Business Digest

REGION

Hospital administration responds to strike notice

ALLIANCE — Responding to a 10-day strike notice received Monday from the Ohio Nurses Association of Alliance, Alliance Community Hospital administration representatives said the hospital has been bargaining in good faith with the leadership of ONA of Alliance since Oct. 13 in an attempt to renew a three-year contract between the hospital and the ONA.

The contract expires at 11:59 p.m. Dec. 5, and the 180 registered nurses at the hospital have threatened to strike at 7 a.m. Dec. 6 if there is no contract settlement by then.

The ACH administration said it intends to continue to negotiate with the ONA leadership with the assistance of a federal mediator in hopes that a strike can be avoided.

The hospital administration said it is asking its work force to make sacrifices for the good of the hospital and the community, and that it respects all work groups associated with the hospital and its entities.

Deputy-registrar locations limit hours after holiday

COLUMBUS — The Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles said a number of deputy-registrar locations across the state may be closed during the Thanksgiving holiday period. Though all agencies will be closed Thursday, some may have limited hours the days after the holiday.

Customers should call ahead to their local deputy registrar to verify they are open. A list of deputy registrar locations and phone numbers can be found online at: http://bmv.ohio.gov/county/cnty_lst.htm.

NATION

Treasury prices increase

NEW YORK — Treasury prices rose Tuesday after solid results from an auction of five-year notes shored up the market’s confidence that demand for U.S. government debt would remain strong.

The bid-to-cover ratio, a measure of demand, was 2.81 — the highest level seen at any auction for five-year notes since 2007. The ratio was 2.63 last month for an auction of notes with a similar maturity.

“Everything about this auction was positive,” said Richard Bryant, senior vice president of U.S. Treasury trading at MF Global.

The price of five-year notes rose 6‚Ñ32 to 1015‚Ñ32, pushing its yield down to 2.13 percent from 2.18 percent late Monday.

Bryant said the results from auctions of shorter-term government debt remains strong because of the amount of cash looking to be invested in safe investments.

Vindicator staff/wire reports