Thursday, June 20, 2019
Home Savings gives $5,000 to Walnut Grove playground
YOUNGSTOWN
Home Savings Bank donated a check for $5,000 to The Walnut Grove in Canfield on June 11. The funds will be used toward the construction of a playground to be used by local and regional children of all abilities, specifically those with special needs.
Mexico’s senate approves trade deal
MEXICO CITY
Mexico’s Senate voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to ratify a new free trade agreement with the United States and Canada, making it the first of the three countries to gain legislative approval.
Mexico’s upper chamber voted 114 to 4 with three abstentions in favor of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA. U.S. President Donald Trump had demanded a renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement that it will replace.
GM seeks to avoid air bag recalls for fourth straight year
DETROIT
General Motors is trying to avoid recalling potentially deadly Takata air bag inflators in thousands of full-size pickup trucks and SUVs for the fourth straight year, leaving owners to wonder if vehicles are safe to drive.
The automaker petitioned the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to exempt it from recalls that were required under a 2015 agreement between Takata and the government.
Takata inflators can explode with too much force, blowing apart a metal canister and spewing shrapnel.
Twenty-four people have been killed and hundreds injured by the inflators worldwide.
For GM, the stakes are high. If NHTSA requires it to do all the recalls, the company will have to repair more than 6 million trucks and SUVs at a cost of $1.2 billion, more than half the profit reported by the company in its most recent quarter.
Fed leaves its key rate unchanged
WASHINGTON
The Federal Reserve left its key interest rate unchanged Wednesday but signaled that it’s prepared to start cutting rates if needed to protect the U.S. economy from trade conflicts and other threats.
The Fed kept its benchmark rate – which influences many consumer and business loans – in a range of 2.25% to 2.5%, where it’s been since December.
Cleveland Clinic is top Ohio employer
Columbus
State data shows the Cleveland Clinic has surpassed Walmart as Ohio’s largest private-sector employer.
The Cleveland-based hospital system has 50,825 employees, compared to Walmart’s 49,330.
Other large private-sector employers include retailers such as Kroger and Giant Eagle, Chase bank, and other hospital systems such as Columbus-based Ohio Health.
Honda, with 15,000 Ohio employees, remains the state’s largest manufacturer.
Staff/wire reports