REGION

REGION

Cortland Bancorp dividend

CORTLAND — Cortland Bancorp’s Board of Directors has declared a regular dividend of $0.22 per share, payable to shareholders of record as of Sept. 15. Payment and distribution will occur Oct. 1, according to Lawrence A. Fantauzzi, company president.

Cortland Bancorp is the parent company for the Cortland Savings and Banking Co. Cortland Bancorp has $488.6 million in assets and operates 14 banking offices in Trumbull, Portage, Ashtabula, Mahoning and Geauga counties.

Hubbard business awards

HUBBARD — The Hubbard Area Chamber of Commerce will recognize its Business Persons of the Year, Dave and Steve Bailey of Pizza Works, 433 North Main St., at its Quarterly Luncheon at noon Sept. 10 at Frankies Main Street Cafe. Also, a special award will be presented posthumously in memory of Bob Kelley.

NATION

Alaska pipeline license

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has signed a bill authorizing the state to award a license to TransCanada Corp. to start developing a natural gas pipeline.

Palin signed the bill Wednesday in Anchorage, and expects the license to be issued within three months. The license allows TransCanada to move forward on plans to develop the 1,715-mile pipeline from a treatment plant at Prudhoe Bay to the Alberta hub.

The license ends a decades-long battle to open up North Slope natural gas for use in North American markets, with 4.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas to be shipped daily.

The license does not guarantee construction, but it means TransCanada can move forward on costly federal permitting applications. The project is estimated to cost between $26 billion and $30 billion.

The state says TransCanada has already authorized specific aerial photography, engineering work and environmental gap analysis.

Vindicator staff and wire reports