BUSINESS DIGEST ||

Gas rate 22.9% lower for March

YOUNGSTOWN

Dominion East Ohio Standard Choice Offer rate for March is 22.9 percent lower than the previous month.

Effective March 15, Dominion East Ohio’s SCO/SSO rates will be $2.577 per thousand cubic feet.

Under the company’s filing, the average SCO/SSO residential customer’s bill for March would be $72.12, up $16.33, or 29.3 percent, from $55.79 in March 2016.

Mercedes recalls 1 million vehicles

DETROIT

Mercedes is recalling about 1 million cars and SUVs worldwide because a starter part can overheat and cause fires.

The recall covers certain C-Class, E-Class and CLA cars and GLA and GLC SUVs, all from 2015 through 2017, including nearly 308,000 in the U.S.

The German automaker reported 51 fires worldwide, with about 30 in the United States. The company has no reports of any injuries.

Owners will be notified this month and again when replacement parts are available in July.

Man charged with threatening Jewish centers to frame ex

NEW YORK

A former journalist fired for fabricating details in stories made at least eight of the scores of threats against Jewish institutions nationwide, including a bomb threat to New York’s Anti-Defamation League, as part of a bizarre campaign to harass and frame his ex-girlfriend, federal officials said Friday.

Juan Thompson, 31, was arrested in St. Louis and appeared there in federal court Friday on a cyberstalking charge. He politely answered questions and told the judge he had enough money to hire a lawyer.

Federal officials have been investigating 122 bomb threats called in to Jewish organizations in three dozen states since Jan. 9 as well as a rash of vandalism at Jewish cemeteries.

Trump hits back, accuses Schumer of Putin ties

NEW YORK

President Donald Trump, his administration under siege for contacts with Russian officials, is calling for “an immediate investigation” into Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer’s own ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Trump’s evidence? A 14-year-old photo of Schumer and Putin holding coffee and doughnuts in a New York City gas station.

The president on Friday tweeted a photo of the two men, calling for a probe into Schumer’s “ties to Russia and Putin” and called the New York senator “A total hypocrite!” Trump did not say where the photo came from, but Schumer quickly pointed out that it was taken in 2003 when Putin ventured to New York to celebrate the opening of a Russian-owned Lukoil gas station on Manhattan’s west side.

Staff/wire reports

Selected local stocks

STOCK, DIVIDENDCLOSECHANGE

Alcoa Inc., .1236.340.49

Aqua America, .71 31.66-0.35

Avalon Holdings,2.90-0.02

Chemical Bank, .2753.810.12Community Health Sys. 9.73 0.59

Cortland Bancorp, .2818.500.00

Farmers Nat., .1613.9250.03

First Energy, 1.44 31.730.09

Fifth/Third, .5227.830.09

FirstMerit Corp.,21.610.37

First Niles Financial, .129.600.00

FNB Corp., .4815.820.04

General Motors, 1.5238.230.48

General Electric, .9230.10-0.08

Huntington Bank, .28 14.390.10

iHeartMedia Inc.,1.180.03

JP Morgan Chase, 1.9292.770.61

Key Corp, .3419.070.19

LaFarge, .3417.570.00

Macy’s, 1.51 31.76-1.46

Parker Hannifin, 2.52 157.06-0.03

PNC, 2.20127.820.31

Simon Prop. Grp., 6.60179.41-1.73

Stoneridge 19.000.18

United Comm. Fin., .12 8.710.01

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