Send us your news - Maddie Reynolds, Lahontan Valley News

Patricia Ryle is a Fallon local who commutes to Carson City for college. “All my money goes to rent, my dog, and gas,” she said.Although Ryle is able to lessen the burden of gas by carpooling with fellow students, she still feels the sting of gas prices. It costs about $80 to fill up her F150, which doesn't leave a surplus of funds for many extracurricular activities. She spends most of her time with her dog, Ace, which also costs money.According to Michael Geeser, AAA Nevada spokesperson, the violence in the Middle East isn't directly influencing gas prices.“Yet the uncertainty of where the unrest might spread has driven investors to speculate that oil prices will increase further,” he said.Elliott Parker, chair of the Department of Economics at the University of Nevada, Reno, said that although the U.S. doesn't buy oil directly from the Middle East, what would affect another country will essentially affect the U.S. because oil is fungible.