Star-Bulletin’s Perez cited for gas-price coverage Star-Bulletin staff Star-Bulletin reporter Rob Perez's coverage of Hawaii's high gas prices has been cited as a finalist in the 1999 Gerald Loeb Awards for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism. Presented by UCLA's Anderson School of Management, the nationwide Loeb competition is among the most prestigious awards in business journalism. Starting in February 1998, Perez began an examination of Hawaii's gas prices, which had remained relatively flat while crude oil prices tumbled and the rest of the nation enjoyed steep discounts at the pump. In October, the state filed a $500 million lawsuit against most of Hawaii's major gas wholesalers, accusing them of conspiring to keep prices artificially high. The state subsequently increased the amount sought in the lawsuit to $1.8 billion. Perez's work was among three finalists in the Loeb Awards' small-newspaper category (circulation of 150,000 or less). The winner in that category was the Yakima (Wash.) Herald-Republic for an examination of the growing dairy industry in the area.