Pa. township barred from blocking seismic testing

PITTSBURGH -- A federal judge has barred a western Pennsylvania township from interfering with a Texas company using public roads to conduct seismic testing this month.

ION Geophysical Corp. of Houston sued Hempfield Township, about 30 miles east of Pittsburgh, saying it lacked authority to block the testing.

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (http://bit.ly/1evRtda ) reports that U.S. District Judge Maurice Cohill on Thursday granted the company's request for a preliminary injunction allowing it to conduct the tests until the lawsuit is resolved.

Cohill said blocking the tests would hurt the company and allowing them won't hurt the township.

Doug Weimer, chairman of the township supervisors, said he is disappointed, and supervisors "will review the decision and decide what to do next." He said the board was trying to protect property owners.

Medicaid expansion fails in Maine for a third time

AUGUSTA, Maine -- The Maine Legislature failed on Friday in its third attempt to overturn Gov. Paul LePage's veto of a bill that would expand Medicaid coverage to 70,000 low-income residents under the federal health care law — an issue that's certain to play prominently in this year's governor's race.

The 22-13 vote in the Senate was two votes shy of the two-thirds support it needed to override LePage's rejection of the bill that also would have privatized the state's Medicaid program through managed care.

The failure of the proposal in the Legislature, which is controlled by Democrats, is a big win for the Republican governor whose agenda was dealt a significant blow by lawmakers this session, including an effort to overhaul the state's welfare programs.

The federal government offered to pay the entire cost of the expansion under President Barack Obama's landmark Affordable Care Act for the first three years, after which the state would pick up a portion of the costs. Under the bill, Maine would've withdrawn from the program at that time and the Legislature would have to approve it again.

But LePage and Republican lawmakers have said it's unreasonable to believe that the Legislature will choose to take away people's coverage once it's been provided. It's shortsighted to believe that the federal government will keep its promise and that taxpayers will ultimately be left footing the bill, they said.

"Our resources are extremely strapped and we only have the ability to do certain things," said Senate Republican Leader Michael Thibodeau of Winterport. "This is beyond our ability to pay."

On Friday, LePage echoed Republican lawmakers' argument that many of those who'd qualify for the expansion can get subsidies to buy private coverage on the federal marketplace for as little as a few dollars a month. LePage said he's pleased "the Senate chose fiscal responsibility instead of spending millions of Maine taxpayer dollars to expand welfare to able-bodied adults who have other options for virtually free health care."

But an estimated 24,000 Mainers who would've received Medicaid under the expansion won't qualify for subsidies, leaving affordable health care out of reach, Democrats say.

Democrats criticized Republicans for their continued opposition despite the inclusion of several provisions they wanted, including an attempt to reduce the waitlist for Medicaid services and two new fraud investigators for the attorney general's office.

The state would've also hired private companies to run its Medicaid program in an effort to provide more stability and predictability in its growing Medicaid budget.

"We were offered many excuses for the opponents of why they wouldn't vote in favor of this sensible legislation to accept federal funds, but as I see it, the barriers have now been addressed," said Democratic Sen. Margaret Craven of Lewiston.

LePage's opposition to the expansion will become a key aspect of the upcoming governor's race. After the vote on Friday, protesters in the Senate shouted, "We will remember in November."

And the governor's two political opponents, Democratic U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud and independent candidate Eliot Cutler, blasted the governor for vetoing the bill earlier this week.

LePage "has elevated his tough-guy image over the public interest," Cutler said in a statement. "Politicians overuse the word 'shame,' but this time it really fits."

3 things you can do to protect from Heartbleed

The "Heartbleed" bug has caused anxiety for people and businesses. Now, it appears that the computer bug is affecting not just websites, but also networking equipment including routers, switches and firewalls.

The extent of the damage caused by the Heartbleed is unknown. The security hole exists on a vast number of the Internet's Web servers and went undetected for more than two years. Although it's conceivable that the flaw was never discovered by hackers, it's difficult to tell.

There isn't much that people can do to protect themselves completely until the affected websites implement a fix. And in the case of networking equipment, that could be a while.

Here are three things you can do to reduce the threat:

— Change your passwords. This isn't a full-proof solution. It'll only help if the website in question has put in place required security patches. You also might want to wait a week and then change them again.

— Worried about the websites you're surfing? There's a free add-on for the Firefox browser to check a site's vulnerability and provide color-codes flags. Green means go and red means stop. You can download it here: http://mzl.la/1lRZfTR

— Check the website of the company that made your home router to see if it has announced any problems. Also be diligent about downloading and installing and software updates you may receive.

China's auto sales cool, local brands squeezed

BEIJING -- China's growth in auto sales decelerated further in March and local brands lost market share in the face of intense foreign competition, an industry group reported Friday.

Sales rose 7.9 percent to 1.7 million vehicles, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. That was down from February's 11.3 percent growth.

Sales of Chinese domestic brands contracted by 2.3 percent to 672,000 vehicles, the association said. Their market share shrank by 4.1 percentage points from a year earlier to 39.3 percent.

China's explosive auto sales growth has cooled steadily since peaking above 40 percent in 2009 as rapid economic expansion slows.

The economy grew by 7.7 percent last year, tying 2012 for the lowest rate since 1999. The government's official growth target this year is 7.5 percent and, in a sign officials already worry they might fail to meet that, Beijing launched a mini-stimulus last month with higher spending on construction of railways and other public works.

General Motors, Toyota, Volkswagen and other global auto brands are looking to China, the biggest auto market, to drive sales and are spending heavily to suit local tastes.

The global majors are reporting steady sales gains, but part of that comes at the expense of smaller Chinese brands.

Total vehicle sales, including trucks and buses, rose 6.6 percent to 2.2 million, the association said.

General Motors Co. said sales of GM-brand vehicles by the company and its Chinese partners rose 19.9 percent to monthly record of 257,770. Ford Motor Co. said sales rose 28 percent to 103,815 vehicles, crossing the 100,000 mark for the first time.

Japan's Toyota Motor Co. said sales more than doubled from a year earlier, rising 119 percent to 90,400 vehicles. Rival Nissan Motor Co. said sales rose 26 percent to 115,900 vehicles.

South Korea's Kia Motor Co. reported a 14.2 percent rise in sales to 55,208 vehicles.

Tech stocks slide again; Nasdaq falls for 3rd week

NEW YORK -- Technology stocks are dropping for a second day in a row as investors flee highflying Internet and biotechnology companies.

The Nasdaq composite closed out its third losing week in a row.

The Nasdaq lost 54 points, or 1.3 percent, to end at 3,999 Friday. It was only the second time this year the index has closed below 4,000. It's down 8 percent from the high it reached in early March.

The Standard & Poor's 500 fell 17 points, or 1 percent, to 1,815. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 143 points, or 0.9 percent, to 16,026.

JPMorgan Chase fell 4 percent after reporting weaker earnings. Other big banks also fell, including Bank of America.

Bond prices rose. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.62 percent.

Merkel, in Athens, praises Greek reform progress

ATHENS, Greece -- Police banned protests across most of central Athens on Friday as German Chancellor Angela Merkel is due to pay a brief visit, a day after the crisis-hit country returned to international bond markets.

Unions and the left-wing main opposition party, Syriza, are backing protests planned outside the cordon, to be manned by some 5,000 police officers. Merkel has been among the most vocal supporters of the austerity measures that have helped heal Greece's public finances but proved painful for Greeks.

During a visit in 2012, the German chancellor had been greeted by mass anti-austerity protests that turned violent. Security this time was also tightened further after a powerful car bomb exploded early Thursday outside the Bank of Greece, causing damage but no injuries.

Merkel's visit comes as Greece this week reached a milestone in the recovery from its financial crisis — it successfully tapped bond markets for the first time since 2010, raising 3 billion euros ($4.14 billion) in five-year debt.

The country, however, still has far to go to heal its economy, which has shrunk by about a quarter during the crisis, and to reduce unemployment from around 27 percent.

Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras in a newspaper article criticized the cordon, saying Merkel would not get a sense of the impact of the austerity measures she supported.

"I encourage her to visit a hospital and witness the third world conditions ... or a school where teachers try to cope with underfed children," he wrote.

During visit her Friday, lasting only several hours, Merkel plans to meet fellow conservative Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, who is facing opposition demands to hold early elections along with next month's vote for the European Parliament.

BC-Noon Oil

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