REGION

REGION
Meeting will addressproperty owner concerns
MINERAL RIDGE -- Political concerns of owning property will be discussed at a meeting of the Mahoning Valley Real Estate Investors Association at 7 p.m. Monday at Theodore's Banquet Center. Gary Singer of the Mahoning County Board of Health will speak on a new lead-paint program. Michelle Wells, association president, will talk about the political action council of the Ohio Real Estate Investors Association. Also speaking will be Youngstown City Councilman Clarence Boles, D-6th.
NATION
Closed in Reagan's honor
NEW YORK -- Most U.S. financial markets will close Friday in observance of the national day of mourning for former President Reagan. The markets have customarily closed in the past for presidents' funerals.
In court, Oracle beginsits federal antitrust case
SAN FRANCISCO -- Oracle Corp. began a federal antitrust court case by depicting its $7.7 billion takeover bid for rival business software maker PeopleSoft Inc. as a means to make the market more competitive, not less.
Oracle attorney Daniel Wall ridiculed a government lawsuit seeking to block the proposed takeover as a case built on "anecdotes and vignettes." U.S. Department of Justice attorney Claude Scott promised to prove that a combination between the two companies would drive up prices in a small segment of a market that is too complicated for new rivals to enter.
From Vindicator staff and wire reports