BUSINESS DIGEST ||

Hurdle for Home Savings cleared

YOUNGSTOWN

United Community Financial Corp. and The Home Savings and Loan Co. announced Thursday that all regulatory approvals have been received with respect to its proposed acquisition of Ohio Legacy Corp., North Canton, and its wholly owned banking subsidiary, Premier Bank & Trust.

This transaction was announced in September 2016 and is expected to close Jan. 31, pending approval by Ohio Legacy Corp.’s shareholders, which will be sought at its Jan. 27 meeting and satisfaction of other closing conditions.

Conversion of Premier systems and customers to Home Savings is scheduled for the weekend of March 25-26. Until then, Premier Bank customers will continue to bank as usual using Premier products and branches.

World Trade case

WASHINGTON

At the urging of U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat from Cleveland, and Rob Portman, a Republican from near Cincinnati, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman launched a World Trade Organization case against China to address aluminum overcapacity, which they say hurts American aluminum manufacturers and their workers.

Ford adds 816,000 vehicles to Takata air-bag recall

DETROIT

Ford is adding more than 816,000 vehicles in North America to the growing Takata air-bag inflator recall.

The company says the latest callback covers the 2005-2009 and 2012 Mustang and the 2006-2009 and 2012 Ford Fusion, Lincoln Zephyr and Lincoln MKZ. Also included are the 2007-2009 Ford Ranger and Edge, the 2007-2009 Lincoln MKX, the 2006-2009 Mercury Milan and the 2005 and 2006 Ford GT.

All have front passenger air-bag inflators made by Takata that can explode with too much force and spew metal shrapnel. At least 16 people have died worldwide from the problem and more than 180 have been hurt.

Owners can go to https://www.nhtsa.gov/recalls and key in their 17-digit vehicle identification number to see if their vehicles are part of the recall.

Officials: More than 40 percent of Calif. out of drought

SAN FRANCISCO

More than 40 percent of California is out of drought, federal drought-watchers said Thursday at the tail end of powerful storms that sent thousands of people fleeing from flooding rivers in the north, unleashed burbling waterfalls in southern deserts and doubled the vital snowpack in the Sierra Nevada in little more than a week.

Declaring California as a whole to be past its official three-year drought emergency will be up to Gov. Jerry Brown, who will probably wait until the end of the winter rain and snow season to make that decision.

Staff/wire reports

Selected local stocks

STOCK, DIVIDENDCLOSECHANGE

Alcoa Inc., .1233.041.07

Aqua America, .71 30.09-0.05

Avalon Holdings,2.75-0.09

Chemical Bank, .2723.34-0.36Community Health Sys. 6.58 -0.23

Cortland Bancorp, .2817.680.00Farmers Nat., .1614.05-0.40

First Energy, 1.44 30.68-0.05

Fifth/Third, .5226.91-0.18

FirstMerit Corp.,21.610.37

First Niles Financial, .1211.000.00FNB Corp., .4815.68-0.40

General Motors, 1.5237.51-0.44

General Electric, .9231.39-0.08

Huntington Bank, .28 13.32-0.12

iHeartMedia Inc.,1.150.02

JP Morgan Chase, 1.9286.24-0.84

Key Corp, .3418.29-0.30

LaFarge, .34-0.00

Macy’s, 1.51 29.980.03

Parker Hannifin, 2.52 143.75-1.46

PNC, 2.20117.93-2.85

Simon Prop. Grp., 6.60183.091.10

Stoneridge 17.39-0.54

United Comm. Fin., .12 8.47-0.27

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