craigdailypress.com

Even though the new A Plus Mortgage branch in Craig wasn't officially open last week, locals in need of loans were streaming in.

"The response has been really good," said Bruce Baker, loan officer at A Plus, 239 E. Victory Way.

The office opened last week, but Baker and A Plus owner Kammra Clark were out for part of the week at seminars and at the A Plus office in Utah.

This week, A Plus will open full-time, Baker said, from 9 a.m to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The loan office offers refinancing, construction loans and purchase loans.

Walk-ins are welcome, said Baker, who worked in the advertising department at the Craig Daily Press before taking a job at A Plus.

Clark, who has owned A Plus in Vernal, Utah for eight years, said she wanted to open an A Plus branch in Craig and because it seemed like a good market for a loan office.

Clark will work at the Craig and Vernal branches.

Gas prices to rise

Gas prices are expected to climb between February and the start of the summer, according to the National Association of Convenience Stores.

During the past six years, gasoline prices have increased an average of more than 30 cents per gallon between the first week in February and the time of the seasonal high price, typically late May, according to the association.

Gas prices dropped from September to December, but have been steadily climbing since Dec. 1, according to AAA.

The average gallon of unleaded fuel in Colorado was $2.28 last week, according to AAA Colorado.

Nationwide, the average price of gasoline was at $2.35 a gallon Friday -- 70 cents lower than Sept. 5, when the average price reached an all-time high of $3.057 per gallon, according to AAA's daily fuel gauge report.

The report can be found at www.aaafuelgaugereport.com.