BUSINESS DIGEST || Auto show begins

Auto show begins

CLEVELAND

The Cleveland Auto Show kicks off today at the Cleveland International Exposition and Convention Center. The show continues through March 4.

Hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday.

Admission is $12.50 for adults or $10.50 for preteens (7-12) and seniors (62 and older). Children age 6 and under will be admitted free. For information go to www.clevelandautoshow.com.

Shell site in Pa.?

ALIQUIPPA, Pa.

The state of Pennsylvania plans to spend $490,000 for improvements at an industrial park that could be a location for a huge new gas-drilling petrochemical refinery.

The Beaver County Times reports the state will improve two out-of-service rail tracks to the Aliquippa Industrial Park.

Shell Oil Co. has been considering locations in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia for the plant, which is projected to cost several billion dollars to build, generating thousands of construction jobs.

Shell is expected to announce a decision in the next month or two.

Business expo

Austintown

The MainStreet Chamber will have its first “Down on Main Street” small-business expo at the Austintown Expo Center, 6000 Mahoning Ave., on March 24. The event will be from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and feature a bridal show, craft show, home and garden show and sportsman.

A variety of seminars also will be available.

Admission is free. For additional exhibitor information, call Cindy Miller at 330-207-8052.

Husted concerned about postal plan

COLUMBUS

Ohio’s elections chief is asking the postmaster general to reconsider plans to close nine mail processing sites in the state, saying he’s concerned about the security of early mail-in ballots that would be handled outside Ohio.

Secretary of State Jon Husted says in a Friday letter to Postmaster General Patrick Donahue that some ballots potentially would leave Ohio twice — once when they are mailed to voters and once when they’re returned.

The cash-strapped U.S. Postal Service said Thursday that it’s moving ahead with consolidations involving more than 260 of its nearly 500 processing centers nationwide including Youngstown and New Castle, Pa.

In Ohio, mail in certain areas could be processed in Pennsylvania or Michigan.

Husted calls post offices integral to communities and writes that closures would “pose daunting challenges to state and local functions, specifically elections.”

Vindicator staff/wire reports