MCCTC registration

MCCTC registration

YOUNGSTOWN

Mahoning County Career and Technical Center is registering youths in Mahoning County who will begin their junior year of high school in August. Those interested should contact MCCTC at 330-729-4100 as soon as possible.

New Quaker Steak

SHARON, Pa.

Sharon-based Quaker Steak & Lube signed a franchise-development agreement with Cedar Fair LP to develop a new restaurant at Cedar Point amusement park/resort in Sandusky, Ohio.

Scheduled to open in May, the restaurant marks the 18th Quaker Steak & Lube location in Ohio and will create close to 125 jobs for the Sandusky community.

GM expectations

detroit

Analysts from both Kelley Blue Book and Autotrader expect General Motors to post higher earnings today in the first quarter of 2015 compared with the same quarter of 2014.

Analysts say more car sales, and a richer mix of vehicles sold, such as expensive trucks and SUVs, with fewer incentives all will help drive the earnings up.

Trade legislation

WASHINGTON

A major trade bill includes legislation from U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Cleveland, which is intended to strengthen trade laws. The inclusion of his Leveling the Playing Field Act in the U.S. Customs and Border Protection reauthorization is intended to increase the ability of U.S. industries to handle unfair foreign-trade practices. The bill would help the domestic steel industry, such as JMC Steel Group, which owns Sharon Tube in Niles and Wheatland Tube Co. in Warren. In March, Brown met with Dave Seeger, president of JMC, to discuss the negative impact of steel imports on the domestic steel industry.

CDC eyes bird-flu vaccine for humans

MINNEAPOLIS

Federal officials said Wednesday they’re taking steps to create a human vaccine for the bird-flu virus that’s slammed the Midwest poultry industry, though they still consider the danger to be low and the food supply not at risk.

Dr. Alicia Fry, an influenza expert with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said officials are hopeful there won’t be any human cases of the H5N2 strain — which has cost chicken and turkey producers more than 7 million birds since early March — but the country must be prepared.

Facebook mobile ad revenue soars

NEW YORK

Nearly three-quarters of Facebook’s advertising revenue now comes from mobile ads, as many more users access the social network on smartphones and other hand-held gadgets.

On that front, the company is doing fine — better, even, than it has in previous quarters. But the rate of its overall revenue growth slowed in the first three months of this year, causing its high-flying stock to tumble after the results came out.

Staff/wire reports