Video Party Express game trailer at event

Video Party Express game trailer at event

YOUNGSTOWN

The Video Party Express game trailer of Liberty will be on display from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at 20 Federal Place in downtown Youngstown for the 17th annual Streetscape Planting Day.

Youngstown CityScape and volunteers will spend the day planting, mulching and helping to make the city an attractive place.

The trailer comes equipped with five high-definition, 3-D televisions, stadium-style seating, colored LED laser lights, stereo surround sound, the latest game consoles and an extensive array of games. There also are two additional televisions outside of the trailer.

The air-conditioned trailer accommodates up to 28 players and 10 additional friends at one time. There also is a satellite dish for sports viewing and tailgating. A game master supervises the trailer.

YSU energy forum

YOUNGSTOWN

The sixth annual Youngstown State University Sustainable Energy Forum: Energy and Innovative Manufacturing will take place Monday and Tuesday.

The forum begins at 7:30 a.m. with continental breakfast in Kilcawley Center and ends after a reception at 4 p.m. Monday. Lunch also will be provided. Lunch will close the second day of the forum.

Topics at the forum include 3-D printing, additive manufacturing, research exchange and opportunities in natural gas. There also will be a NASA panel discussion Monday.

The forum is open to the public for $25, and students can attend for free. Go to ysusef.org to register.

New Handel’s site

BOARDMAN

Handel’s Homemade Ice Cream and Yogurt will open its newest location today at 7485 South Ave. in front of Shepherd Self Storage.

The store will open at 11 a.m. to replace its previous location on South Avenue.

US banks’ earnings decline 7.7 percent

WASHINGTON

U.S. banks’ earnings declined 7.7 percent in the January-March quarter from a year earlier, as higher interest rates dampened demand for mortgage refinancing and reduced banks’ revenue from the mortgage business.

The data issued Wednesday by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. highlighted the impact of the increase in interest rates that occurred in the spring of 2013.

It was only the second time in the past 19 quarters that the banking industry, which has been recovering from the financial crisis, posted a decline in net income from the year-earlier quarter.

The FDIC reported that the banking industry earned $37.2 billion in the first quarter of this year, down from $40.3 billion in the same period in 2013.

It was the first time since the third quarter of 2013 that banks marked a year-over-year profit decline — and that was the first decline since the spring of 2009, when the country was still mired in the Great Recession.

Vindicator staff/wire reports