WASHINGTON – As gas prices soar, Republicans are blaming the White House, President Barack Obama is lashing back at the GOP for a shortsighted “drill, baby, drill” policy, and others are calling for tapping oil from the “strategic reserve.”

Dear Rachel of Cardholder Services,

Since the Beacon’s last story, frustrated recipients of your calls have been contacting the Beacon about your nonstop phone assault. We’ve heard stories of people losing hundreds of dollars to your scams.

This morning at 4:26 St. Louis time, the pope placed a red hat on Timothy Michael Dolan making him a cardinal. Dolan bowed his head so the pope could place the biretta on the Maplewood native’s head. A huge smile broke over the German pontiff’s face.

Missouri candidate filing for this fall's elections will still get underway as scheduled, beginning next Tuesday. Legislators failed this week to act to change the filing period, sought because of legal fights over new boundary lines for many offices.

WASHINGTON – In a polarized Congress, a new analysis rates U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin among the most liberal senators, Sen. Roy Blunt on the conservative side – but not the far right – with Sens. Claire McCaskill and Mark Kirk closer to the center.

Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, a Republican, is facing a fierce primary battle in his quest for a third term. State Sen. Brad Lager, R-Savannah, is a particularly strong challenger.

When released in November, “The Descendants,” was a natural for best picture. Then, in December, came “The Artist,” an unheralded, silent French film shot in black and white, and all bets were off.  Critic Harper Barnes handicaps his Oscar picks.

The retrospective of British artist John Stezaker’s work at the Kemper Art Museum is nothing short of marvelous.His small scale works subvert the original intentions of the images he has manipulated.

How sweet it is. Cakes and cookies made by members of the St. Louis Metropolitan Sugar Art Guild will be on display at the Missouri Botanical Garden on Sunday in “Sugared, Spiced and Everything Iced.” Sorry, though, no eating allowed.

The American Lung Association is fighting plans by the administration to reduce funding for asthma programs. St. Louis has a high rate of asthma. The cost of treatment increases when children with asthma land in costly emergency rooms.

Gov. Jay Nixon's effort to implement the Missouri Science and Innovation Reinvestment Act, MOSIRA, hit a snag with a judge's decision that the bill is unconstitutional. Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster will appeal the lower-court ruling.

The health-reform law is hotly debated, but it is now delivering benefits to 1 million in Missouri and 2.3 million in Illinois: preventive services, ranging from colonoscopies to mammograms, that had required co-payments.

David Brooks and Charles Murray agree on the scope of change over the past decade. But where one sees the positives, the other finds a loss of civil fabric.

What you believe determines what you see: think UFOs and tax policy. Both political parties envision realities that are largely byproducts of their own preconceived belief systems. The rest of us are left to deal with the aftermath of their delusions.

The signs of an early spring are evident all over town -- dandelions, periwinkles and maples already in flower; the buds of the dogwoods and magnolias swelling in anticipation of bloom. It makes me heartsick to know that a killing freeze will likely come later and mow them all down.