LOCAL

LOCAL
Inventors group to meet
LIBERTY -- The Youngstown & amp; Warren Inventors Association will have its next meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Liberty Township Administration Building, 1315 Churchill-Hubbard Road.
The speaker will be Daniel Moore of Newton Falls, discussing a new proposed nonprofit organization called A.C.E. Network Mission Alliance and the services they will offer to inventors. The public is welcome, and there is no charge to attend.
Steelworkers compensated
WARREN -- WCI Steel, Inc. will pay $7.78 million to hourly and salaried employees in profit sharing and company performance compensation as a result of the company posting a profit in its first fiscal quarter of 2005, which ended Jan. 31.
On March 17, hourly employees will be paid $4.25 for every hour they worked during the quarter under their profit-sharing plan. This amounts to one-half of the total profit sharing credited for the quarter. Per WCI's contract with United Steelworkers of America Local 1375, the other half will be held in reserve until the fiscal year 2005 financial audit is concluded, with a year-end payment to be made in February 2006.
F.N.B. to visit Chicago
HERMITAGE, Pa. -- F.N.B. Corp. will be among 30 community banks presenting at the Midwest Super-Community Bank Conference in Chicago on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Stephen Gurgovits, F.N.B president and chief executive officer, and Brian Lilly, chief financial officer, will present an overview of the corporation to an audience of institutional investors, high net-worth individuals and analysts from leading brokerage firms. The conference provides small and midcap banks with an opportunity to reach a wide audience of investors specifically interested in this sector of the banking industry.
F.N.B.'s presentation is scheduled for 5:55 p.m. Monday.
The conference will be Webcast live, and may be accessed at http://www.super-communitybanking.com/midwest.htm or at the F.N.B. Web site, http://www.fnbcorporation.com. Anyone interested in the presentation should go to the Web site at least 15 minutes early to download and install any necessary software.
REGIONAL
Giant Eagle recognized
PITTSBURGH -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has named supermarket retailer Giant Eagle an Energy Star Partner of the Year for the second consecutive year.
The company is being honored for what the EPA called its outstanding contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions through leadership in energy management. Giant Eagle will be recognized at an awards ceremony March 15 in Washington.
Giant Eagle, a partner in the program since November of 2001, adopted smart energy practices and investments throughout its operations, including installing new energy efficient lighting technology, purchasing wind-generated electricity and educating store employees on how they can save energy.
Hershey name change?
HARRISBURG -- Hershey Foods Corp., the nation's largest candymaker, wants to change its name to The Hershey Co., and double its available shares to help finance future, unspecified enterprises as part of a larger corporate makeover.
The company, which makes such brands as Reese's, Almond Joy, Mounds and KitKat, said in regulatory filing it also was considering revising the Hershey logo.
While Hershey would not specify what it plans to do with the extra money it hopes to generate by doubling its current authorization of 525 million shares, industry analysts have raised the possibility that it will acquire a competitor candy business, such as Cadbury Schweppes PLC.
Women who take career break earn less upon return
NEW YORK -- Professional women who put careers on hold for family or other reasons earn 18 percent less once they return to the work force, a new survey reports.
The salary penalty for hopping off the career track is even higher in the business world, where earnings drop an average of 28 percent, according to the survey by the New York-based Center for Work-Life Policy.
The drop in pay partly reflects many women's decisions to return to work in jobs with less responsibility, or to part-time jobs. But it also may reflect that women are exiting the work force during the years when many men make the largest leaps.
Consumer prices steady
WASHINGTON -- Consumer prices, helped by a second monthly drop in energy costs, were well behaved in January, but a weaker dollar and increases in crude oil prices this month could mean trouble ahead.
The Labor Department reported Wednesday that its Consumer Price Index edged up a tiny 0.1 percent in January after having been frozen with no change in December.
Both months were helped by big declines in energy costs, but that situation is expected to reverse in February and March as a rebound in world crude oil prices hits American consumers.
From Vindicator staff and wire reports