Hunt parking lot

Hunt parking lot

salem

Hunt Engineering, a veteran-owned small business and supplier of valves and custom components to the Navy and the steel industry worldwide, has completed the reconstruction of the hourly employee parking lot, located south of Hunt on Pershing Street.

Along with resurfacing, Hunt included improvements to the landscape by adding numerous plants and trees, stone planter walls and columns, aluminum fencing and two flagpoles.

Hunt worked closely with local contractors, engineers and the city in the design of the area, which required an expansion of the approach and additional grading and catch basins for improved drainage.

Black-owned businesses

BOARDMAN

Fourteen Ohio companies are among the country’s top 100 highest-grossing black-owned businesses, as listed in Black Enterprise magazine’s annual BE100’s report. One business, H.L.W. Fast Track Inc., which made number 56 on the list, is located in Boardman. The company was started in 1980 by Herb Washington. The company, a McDonald’s franchisee with 1,500 workers, runs more than 21 of the fast-food restaurants across Ohio and Pennsylvania. Last year, the company made 68 on the list. Also in 2011, Fast Track earned $58.1 million in revenue.

Obama signs loan, road-building bill

WASHINGTON

President Barack Obama signed legislation Friday maintaining jobs on transportation projects and preventing interest-rate increases on new loans to millions of college students, saying it would “make a real difference” for millions of Americans.

Obama, flanked by unemployed construction workers, college students and members of Congress at the White House, said he was hopeful that “this bipartisan spirit spills over into the next phase” on measures to boost the economy.

“There’s no excuse for inaction when there are so many Americans still trying to get back on their feet,” Obama said. He said the transportation and education measures “will make a real difference in the lives of millions of Americans.” Obama signed the bill after a two-day bus trip through parts of Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Yahoo, Facebook strike patent truce

SAN FRANCISCO

Facebook and Yahoo have agreed to settle a months-long patent dispute, averting a potentially expensive battle over the technology running two of the Internet’s most popular destinations.

In dropping the lawsuits, the companies agreed to license their patents to each other and form an advertising and content-sharing alliance that expands their existing partnership. Friday’s settlement involves no exchange of money.

Now that the antagonism is dissolving into an accord that could benefit both companies, the hundreds of millions of Web surfers who use both Yahoo and Facebook should find even more common ground on the two services.

Vindicator staff/wire reports

Selected local stocks

STOCK, DIVIDENDCLOSECHANGE

Aqua America, .66, 25.865 —.05

Avalon Holdings,3.702.00

Clear Channel, .73 64.25 —.74

Cortland Bancorp, 10.00.00

Farmers Nat., .126.42 .01

First Energy, 2.20, 49.18—.24

FirstMerit Corp., .64,16.575 —.09

First Niles Financial, .32,8.10.00

First Place Fin., .65.00

FNB Corp., .48,11.09—.09

General Motors,20.31—.23

General Electric, .68,20.00—.33

Motors Liquidation, .0422.00

Huntington Bank, .16, 6.38—.04

JP Morgan Chase, 1.20,33.90—.48

Key Corp, .20,7.70.01

LaFarge, 10.40 —.23

Macy’s, .80, 34.03—.24

Parker Hannifin, 1.64, 75.74—1.76

PNC, 1.60,60.70—.39

RTI Intl. Metals,22.90—.54

Simon Prop. Grp.,4.00,157.40.56

Stoneridge 6.84 —.15

United Community Fin. 2.99—.05

Selected prices at 4 p.m. Friday. Provided by Stifel Nicolaus. Not to be construed as an offer or recommendation to buy or sell any security.