Senators demand probe of oil refiners' profits

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  Eyewitness NewsNEW YORK -- New York Sen. Charles Schumer wants the government to investigate U.S. oil refiners' skyrocketing profits.

He says the companies are to blame for high gas prices.

Speaking Sunday at a gas station on Manhattan's West Side, the Democrat said that "something is rotten." He said refiners' profits have more than doubled since last year.

Meanwhile, the price of unleaded gas went up by almost 12 percent in the two weeks ending May 6.

In New York, the average price for a gallon of gas is $4.03.

In New Jersey it's $3.77.

In Connecticut it's $4.13.

The senator says he believes refiners are fixing prices by cutting back on stockpiles.

In a letter to the Federal Trade Commission, Schumer demanded an investigation into record profits by major refiners.

The letter is also signed by the Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid, and three other Democratic senators.

(Copyright ©2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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Lady Gaga album demand overwhelms Amazon

  Entertainment NewsSAN FRANCISCO -- Much like the caller in the Lady Gaga hit song "Telephone," some visitors to Amazon's site received a busy signal Monday when they tried to download the digital version of the artist's latest album, "Born This Way," which the online retailer was selling for 99 cents on its release date.

Spokeswoman Sally Fouts said Amazon experienced a high volume of traffic that caused delays for those downloading the album - echoing a posting on the album's product page on Amazon.com.

Customers who ordered the MP3 version of "Born This Way" on Monday will get it for 99 cents, she said.

An early evening attempt to buy the album on Amazon and use its new server-based storage system went seamlessly. The album appeared instantly on Amazon Cloud Drive and could be streamed online right away. The album downloaded in a few minutes to a computer. The user's storage space also registered the promotional 20 gigabytes of cloud storage that came with the album.

Lady Gaga, whose real name is Stefani Germanotta, is known for her pop music and outrDe fashion sense.

Customer reviews gave the album an average three out of five stars.

And don't miss Lady Gaga's performance as she kicks off Good Morning America's Summer Concert Series this Friday, right after Eyewitness News This Morning.

(Copyright ©2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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