of her colleagues, friends and relatives, including Victor A. Patton, Mike "Buck" Tharp, Sara Sandrik, Nathan Quevedo, Doane Yawger, Alex Ruiz, Jillian Ehret and Eric Stenberg. Committee members said Stenberg was a local fix...

S. crude oil stockpiles fell last week as exports hit a record high and refinery ramped up output, while gasoline inventories dropped more than expected ahead of the summer driving season, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday. FILE PHOTO: A maze of crude oil pipes and valves is pictured during a tour by the Department of Energy at the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in Freeport, Texas, U.S. June 9, 2016. REUTERS/Richard Carson Crude inventories fell 1.4 million barrels in the week to May 11, compared with analysts’ expectations for a decrease of 763,000 barrels. Net U.S. crude imports fell 411,000 barrels per day as exports rose to a record 2.6 million bpd, benefiting of late from the widening spread between U.S. crude oil and global benchmark Brent, which responds more to world supply outlook. Crude production continued to grow to record highs, rising 20,000 bpd to 10.72 million bpd last week, the EIA said, though weekly figures are considered less reliable than monthly data. The United States in February produced 10.3 million bpd, a record. Refining activity rose, particularly in the Midwest, as maintenance season ebbs as summer driving season heats up. Refinery crude runs rose by 149,000 bpd, while refinery utilization rates rose by 0.7 percentage points to 91.1 percent of overall capacity. U.S. Midwest refinery utilization rates increased last week to 96 percent of capacity, the highest since at least 2010 seasonally. Still, gasoline stocks were down sharply, falling by a surprise 3.8 million barrels, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.4 million-barrel drop. Gasoline demand is up 0.7 percent from last year over the past four weeks to 9.4 million bpd. That demand is anticipated to increase as summer driving season kicks in. “It’s a bullish report. The gasoline number was pretty good... which you would expect coming up to Memorial Day and summer driving season,” said Bob Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho. The International Ener...

S. President Donald Trump tweeted that prices are too high and called on OPEC to "relax and take it easy." Futures in New York declined 3.1 percent on Monday. Trump's war of words with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries punctuated big price swings last year, as he pressured the group to keep the taps open to help consumers. On Monday, he warned the world cannot take a price hike. The tweet "basically pricked the balloon that had propelled prices up so much last week," said Tamar Essner, an analyst at Nasdaq Inc. in New York. Oil has rallied "largely on news that Saudi in particular was going to focus on cutting back exports and going above and beyond what they originally pledged to do back in December." AT THE PUMP: Gasoline prices have biggest jump of the year The president's intervention follows a price rally of about 22 percent this year due to production cuts from OPEC and its allies, diminishing fears about the economic impact of the U.S.-China trade war and Washington's imposition of sanctions on Venezuelan oil shipments. Now pressure from Trump once again puts Saudi Arabia and the rest of OPEC in a bind. In terms of recent price action, both the American and international benchmarks have been sitting near overbought territory. On Friday, the 14-day relative strength index for London-traded Brent futures climbed to near 70, a key level that indicates it may be overbought. Trump "has been successful at talking the market lower, no doubt about that," said...