Motorists saw very little shift in prices at the pump last week as oil prices seemed to stabilize. Officials with AAA (Triple A) say gas prices are hovering at their highest levels in more than six months, and the national average has remained above $2 per gallon for 46 consecutive days.  As of Sunday, the National average was $2.21, while the average in Iowa was $2.13/gallon.

Looking ahead…
•Summer drivers could find the lowest seasonal gas prices in more than a decade.
•Demand for gasoline is nearly 6 percent higher than a year ago.
•National prices at the pump are 45 cents lower than a year ago and $1.46 lower than two years ago
•The average motorist saves $22 for a full tank of gas compared to two years ago.
•National gas prices averaged $2.22 last week – 5 cents more than the 7-day average the week before.

Consumer Attitudes
The lower price environment for gas prices has not only led to drivers taking to the roads at record levels, but is also shifting attitudes about various price points. Attitudes towards gas prices have changed significantly over the past few years, according to a new survey by AAA:

• Half of U.S. drivers now believe gas is “too high” at $2.50 per gallon. This figure has dropped significantly in relationship to the price of gas. As recently as 2014, half of Americans believed gas was “too high” at $3.30 per gallon, while last year half of Americans believed it was “too high” at $3 per gallon. Only nine percent of U.S. stations are selling gas for more than $2.50 per gallon today.
  •More than 35 percent of Americans believe that gas is “too high” based on today’s average price, even though gas prices are at the lowest levels since 2009. The vast majority of Americans also do not believe that gas is “cheap” today.

The Iowa Democratic Party formally launched its review of the 2016 Caucuses this weekend with a public meeting in Des Moines and plans to release a report in September with recommendations for how the 2020 Caucuses should be conducted.
Iowa Democratic Party chairwoman Andy McGuire appointed the review panel. She opened the meeting Saturday with these words: “There is no suggestion that is off the table.”

Hillary Clinton finished a quarter-of-a-percentage point ahead of Bernie Sanders in the Iowa Caucuses. The Sanders campaign complained there was no way to conduct a recount, plus there were concerns about confusing party rules, tiny venues and long lines for Democrats who turned out February 1st. Former Iowa Congressman Dave Nagle , of Waterloo, said “We represent the one place where you can start unknown and rise to national prominence and if not win a nomination, at least deliver a message that the rest of the country hears.”

Nagle served as chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party in the early 1980s and Nagle is leading the 26-member review panel. Nagle invited Iowa G-O-P chairman Jeff Kaufmann to speak to the group. “We all know that we sink or swim together on Iowa First in the Nation. It’s that simple,” Kaufmann said to open his remarks. “…This is important to all of us.”

Republicans made changes after their controversial 2012 Iowa Caucus finish. Mitt Romney was declared the Caucus Night winner by an eight vote margin, but certified results two weeks later concluded Rick Santorum won by 34 votes. Kaufmann says the Iowa Republican Party spent nearly a million dollars putting on its 2016 Iowa Caucuses. Four paid staffers were hired to work full-time on the project in the year leading up to the caucuses. More than 300 training sessions were held around the state for the party volunteers who ran the Republican Party’s precinct meetings on Caucus night.

“If I could boil down to what was absolutely crucial for us, it’s that constant, non-stop training,” Kaufmann says. Four years ago David Oman led the Iowa G-O-P’s committee that reviewed the conduct of the 2012 G-O-P Caucuses and recommended changes for future Republican Caucuses. “It’s worth preserving, improving, sustaining and securing for as far as the eye can see,” Oman says. Richard Bender devised the system Iowa Democrats use for their caucuses. There is no straw poll to determine the winner, like there is when Iowa Republicans Caucus. Instead, Democrats in EACH PRECINCT use a mathematical formula to calculate “delegate equivalents” for each presidential candidate who clears a 15 percent threshold of support in a precinct.

“I don’t think we want to change the fabric of what caucuses are,” Bender said. “We really don’t want what’s known as ‘firehouse caucuses’ where people just go and cast a vote and leave.” Nagle says New Hampshire officials would consider the Iowa Caucuses too much like New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary if Democrats were to hold a straw poll Caucus night.

“The Caucuses are also supposed to be a party-building exercise, not a drop-and-go,” Nagle says. “We’re going to look at it. It’s not off the table, but it’s got some obstacles to overcome before we’d actually move in that direction.” Iowa Republicans first held a statewide Caucus Night “straw poll” in 1980. Nagle says the Iowa G-O-P’s straw poll along with the Democrats’ system of delegate selection were allowed in a 1982 deal with New Hampshire. It allows Iowa to hold the nation’s first caucuses and New Hampshire the first primary in presidential election years.

Some recommendations discussed Saturday included electronic check-in for caucus-goers and a new state law that would require government facilities to be available for the precinct meetings held on Caucus Night.

(O. Kay Henderson/Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:20 a.m. CDT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Mother of four leaves for yearlong military deployment in Afghanistan on Mother’s Day. The Iowa woman says leaving her kids will be the hardest part of the deployment. She is one of 60 soldiers deploying Sunday with an Iowa Army National Guard unit.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — County jails in Iowa will soon have to follow new federal rules aimed at making it cheaper for inmates to call loved ones, but a pending lawsuit is also expected to complicate the effort. The cost of certain telephone calls made from the nearly 100 jails in Iowa can range by county. Officials who oversee the facilities are expected to comply with some reduced phone rates and fees by June 20, though other proposed federal changes are on hold amid a lawsuit.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — Security officers collect a significant amount of change travelers leave behind at most airport checkpoints, but not in Sioux City. Transportation Security Administration officials say the Sioux City airport is small enough that officers can usually return anything left behind at the security checkpoint.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The National Weather Service says it received reports of tornadoes in central Nebraska amid severe storms but no word of damage or injuries. Meteorologist Jeremy Martin says it is likely that two separate tornadoes touched down in Red Willow County near the town of Indianola. Another tornado was reported in open country in Frontier County. More storms are possible Monday afternoon and evening.