Railroad board cancels SSA visit

Railroad board cancels SSA visit

Pittsburgh

The U.S. Railroad Retirement Board will not be at the Social Security Administration Office on March 15 as originally scheduled. The visit has been canceled.

If you need assistance, wish to schedule an appointment or have questions regarding railroad retirement, unemployment or sickness benefits, call 877-772-5227 Monday through Friday, except for federal holidays, between 9 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.

Chiropractic center welcomes doctor

Girard

Girard Chiropractic Center is having a grand reopening and open house today in celebration of the return of chiropractic physician Dr. Gordon Byrne.

Byrne is returning from a one-year deployment in Iraq with the Army’s 256th Combat Support Hospital unit, where he was awarded the Bronze Star.

He lives in Girard with his wife, Lia, and his two children, Francesca and Dante. He will remain in the Army Reserve and recently was hired as a strength and conditioning coach for Girard City Schools.

“It was a pretty challenging year,” said Lia of her husband’s deployment. “We’re very proud of him and what he did.”

The open house will be from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the office at 512 N. State St.

There will be free, 10-minute chair massages, chiropractic treatments and a chance to win prizes throughout the day.

GM to suspend production of Volts

DALLAS

General Motors Co. is suspending production of its Chevrolet Volt electric car for five weeks amid disappointing sales.

A GM spokesman said Friday that the company will shut down production of the Volt from March 19 until April 23, idling 1,300 workers at the Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant.

The Volt was rolled out with great fanfare in late 2010 but has hit bumps in the road. Sales have fallen short of expectations, and its reputation was bruised by an investigation into a possible fire risk.

It carries a high price tag — around $41,000 before a U.S. tax credit of up to $7,500. Rising gasoline prices should boost the Volt’s appeal, but there are plenty of other less-expensive cars that also get good mileage.

GM sold 7,671 Volts last year, below its original goal of 10,000 cars. The company stopped publicly announcing sales targets last year. It sold 1,023 Volts in February and 603 in January.

Yelp stock soars 63% in debut

new york

Yelp’s stock opened to five-star reviews from investors Friday, soaring 63 percent even though the company has yet to prove it can make money from its online recommendations.

After Yelp’s initial public offering priced at $15, the shares gained $9.52 to close at $24.52 in their trading debut. In an indication of the strong investor interest in the 8-year-old reviews site, the IPO sold above its targeted range of $12 to $14 per share.

Vindicator staff/wire reports