The Selma times-Journal

As the holiday season approaches, a lot of Selma residents are opting to stay home, considering gas prices that may make drivers feel a sense of holiday dread, instead of holiday cheer.

The Associated Press reports that drivers will pay about 90 cents more per gallon this week than they did for Thanksgiving last year.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, gas prices last week average $3.11 nationwide and $2.98 in the Gulf Coast region, which includes Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, and western Florida.

Teri McDonough,Frank Murry and Grady Cleveland, all of Selma, said they’re not traveling this week, so gas prices won’t hurt them.

Clay Seyfried, a driver with Emergystat Ambulance Service, said Americans should get together and not pump gas for just one day.

&8220;You’d be amazed,&8221; he said. &8220;My plans were to go to Florida for Thanksgiving, but I can’t because of high gas prices. Why are gas prices that high, that is the question. Look at this &045; you have $3.09 a gallon.

This is price gouging. There is no reason for gas prices to be that high.&8221;

Others won’t let the rising prices affect their travel plans.

David Gillean of Palm Coast, Fla., said he’ll be going home for Thanksgiving. &8220;I don’t like the high prices, but I’m not changing my plans because of it,&8221; he said.

For others, though, gas prices will have an affect on their holiday travel plans.

McKemie works in Selma at the William T. Faile law firm, making a 35-mile commute to and from work each day. She also drives an SUV. &8220;Gas prices definitely affect me,&8221; she said.

He travels frequently to Selma for business and will go to Eufaula to visit his grandmother this year.

&8220;We’re trying to figure out how to fit the kids, the dogs, and the cats all in one vehicle,&8221; he said.