Choffin open house

Choffin open house

YOUNGSTOWN

Eastern Gateway Community College of Youngstown will host a machining open house at Choffin Career Center, 200 Wood St. from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Tuesday. The open house will highlight EGCC’s two-year machining program that will lead to an associate’s degree.

Holiday party

AUSTINTOWN

Alcon Mechanical in Niles will have a Christmas holiday party for the National Guard at Camp Ravenna and their families Dec. 11 at The Skate Zone Fun Center on Mahoning Avenue.

A group of about 170 soldiers and their families will be treated to open skating, laser tag, Web City and bumper cars. A holiday buffet will also be provided. The group commander, Ed Meade, will preside over the festivities.

This is one of the initial efforts being undertaken by Alcon Mechanical to provide continuous support/appreciation to local troops. Additional efforts are being reviewed for 2017. Any groups interested in providing support for these efforts should call Alcon Mechanical at 330-505-1704 and ask for Bob Summers or John Deraway.

House Bill 558

COLUMBUS

State Rep. John Boccieri of Poland, D-59th, announced House Bill 558, legislation from May requiring public schools to use U.S. steel for all campus construction, received a first hearing in the House State Government Committee on Wednesday. The bill, co-sponsored by state Rep. Dan Ramos of Lorain, D-56th, would ensure the steel used in all schools receiving public money is reliable and not prone to unsafe corrosion.

Home agreements

COLUMBUS

The Ohio Association of Realtors reports the number of single-family homes and condominiums put under agreement in October 2016 reached a best-ever level for the month, increasing 4.7 percent from the mark set during the month a year ago.

Ohio’s October Pending Home Sales Index of 171.1, a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, increased 4.7 percent from October 2015. Activity in October fell a slight 1.7 percent from the level of agreements reached in September 2016.

Gas mileage

DETROIT

Fiat Chrysler says its new gas-electric hybrid minivan will get the equivalent of 84 miles per gallon in electric mode and 32 mpg in city-highway mileage when in hybrid mode.

The redesigned Chrysler Pacifica minivan went on sale earlier this year, and the hybrid version is due in showrooms in December. The company says the Pacifica is the first hybrid minivan in the U.S. and the most efficient minivan on the market. It says the numbers have been confirmed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The hybrid can go 33 miles on battery power. After that it switches to the hybrid mode. The hybrid costs $41,995 before a $7,500 federal income-tax credit. The price excludes shipping.

Staff/wire reports

Selected local stocks

STOCK, DIVIDENDCLOSECHANGE

Alcoa Inc., .1228.97-0.76

Aqua America, .71 29.73-1.54

Avalon Holdings,3.060.01

Community Health Sys. 5.44 0.02

Cortland Bancorp, .2817.000.00

Farmers Nat., .1611.85-0.15

First Energy, 1.44 31.29-1.26

Fifth/Third, .5226.020.63

FirstMerit Corp.,21.610.37

First Niles Financial, .129.000.00

FNB Corp., .4815.280.22

General Motors, 1.5234.53-0.04

General Electric, .9230.76-0.29

Huntington Bank, .28 12.460.18

iHeartMedia Inc.,1.45-0.05

JP Morgan Chase, 1.9280.171.29

Key Corp, .3417.310.30

LaFarge, .34-0.00

Macy’s, 1.51 42.20-0.29

Parker Hannifin, 2.52 138.931.98

PNC, 2.20110.541.28

Simon Prop. Grp., 6.60179.76-2.65

Stoneridge 15.89-0.23

Chemical Bank, 23.34-0.36

United Comm. Fin., .12 8.18-0.20

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