Mahoning Habitat shares in GM gift

Mahoning Habitat shares in GM gift

LORDSTOWN

Habitat for Humanity of Mahoning County is one of 12 Habitat branches to receive part of a $1.45 million donation from General Motors Co., GM announced this week.

The total pledge will fund 10 new-home builds and 15 neighborhood-revitalization projects across the country.

GM previously pledged $400,000 to Habitat for Humanity Detroit and provided a $50,000 grant to Habitat for Humanity of Michigan.

Elder’s Ladies Night

EAST PALESTINE

Elder Ag & Turf, 49290 state Route 14, will host its annual Ladies Night at 6 p.m. today, featuring light dinner, door prizes and entertainment.

This year’s event will feature master gardener Ellen Speicher and a mix of funny and informative speakers to entertain the approximately 250 women expected to attend. Displays open at 5:30 p.m., and the program will kick off at 6.

Eliminating fees

COLUMBUS

Huntington Bank is eliminating its $10 overdraft- protection transfer fees for consumer and small-business customers, the bank announced Wednesday.

Consumers now can link from any Huntington savings, money market, home equity or credit card to a checking account, as part of the new policy, and beginning next month, businesses can link from any savings or deposit account to a checking account.

If a consumer or business overdraws, money will be pulled from the linked accounts to cover the shortfall.

Huntington began removing overdraft-protection transfer fees in 2011. Once the new policy for businesses takes hold April 1, the process will be complete.

FirstEnergy dividend

AKRON

FirstEnergy Corp. this week declared an unchanged quarterly dividend of 36 cents per share of outstanding common stock. The dividend will be payable June 1 to shareholders of record at the close of business May 7.

Fed clarifies stance on short-term rates

WASHINGTON

Janet Yellen tried at her first news conference as Federal Reserve chairwoman to clarify a question that’s consumed investors: When will the Fed start raising short-term interest rates from record lows?

Yellen stressed that with the job market still weak, the Fed intends to keep short-term rates near zero for a “considerable” time and would raise them only gradually. And she said the Fed wouldn’t be dictated to solely by the unemployment rate, which Yellen feels overstates the health of the job market and the economy.

Those points reinforced a message the Fed delivered in a policy statement after ending a two-day meeting Wednesday. The statement said that even after it raises short-term rates, and even after the job market strengthens and inflation increases, the Fed expects its benchmark short-term rate to stay unusually low.

The statement also said the Fed will cut its monthly long-term bond purchases by $10 billion to $55 billion because it thinks the economy is steadily healing.

Vindicator staff/wire reports