REGION

REGION
Cortland man wins SUV in GM promotion
WARREN -- Robert Sekerak of Cortland won a 2004 GMC Envoy as part of General Motors' Hot Button promotion. The automaker is giving away 1,000 vehicles through the end of this month. Participants push a button inside any GM dealership to find out if they have won. Sekerak won his sport-utility vehicle at Sims Buick-GMC in Warren.
F.N.B. Corp. declaresquarterly dividend
HERMITAGE, Pa. -- F.N.B. Corp. declared a quarterly dividend on its common stock of 23 cents a share. It is payable on March 15 to shareholders of record on March 1. F.N.B. will hold its annual meeting of shareholders at 4 p.m. May 12 at the Howard Miller Student Center at Thiel College in Greenville.
NATION
General Motors liftsban on sales of Aveo
DETROIT -- Five crashes involving the new Chevrolet Aveo prompted General Motors Corp. to temporarily instruct dealers not to sell the cars, but the automaker said Thursday it has determined the car did not cause the wrecks.
GM spokesman Jim Schell, who handles recall and product-safety communications, said the company issued a "stop delivery" notice to dealers late last week but lifted the selling ban Thursday after an internal investigation.
Coca-Cola chairmanannounces retirement
ATLANTA -- Coca-Cola Co. chairman and chief executive Doug Daft said Thursday he plans to retire at the end of 2004, a surprise announcement that caps a year of layoffs, management changes and legal turmoil at the world's largest beverage maker.
Daft did not elaborate on his decision in a statement issued by the company and did not make himself available for further comment. A board member said the 60-year-old Daft felt it is the right time for him to leave.
Daft said he would assist the board of directors in its search for his successor. No time frame was set for the process to be completed.
Friend of Martha Stewarttestifies in her trial
NEW YORK -- A close friend of Martha Stewart provided the last major link in a chain of evidence the government hopes will convince jurors that she lied about her sale of ImClone Systems stock.
Mariana Pasternak, whose friendship with the homemaking mogul goes back 20 years, testified Thursday that Stewart confided to her just after she sold the stock that ImClone CEO Sam Waksal had tried to sell his own shares.
Prosecutors claim Stewart lied to investigators April 10, 2002, when she asserted she never recalled being told the Waksals were selling before she dumped her own ImClone shares Dec. 27, 2001.
WORLD
CN Rail workersstrike after talks fail
TORONTO -- About 5,000 workers at CN Rail went on strike at midnight Thursday after last-minute talks with the railway ended without an agreement, union officials said.
The Canadian Auto Workers announced the strike plans in a news release issued from Toronto, saying talks that have intensified since Tuesday concluded with "no agreement in sight."
CN is Canada's largest railway company and a major North American freight hauler. It has operations from coast to coast in Canada and down into the U.S. Midwest to the Gulf of Mexico.
From Vindicator staff and wire reports