Plea to USPS

Plea to USPS

YOUNGSTOWN

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat from Cleveland, joined 29 other senators who signed a letter to Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe urging the U.S. Postal Service to delay consolidation of 82 mail-processing facilities in the nation.

Four of these facilities are in Ohio, including the Youngstown mail-processing and distribution center.

The letter follows a report in which the federal Office of Inspector General found that the postal service failed to fulfill its obligations to study the impact of consolidation and properly notify local customers of these changes.

Gas prices drop

Northeast Ohio gas prices dropped more than a fraction of a cent to about $2.79 this week, according to AAA East Central’s Fuel Gauge report. The average gas price in the Youngstown-Warren area Monday, however, was $2.76, according to AAA.

The national average Monday was about $2.76.

Pa. governor urges Aldi to protect jobs

WASHINGTON

U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, on Monday urged Aldi to protect 1,600 Pennsylvania jobs as it prepares to acquire Bottom Dollar at the end of the year.

Bottom Dollar has 46 stores in Pennsylvania, and the closing of those stores would impact more than 1,600 jobs. Aldi has not yet announced its plans with the Bottom Dollar stores and employees in Pennsylvania or Ohio. In a letter to Aldi’s president, Casey urged the company to keep Bottom Dollar stores in Pennsylvania open and protect the region’s jobs.

‘12 Days’ items cost $116K this year

PHILADELPHIA

The cost of six geese-a-laying spiked considerably this year, while most of the items in the carol “The Twelve Days of Christmas” saw little to no increase, according to the 31st annual PNC Wealth Management Christmas Price Index.

A set of gifts in each verse of the song would set you back $27,673 in stores, an increase of less than $300 — or 1 percent — from last year. But shoppers turning to the Internet would see a bigger bump of about 8 percent over last year’s online prices, bringing the set of gifts in each verse to $42,959. Buyers looking to purchase all the items each time they were mentioned in the song — 364, that is — would spend $116,273, a modest 1.4 percent increase from a year ago.

Taj Mahal casino closing hotel tower

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J.

Trump Entertainment Resorts says it is closing its newest hotel tower and no longer is issuing credit as it prepares for a Dec. 12 shutdown of the Taj Mahal, its lone remaining casino.

The company filed a petition last week with the state Division of Gaming Enforcement asking for formal permission to close the casino. The company said it was taking two actions effective Monday, the day the filing was made public: closing the Chairman Tower, the newer of its two hotel towers, and halting the issuance of credit.

Vindicator staff/wire reports