BUSINESS DIGEST ||

Sales to benefit Rich Center

NILES

April is National Autism Awareness Month. To help raise awareness, Captain McFinn and Friends are donating a portion of the proceeds from sales of Crazy Aaron’s Thinking Putty from its Gift Store in Eastwood Mall to The Rich Center for Autism.

First Niles reports 3-month net income

NILES

First Niles Financial Inc., the holding company for Home Federal Savings and Loan Association of Niles, reported results for the three-month period ending March 31.

The company recorded net income of $116,000, compared with net income of $39,000 for the same period in 2016, an increase of $77,000, or 197.4 percent.

Pizza Joe’s to offer new pizza with chipotle sauce

NEW CASTLE, Pa.

In celebration of National Totally Chipotle Day and Cinco de Mayo, Pizza Joe’s will offer up its new southwest chicken or steak pizza with chipotle sauce May 5.

The new pizza recently was awarded the Best Gourmet Pizza at the 2017 Mahoning Valley Pizza Cook-Off presented by Potential Development in Boardman.

Allegiant reports passenger increase

LAS VEGAS

Allegiant, the only commercial airliner in operation at the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport, reported a 9.6 percent year-over-year increase in its number of passengers in March.

Yahoo accused of mismanaging fund for dissidents

SAN FRANCISCO

A new lawsuit accuses Yahoo of turning its back on Chinese dissidents that it had promised to help as penance for previously turning over information about other activists to the Chinese government.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in a Washington, D.C., federal court by a group of Chinese dissidents, contends that Yahoo mismanaged a $17 million fund it set up to provide financial aid to them.

Yahoo created the human- rights fund a decade ago. That gesture followed a humiliating scandal during which U.S. legislators roasted Yahoo for providing authorities with information that led to the imprisonment of two Chinese activists.

The complaint alleges Yahoo allowed Harry Wu, a now-deceased dissident from China, to spend about $13 million of the fund on personal interests. Yahoo declined to comment.

Reports show contrasting view of PC market

SAN FRANCISCO

The long-suffering personal computer market finally may be recovering from the damage inflicted by the shift to smartphones and tablets, according to a report released Tuesday.

PC shipments in the first quarter rose by about 1 percent from last year, based on calculations from the research firm International Data Corp.

The modest gain marks the first quarterly increase in five years, a stretch that has seen people increasingly turn to mobile devices for their computing needs.

Another breakdown released by Gartner Inc. painted a gloomier picture. That research firm estimated PC shipments fell by 2 percent in the first quarter.

The rival reports measure the market in different ways, accounting for their contrasting conclusions.

Staff/wire reports