Here’s one of the least surprising news flashes of the week.

We have now eclipsed still another plateau when it comes to pain at the pump.

AAA this morning reports the average price of gasoline in the five-county region just blew past the $4-a-gallon mark.

At least it didn’t insult us by jumping just a penny overnight, from yesterday’s high of $3.99. The price actually went up 2 cents. We are now shelling out an average of $4.01. If you’re counting, that’s a 10-cent increase just in the past week.

Diesel fuel also continues its inexorable climb into the stratosphere, selling for an average of $4.99. An even 5 bucks is likely just a day away. No doubt it will fall this weekend.

There’s at least a sliver of good news. Or at least somewhat less painful news. The price of crude oil is actually going down. Yesterday it was selling in the neighborhood of $127 a barrel, that’s down from the high point of $133.

How long do you think it will take to see any kind of trickle-down effect at the pump? Yeah, I thought so.