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Leitchfield man saddles up to protest high gas prices

OTHERS SING, WALK, RIDE BIKES TO SCHOOL

By Joe Mandak

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Allan Peerce and his horse, Hitman, made their way through traffic Monday in Leitchfield, where he was protesting high prices for gasoline and diesel fuel.
Ed Reinke | Associated Press
Allan Peerce and his horse, Hitman, made their way through traffic Monday in Leitchfield, where he was protesting high prices for gasoline and diesel fuel.
Hitman the horse began wearing a sign reading "In protest of diesel and gas prices" when diesel hit $4 a gallon. If it hits $4.20, Peerce plans to camp out in the city's courthouse square. (AP Photo/Ed Reinke)

PITTSBURGH --

Americans facing rising gasoline and diesel prices are walking the walk, saddling up and singing out.

Allan Peerce, 53, a sign maker, said he's been accused of trying to drum up business for his shop in Leitchfield, Ky., by riding his horse to jobs and the bank. But Peerce says he already has more business than he can handle and is concerned for truckers whose rig doors he adorns with his artwork.

Peerce's horse, Hitman, began wearing a sign reading "In protest of diesel and gas prices" when diesel hit $4 a gallon. If it hits $4.20, he plans to camp out in the city's courthouse square.

"Somebody has to stand up and do something," Peerce said. "If I can do it, then two people can do it. If two can, four can, and if four can, eight can. It can grow into whatever we want it to be."

In Valparaiso, Ind., Jay Weinberg, 29, collaborated with a friend's band, Planetary Blues, and recorded a protest song.

Some sample lyrics: "Price gouge'n, so we're shout'n, what's jack'n up the cost of fuel? I can't afford it. I'm bangin' on my dashboard. I can't believe they think I'm a fool."

Weinberg was charged with criminal trespass and disorderly conduct for singing the song through a megaphone during the afternoon rush hour atop a convenience store May 6, the day of the Indiana primary. The arrest was part of a plan to call attention to the musicians' stance on environmental and other issues.

Those actions are being done in the name of protest, but three western Pennsylvania school officials who plan to walk 216 miles to raise awareness of the factors driving up gasoline prices don't want to call it a protest march.

"We're not standing up protesting gas prices," said Aaron Steinly, assistant principal of United Junior/Senior High School near Johnstown, Pa. "We just want to raise awareness, show people what they can do and get people involved."

The school's principal, Lewis Kindja, said he and the other two administrators plan to raise money and perhaps meet with lawmakers on the nine-day walk to Washington, D.C., that begins June 5. The money raised will pay for classroom projects across the state about alternative fuels and environmental issues.

"If we don't start making changes, we're going to be in a difficult position down the road," Kindja said.

Tracy Daar, 17, a junior at Elmore County High School in Eclectic, Ala., said he started riding his bike to school, a 12-mile round trip, when gas prices hit $3.50 a couple weeks ago.