A report from an online insurance broker finds that car insurance rates are climbing.

It's a long story - one that involves a darling family of ducks, a semitrailer and me - but the upshot is that for the first time in three years, I have a car payment.

(ARA) - Rising gas and food prices are putting the economic squeeze on most American households, and it's already time to begin back-to-school shopping. Families with school-age children are expected to spend over $500 on back-to-school merchandise, according to the National Retail Federation.

DAILY BLOTTER ITEM: ACCIDENT: SOUTH DOUGLAS HIGHWAY: Two people were hospitalized Monday in a four-car crash near the entrance to the Powder Basin Shopping Center.