Leadership program to host speaker

Leadership program to host speaker

BOARDMAN

Leadership Mahoning Valley will host Youngstown native and public speaker Brian Blasko from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. May 24 at The Georgetown, 5945 South Ave.

The program, “Cruisin’ Through Life at 35 MPH,” is aimed to help participants maximize their potential.

Tickets for the event are $20. For registration information, call 330-744-2131, ext. 41, or email karen@regionalchamber.com. Advance reservations only. Deadline to register is May 13.

PG&E exec leaving in wake of blast

SAN FRANCISCO

Pacific Gas & Electric Co.’s top executive is stepping down after a “challenging year” that included a natural-gas pipeline explosion in a San Francisco suburb that killed eight and left 38 homes destroyed, the company announced Thursday.

Chairman, chief executive and President Peter Darbee will retire April 30, PG&E said in a statement. Lee Cox, a former president and CEO of AirTouch Cellular and a member of PG&E’s board since 1996, will serve as interim chairman, CEO and president, the San Francisco-based energy company said.

The September blast on a 44-year-old transmission line in San Bruno ignited a fire that raged for an hour and 40 minutes and left dozens injured. The National Transportation Safety Board has yet to determine a cause but said in its initial findings that the initial blast would have burned out much sooner had automatic shut-off valves been in place.

Fuel prices erasing airlines’ profits

Soaring jet-fuel prices are wiping out profits at the nation’s biggest airlines.

United Continental Holdings Inc. lost $213 million in the first quarter after its fuel bill jumped by $560 million, the world’s biggest airline company said Thursday. Southwest and JetBlue both scratched out tiny profits despite higher fuel costs.

A day earlier, American Airlines reported a $436 million loss.

With jet fuel getting close to 2008 highs, airlines have been raising fares to compensate — seven times so far this year. United Continental revenue rose 10.8 percent to $8.2 billion compared with a year earlier. Southwest revenue rose 18 percent to $3.1 billion.

Jury rejects Mattel’s doll copyright claim

SANTA ANA, Calif.

A federal jury on Thursday rejected Mattel Inc.’s claims that it owns the copyright to the blockbuster, billion-dollar Bratz doll line and instead awarded upstart rival MGA Entertainment Inc. more than $88 million in damages for misappropriation of trade secrets.

The verdict came as a staggering blow to the toy giant, which long has claimed the smaller company stole the idea for the ethnically diverse, pouty-lipped toys that gave platinum-haired Barbie a run for her money after decades of fashion-doll dominance.

The jury, which deliberated for nearly two weeks after a three-month trial, also found that Mattel acted willfully and maliciously in misappropriating MGA’s trade secrets. That raises the possibility the judge also could add punitive damages that could bring the total award to three times the jury’s initial findings, attorneys for both sides said.

Vindicator staff/wire reports