State & Region

REGION

Fuel-cell seminar

YOUNGSTOWN — On Wednesday, Patrick Valente, executive director of the Ohio Fuel Cell Coalition, will lead a seminar on business development opportunities in the fuel-cell industry. Ohio is a leading state in fuel-cell development, and since 2002 has invested more than $70 million in the industry, which has leveraged an additional $200 million of federal investment. The seminar is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy.

The program will be at Youngstown State University’s Kilcawley Center in the Presidential Suites at 9 a.m. and will run about two hours. The program is free, but reservations are required and can be made by contacting Julie Michael Smith, chief development officer for the Youngstown Business Incubator, at (330) 259-7644.

Two regional companies, Refractory Specialties and Catacel, will share their experiences in the fuel-cell industry, and Stark State College will showcase its Fuel Cell Technologies Program.

Demand for sensors gives boost to Ohio company

CLEVELAND — An Ohio company is getting a boost from demand for aircraft-speed sensors to replace a European-made device under suspicion in the recent Air France crash off Brazil.

Aero-Instruments of Cleveland says it has begun deliveries of an Airbus airspeed sensor certified by the Federal Aviation Administration. Goodrich Corp. also makes a certified replacement.

The Aero-Instruments sensor is certified for Airbus A330s and A340s that operate in the United States and for smaller Airbus aircraft worldwide.

Investigators of the Air France crash in June have focused on whether the external monitors iced over and gave faulty speed readings to computers when the jet flew into a thunderstorm.

NATION

Officials try to control disease fatal to citrus

SANTA ANA, Calif. — State officials have placed a plant-movement quarantine on Orange County in hopes of slowing the spread of an invasive pest that can carry a disease fatal to citrus.

California Department of Food and Agriculture officials declared the quarantine Friday about a week after discovering the Asian citrus psyllid on a backyard lemon tree in Santa Ana. All citrus must now be commercially washed and packed before leaving Orange County.

The aphidlike psyllid had previously been confined to San Diego and Imperial counties, but officials found it as far north as Los Angeles County this week.

Psyllids can carry huanglongbing, an incurable disease that has laid waste to Florida’s $9.3 billion citrus industry and threatens California’s $1.6 billion citrus industry.

From staff and wire reports