REGION

REGION
3 to speak at meeting of real estate investors
MINERAL RIDGE -- The Mahoning Valley Real Estate Investors Association will have three speakers at its meeting at 7:30 p.m. Monday at Theodore's Banquet Center.
James Fortune, a Youngstown city councilman vying to be president of council, will speak on his candidacy. Vickey Williams, collections supervisor at the Youngstown Water Department, will explain the proper use of department forms to establish and terminate service. A representative of the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber will explain membership benefits.
Steel exports due to shipout of Cleveland port
CLEVELAND -- The port of Cleveland will soon ship its first steel exports since 1994, the port authority said Thursday.
The first steel export ship is due to arrive about next Friday, the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority said.
About 155,000 tons of steel made at Cleveland's International Steel Group mill, formerly operated by LTV Corp., will be exported to Europe in seven ships by the end of May, the port agency said.
NATION
2003 compensation forPenney chief exceeds '02
WASHINGTON -- J.C. Penney Co.'s top executive received a $2 million bonus in the 2003 fiscal year that ended Jan. 25 -- an increase of $100,000 over the year before, according to a filing Thursday.
Allen Questrom, chairman and chief executive of the department store chain, was also paid a salary of $1.4 million, compared with $1.3 million in fiscal 2002, the Securities and Exchange Commission filing said.
J.C. Penney awarded Questrom $3.7 million in restricted stock in fiscal 2003. He didn't receive such compensation the previous year.
Source: WorldCom plansto take name of MCI unit
JACKSON, Miss. -- WorldCom Inc., which has struggled to escape the taint of an $11 billion accounting fraud, will take the name of its MCI unit next week, a source close to the company said Thursday.
The bankrupt telecommunications company is assuming the name of its consumer long-distance unit because it believes the brand retains market cache, the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity. It also wasn't financially feasible to launch an unknown brand, the person said.
From Vindicator staff and wire reports