REGION

REGION
Job services officeblocks out time
WARREN -- The Warren office of Ohio's Department of Job and Family Services will be closed to the public every Wednesday from noon to 5 p.m. to give employees more time to process claims, perform job matching and make referrals.
Jobless people still can file their unemployment compensation claims by phone by calling (877) OHIOJOB.
NATION
AT & amp;T to cut jobs,take $1.5B charge
NEW YORK -- AT & amp;T Corp. said it will slash 3,500 jobs in its business services division and take $1.5 billion in fourth-quarter charges, mainly to reflect losses on investments in its Latin America subsidiary.
AT & amp;T had disclosed last month that it would be cutting jobs in the business division but had not revealed the number, which represents nearly 5 percent of the phone company's work force.
Cell phone users want better service
YONKERS, N.Y. -- Cellular telephone service is so bad that nearly a third of the customers surveyed are seriously considering switching companies, but there's no easy way to figure out which plans are best, Consumer Reports magazine said.
"Deciphering one plan is hard enough, but comparing plans from various carriers is nearly impossible," said Jim Guest, president of Yonkers-based Consumers Union, which publishes the magazine.
In addition, he said during a telephone new conference Monday, companies make it difficult to switch by refusing to let customers keep their phones or phone numbers when they move to another company -- and by charging early termination penalties of up to $175.
A Federal Communications Commission regulation that would let customers keep their phone numbers when they switch is scheduled to go into effect in November.
From Vindicator staff and wire reports