Gas prices in Maine fall but still top national average

Gas prices fell 6.5 cents per gallon in the past week in Maine to $3.31.

GasBuddy.com, which surveyed 1,228 gas stations in Maine, reports the average price of a gallon of gas on Monday is down 19.1 cents per gallon compared to a year ago and 19.3 cents per gallon compared to last month.

The price is a dime higher than the national average, which fell 6 cents over the past week to $3.21 per gallon.

Penney names first black CEO in company’s 112 years

J.C. Penney’s newly tapped CEO has a big challenge ahead of him: The troubled chain is showing signs of improvement after racking up billions in losses, but still hasn’t figured out how to get shoppers back into its department stores.

Penney said Monday that Marvin Ellison, a 30-year retail veteran and executive vice president of stores at Home Depot, will become its CEO next August. Ellison will be the first black CEO in the company’s 112-year history.

Ellison succeeds Mike Ullman, the former CEO who came out of retirement last year to take the helm again. His job was to stabilize the business following the ouster of Ron Johnson, a former Apple executive who tried unsuccessfully to reinvent the beleaguered chain.

– From news service reports