10 women honored at ATHENA event

10 women honored at ATHENA event

MERCER, PA.

Ten women from Lawrence and Mercer counties were honored at the third annual Lawrence/Mercer County ATHENA Award Celebration on Tuesday. The awards were presented at the Park Inn by Radisson in West Middlesex.

The women were honored for their professional achievements and their contributions to their communities. The recipients are: Jamie McDonough of Jameson Health System; Marci Radcliffe of F.N.B. Investment Advisors Inc.; Karen Anderson of Wendell August Forge; April Brown of the Prince of Peace Center; Karen Dahl of the Veterans Health Administration; Connie Gerba of Gilbert’s Risk Solutions; June Bruckner of the Bluegrass Kitchen Mobile Cafe; Leta Jeffers of the Thiel Fund at Thiel College; Andrea Paulden of Gilbert’s Risk Solutions; and Jolene Stieb of Butler County Community College.

The Diamond Girls, a mentor program for girls in grades five through 12 at New Castle Community YMCA, also was honored.

Toyota still No. 1 in global vehicle sales

TOKYO

Toyota Motor Corp. is still at the top in global vehicle sales after the first quarter, selling 2.52 million vehicles around the world, outpacing rivals Volkswagen and General Motors even as weakness in Japan dragged on its growth.

The Japanese automaker has been the world’s top-selling automaker for the past three years. No. 2 Volkswagen Group of Germany reported last week that it sold 2.49 million vehicles for the January-March period.

Volkswagen edged out U.S. automaker General Motors Co., which reported global sales of 2.4 million vehicles earlier this week.

Toyota’s global vehicle sales, according to the number released Thursday, were down 2 percent from a year earlier, as vehicle sales in Japan lagged. Volkswagen’s sales were up 1.8 percent year-on-year, while GM’s were up 1.9 percent.

The race among the three automakers is intense, playing out worldwide, including relatively new markets such as India and China, although each of them emphasize that the real competition is about coming out with good products, not beating rivals.

US new-home sales collapsed in March

WASHINGTON

Sales of new U.S. homes plummeted in March, as the spring buying season opened with sharp declines in the Northeast and South.

The Commerce Department said Thursday that new-home sales fell 11.4 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 481,000. This marks a swift reversal from an annual sales pace of 543,000 in February, which had been the strongest performance in seven years.

Purchases of new homes have been volatile on a monthly basis, although sales during the first quarter of 2015 are higher than in 2014. The volatility points to a real-estate market still finding its footing in the aftermath of the housing bubble that triggered the Great Recession in 2007 and the weak recovery that has followed.

Staff/wire reports