GM production

GM production

LORDSTOWN

Citing a recent loss of production and projected increases in sales this year, United Auto Workers Local 1112 told employees at the General Motors plant here that management has scheduled two Saturdays of production Jan. 25 and Feb. 8. Those dates are subject to change.

Tom Mock, a plant spokesman, said he could not confirm or comment on production schedules.

Loan-rate reduction

COLUMBUS

Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel announced that farmers can apply for interest-rate reductions on agricultural start-up loans now through March 12 as a part of the Agricultural Linked Deposit Program, or Ag-LINK.

Lenders must complete an application on behalf of the borrowers at www.aglink.ohio.gov.

If the application is chosen, the treasurer’s office places a one-year investment in the financial institution, and the lender lowers the interest rate on the farmer’s loan.

J.C. Penney closings

WASHINGTON, Pa.

J.C. Penney announced it will close 33 underperforming stores and lay off 2,00 employees across the country by May.

The company said the closings would save $65 million a year, starting this year.

One store in Washington, Pa., and another in Wooster, Ohio, are among the locations set to close.

Cited at 2nd plant

CHARLESTON, W.Va.

The company responsible for the chemical spill in West Virginia moved its chemicals to a nearby plant that already has been cited for safety violations, including a backup containment wall with holes in it.

As a result, state officials may force the company to move the chemicals to a third site.

Inspectors found five safety violations Monday at Freedom Industries’ storage facility in Nitro, about 10 miles from the spill site in Charleston. The spill contaminated the drinking water for 300,000 people, and about half of them still were waiting for officials to lift the ban on tap water.

Report: NSA maps computer pathways

WASHINGTON

The National Security Agency has implanted software in nearly 100,000 computers around the world — but not in the United States — that allows the U.S. to conduct surveillance on those machines, The New York Times reported Tuesday.

The Times cited NSA documents, computer experts and U.S. officials in its report about the use of secret technology using radio waves to gain access to computers that other countries have tried to protect from spying or cyberattacks. The software network also could create a digital highway for launching cyberattacks, the Times reported.

Vindicator staff/wire reports