New type of fuel station set near I-76

New type of fuel station set near I-76

SEVILLE

Clean-energy advocates are announcing the opening of the state’s first liquefied natural-gas fueling station, aimed at long-distance truck travel.

Clean Fuels Ohio says the station is part of a planned network of such stations along U.S. interstates.

The Clean Energy LNG Truck Fueling Station opens Wednesday in Seville in Northeast Ohio near Interstate 76.

The station is one of four being opened in Ohio by Seal Beach, Calif.-based Clean Energy. It will be available for all trucks using liquefied natural gas.

Liquefied natural gas is considered more efficient for trucks traveling long distances. Stations using compressed natural gas already have opened in Ohio.

Stocks end mixed

NEW YORK

Stocks rallied to finish mixed Thursday after spending most of the day in the red. Investors were reminded that Europe has not solved its debt crisis, and the U.S. economy is far from healed.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 94 points at its low but finished up 19.61 points at 13,145.82. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index lost 2.26 points to close at 1,403.28, and the Nasdaq lost 9.60 points to close at 3,095.36.

The government released some incremental good news: The number of people seeking unemployment benefits fell to the lowest since April 2008, and economic growth for the last three months of last year was in line with expectations.

But the government also said many more people than originally estimated filed unemployment claims in recent months. And economists believe growth has slowed to an annual rate of about 1.5 percent from 3 percent last quarter.

Governors tour ‘pink slime’ plant

SOUTH SIOUX CITY, Neb.

Governors of three states got up close with “pink slime” Thursday, touching and examining treated beef at a plant and eating hamburgers made with it in a bid to convince grossed-out consumers and grocery stores the product is safe to consume.

The three governors and two lieutenant governors spent about a half-hour learning about the process of creating finely textured lean beef in a tour of the main plant that makes the product, then blasted the media for scaring consumers with a moniker coined by critics.

Beef Products, the main producer of the cheap lean beef made from fatty bits of meat left over from other cuts, has drawn scrutiny over concerns about the ammonium hydroxide it treats meat with to change the beef’s acidity and kill bacteria. The company suspended operations at plants in Texas, Kansas and Iowa this week but defends its product as safe.

The politicians who toured the plant — Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback, Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, Nebraska Lt. Gov. Rick Sheehy and South Dakota Lt. Gov. Matt Michels— all agree with the industry view that the beef has been unfairly maligned and mislabeled and issued a joint statement earlier saying the product is safe.

Vindicator staff/wire reports