Pa. approves gas-fired power plant
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection said it approved the the state's first power plant to run on natural gas, including gas from the Marcellus Shale. The plant in Asylum Township, Bradford County, will generate up to 936 megawatts of electricity and create 500 construction jobs at its peak, the DEP said. The agency issued an air quality plan approval to Moxie Liberty L.L.C. for the plant, and said that a sister company, Moxie Patriot L.L.C., has applied for an air-quality plan approval for a similar plant to be built in Clinton Township, Lycoming County. DEP is reviewing that application. - Reid Kanaley
Malvern Federal to sell shares
Malvern Federal Bancorp said it plans to sell shares worth $36.4 million at $10 apiece Thursday as the 125-year-old lender speeds its transition from a depositor-owned mutual savings bank to a shareholder-owned company. The stock should begin trading on the Nasdaq Global Market on Friday under the symbol MLVFD, and later as MLVF. The bank, based in Paoli, has eight branches in Chester and northern Delaware Counties. - Joseph N. DiStefano
UHS must sell New Mexico facility
Universal Health Services Inc., a King of Prussia hospital operator, said it completed its purchase of Ascend Health Corp., which operates eight inpatient psychiatric hospitals and one substance-abuse treatment center. As a condition of the deal, Universal Health struck an agreement with the Federal Trade Commission to sell a UHS facility in New Mexico within about six months. Ascend will add about $200 million in annual revenue to UHS, which last year had $3.4 billion in revenue from behavioral-health facilities and $4 billion in revenue from acute-care hospitals. - Harold Brubaker
ER expansion at Riddle Hospital
Riddle Hospital said it would hold a ceremonial groundbreaking for a $15 million expansion of its emergency department on Thursday. The project will add 8,000 square feet to the current 12,000 square foot department and expand the number of treatment areas to 24 from 13, the hospital said. - Harold Brubaker
Court approves hospital merger
South Jersey Healthcare in Vineland and Underwood-Memorial Hospital in Woodbury said the Superior Court of New Jersey approved their merger, which was announced in January. The deal is expected to close Nov. 1. - Harold Brubaker
Elsewhere
European aerospace merger off
A deal to create a European defense and aerospace giant to rival Boeing Co. collapsed when BAE Systems and EADS NV called off merger talks in the face of government objections. The companies said they terminated discussions over the proposed $45 billion tie-up because of conflicting interests between the British, French and German governments. The proposed merger between Britain's BAE and Franco-German EADS, the parent of Airbus, would have created a company with a market value just shy of Boeing's. - AP
Gov't: Counterfeit airbags a danger
Thousands of motorists may be driving cars and trucks installed with dangerous counterfeit bags and they should have those bags replaced at their own expense, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. In government tests last month of 11 counterfeit bags, 10 failed to inflate properly or didn't inflate at all. In one test, a counterfeit bag shot flames and shards of metal at a crash dummy. Government investigators believe many of the bags come from China. - AP
Brace for cold, and costs
Americans will pay more to heat their homes this winter as they feel something they didn't feel much of last year: cold. Prices for natural gas, heating oil and other fuels will be relatively stable. But customers will have to use more energy to keep warm than they did a year ago, according to the annual Winter Fuels Outlook from the U.S. Energy Department's Energy Information Administration. Last winter was the warmest on record. This winter, temperatures are expected to be close to normal. - AP
S&P downgrades Spain's credit rating
Standard & Poor's is downgrading Spain's credit rating two notches to the agency's lowest investment-grade level. S&P says it is lowering its rating on debt issued by Spain from BBB+ to BBB-. It also assigned a negative outlook to the rating, meaning it could be further downgraded. S&P cited Spain's economic recession, high unemployment and social unrest. It said those factors are limiting the government's policy options. The European Central Bank has agreed to buy Spanish government bonds to help lower borrowing costs. But the government first needs to apply for bailout. - AP
As PC sales fall, who's on top?
Worldwide sales of PCs fell sharply in the third quarter, two research firms said, as consumers held off for the new version of Windows and spent their electronics dollars on smartphones and tablets, instead. Gartner and IDC said global PC sales fell 8.3 percent and 8.6 percent, respectively. Gartner also estimates that China's Lenovo Group Ltd. outsold Hewlett-Packard Co. for the first time to become the world's largest seller of PCs, but IDC disagreed and kept HP in the No. 1 spot, though by a narrow margin. - AP
