Ticker: Gas prices continue climb; Simon & Schuster sold to private equity firm

FILE - A customer puts gas in their vehicle, June 28, 2016, in Miami. The U.S. government wants to raise the fuel economy of new vehicles 18% by the 2032 model year so the fleet would average about 43.5 miles per gallon in real world driving. The proposed numbers were released Friday, July 28, 2023, by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which eventually will adopt final mileage requirements. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz, File) — FILE – A customer puts gas in their vehicle, June 28, 2016, in Miami. The U.S. government wants to raise the fuel economy of new vehicles 18% by the 2032 model year so the fleet would average about 43.5 miles per gallon in real world driving. The proposed numbers were released Friday, July 28, 2023, by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which eventually will adopt final mileage requirements. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz, File)

August 7, 2023 at 4:43 p.m.

Gas prices in Massachusetts continued their climb over the past week, tacking on 7 cents to land at $3.74 a gallon in the latest survey by AAA.

Last week’s climb comes on top of the 10 cent jump the week before.

Gas on Monday was running 19 cents higher than the price a month ago, though that was still 64 cents lower than a year ago when the price at the pump was $.38 a gallon.

“Last month’s extreme heat played a role in the recent spike in gas prices due to some refineries pulling back, but now operations are getting back to normal,” said Mark Schieldrop, Public Affairs Specialist for AAA Northeast. “Coupled with tepid demand and oil prices trending somewhat lower, this may help take the steam out of the tight supply price jolts we’ve seen lately.”

Gas in Massachusetts is running lower than the national average, which hit $3.82 in AAA’s most recent survey.

Simon & Schuster sold to private equity firm

Simon & Schuster has been sold to the private equity firm KKR, months after a federal judge blocked its purchase by rival publisher Penguin Random House because of concerns that competition would shrink in the book market.

The private equity giant will buy Simon & Schuster for $1.62 billion in cash, said Paramount Global, the parent company of the storied book publisher.

Simon & Schuster, where authors include Stephen King, Colleen Hoover and Bob Woodward, is one of the so-called “Big Five” of New York publishing, with others including Penguin Random House, HarperCollins Publishing, Hachette Book Group and Macmillan. HarperCollins, owned by Rupert Murdoch’s NewsCorp, had reportedly been interested in buying Simon & Schuster.