REGION

REGION
New Start gets$20,000 donation
WARREN -- St. Joseph Development Foundation recently donated $20,000 to the New Start Treatment Center, a chemical dependency care and counseling agency in Warren. New Start has been a major project of the foundation, receiving more than $500,000 in funding since 1987. The foundation, under the direction of Edward R. Toth Jr., president and chief executive, supports the programs and services of St. Joseph Health Center.
Gas prices rise,average $1.46 a gallon
YOUNGSTOWN -- Gas prices in northeast Ohio increased 7 cents in the past week, according to the latest AAA Fuel Gauge Survey, averaging $1.46 per gallon. Prices were 35 cents per gallon lower a year ago at this time, averaging $1.11 per gallon for self-serve unleaded.
Northeast Ohio's average is 4 cents higher than the national average and 7 cents higher than the state average. Venezuelan refineries are on strike, contributing greatly to the increase in gas prices, the AAA reported.
The AAA survey is based on average pump prices at 45 service stations in a nine-county area of northeast Ohio, including Mahoning and Trumbull counties.
NATION
WorldCom continuesto lose business
CLINTON, Miss. -- WorldCom Inc.'s losses nearly doubled in October from the previous month, and sales of its telecommunications services remained flat, according to a bankruptcy court filing.
The flat sales indicate WorldCom is not winning new business fast enough to counteract the loss of contracts that competitors have taken since WorldCom filed the largest-ever U.S. bankruptcy in July. The company had disclosed an accounting fraud that is expected to exceed $9 billion.
Excluding a $29 million loss from discontinued operations, the Clinton-based phone company lost $205 million in October, compared with a loss of $108 million in September. Revenue stabilized at $2.3 billion, WorldCom said in the court filing.
From staff and wire reports