BUSINESS DIGEST ||

Natural gas produced

HARRISBURG

Pennsylvania’s natural-gas production volume trended upward in 2015, according Department of Environmental Protection’s 2015 Oil and Gas Annual Report.

In 2015, more than 4.6 trillion cubic feet of natural gas was produced in Pennsylvania compared with about 1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas produced in 2011. Currently, Pennsylvania is the second-largest supplier of natural gas in the nation. For information, go to www.dep.pa.gov.

$100M suit is filed against Comcast

OLYMPIA, Wash.

Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson on Monday filed a $100 million lawsuit against Philadelphia-based Comcast, saying the cable and internet giant deceived customers into paying tens of millions of dollars in fees for a “near-worthless” service-protection plan.

Ferguson said Comcast also committed more than 1.8 million violations of the state’s Consumer Protection Act by charging improper service-call fees and using improper credit-screening practices.

According to the lawsuit, Comcast misled 500,000 customers in Washington state by having them pay a $4.99 monthly fee to avoid being charged if a technician visited their home to fix an issue covered by the plan. But Ferguson said the company didn’t reveal that the plan didn’t cover repairs to wiring inside a wall. As part of the investigation, customers contacted Comcast numerous times. Ferguson said that 75 percent of the time, Comcast representatives falsely told the customers that the plan covered all inside wiring.

NY parole authorities to bar sex offenders from ‘Pokemon GO’

ALBANY, N.Y.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday directed state authorities to prevent nearly 3,000 registered sex offenders now on parole from playing “Pokemon GO” in an effort to safeguard children who play.

The state’s Department of Corrections and Community Services is making that a condition of supervised release from state prison for all sex offenders. State officials recommended that county probation offices adopt the same policy.

The Democratic governor has also sent a letter to software developer Niantic requesting help prohibiting sexual predators from playing the online game, where players roam through the physical world searching for virtual Pokemon creatures.

5 killed as Russian copter is shot down

MOSCOW

Rebels in Syria shot down a Russian combat helicopter Monday amid fierce fighting around Aleppo, killing all five people on board in the deadliest single incident for the Russian military since it became embroiled in Syria’s civil war 10 months ago.

The helicopter downing came as the Syrian army, under Russian air cover, fought to repel a rebel attempt to break the government’s siege of Aleppo, killing more than 800 militants, according to the Russian military.

The Russian Defense Ministry said all three crewmembers and two military officers on board died.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

Staff/wire reports

Selected local stocks

STOCK, DIVIDENDCLOSECHANGE

Alcoa Inc., .1210.47-0.15

Aqua America, .71 34.790.15

Avalon Holdings,2.290.01

Cortland Bancorp, .2815.300.15

Farmers Nat., .1615.300.15

First Energy, 1.44 34.31-0.61

Fifth/Third, .5218.78-0.20

FirstMerit Corp., .6821.05-0.18

First Niles Financial, .129.750.00

FNB Corp., .4811.92-0.03

General Motors, 1.5231.30-0.24

General Electric, .9231.150.01

Huntington Bank, .28 9.38-0.12

iHeartMedia Inc.,1.23-0.07

JP Morgan Chase, 1.9263.80-0.17

Key Corp, .3411.48-0.22

LaFarge, .3417.570.00

Macy’s, 1.51 35.32-0.51

Parker Hannifin, 2.52 113.25-0.94

PNC, 2.0482.42-0.23Simon Prop. Grp., 6.40227.600.56

Stoneridge 17.370.69Talmer Bank, .20 21.040.02

United Comm. Fin., .10 6.670.03

Selected prices from Monday’s 4 p.m. close.