Gas charge drops

Gas charge drops

ERIE, PA.

National Fuel Gas Distribution Corp. has submitted to the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission a quarterly adjustment to gas-supply charges that will lower the monthly bill of a residential customer using 90,000 cubic feet of gas annually by $3.97, from $61.42 to $57.45. This decrease is effective today.

Teacher discount

YOUNGSTOWN

Staples will celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week from Sunday to May 9. Educators who are members of the year-round Staples Teacher Rewards program will receive a 40 percent discount coupon during that week. They also will be given another coupon to give to another teacher. Teachers who are not enrolled can sign up to receive the coupon as well.

Executive changes

GIRARD

Rex Ferry, owner and CEO of VEC Inc., will resume the role of president and run the company’s day-to-day operations after the departure of current president, Chris Jaskiewicz, effective July 1. Jaskiewicz has been with VEC since 1995, and is leaving to start a consulting business. Ferry purchased the company, then Valley Electrical Consolidated, in 1990.

Minimum-wage bill

WASHINGTON

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Cleveland, announced his support for a bill to raise the federal minimum wage from the current $7.25 to $12 by 2020 through incremental increases over the next four years. This increase would provide a raise for nearly 38 million workers nationwide, including 1.4 million Ohioans, according to a news release from Brown’s office.

“Minimum wage and tipped workers shouldn’t have to struggle to get by. They deserve a living wage to help put food on the table and care for their families,” Brown said in a statement. “Increasing the minimum wage to $12 will not only help our workers — it will also boost our economy and local businesses. Ohioans working in minimum-wage jobs deserve pay that reflects their hard work.”

Alcoa dividends

NEW YORK

The board of directors of Alcoa declared the following: a quarterly common stock dividend of $0.03 cents per share payable May 25 to holders of record at the close of business May 11; a dividend of $0.94 cents per share on Alcoa’s $3.75 cumulative preferred stock payable July 1 to holders of record at the close of business June 12; and a dividend of $6.72 per share on Alcoa’s 5.38 percent Class B Mandatory Convertible Preferred Stock payable July 1 to holders of record of the Class B Stock at the close of business June 15.

Spending increases

WASHINGTON

U.S. consumers boosted spending in March by the largest amount in four months, a hopeful sign that this key sector of the economy is reviving after a frigid winter.

Consumer spending increased 0.4 percent in March, the strongest gain since a similar increase in November, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.

Vindicator staff/wire reports