In the Region

Gannett makes cuts at N.J. papers

Gannett Co. laid off 106 full-time employees and 19 part-timers at its six New Jersey newspapers Wednesday. Thomas M. Donovan, president and publisher of the Asbury Park Press and vice president of Gannett's East Newspaper Group, said employees at the Press, the Courier-Post in Cherry Hill, the Home News Tribune in East Brunswick, the Courier News in Somerville, the Daily Record in Parsippany and the Daily Journal in Vineland were notified Wednesday night and yesterday of the reductions. Courier-Post employees said 30 staffers were let go, including several in the newsroom, as well as in advertising and circulation. Walter Lafferty, the newspaper's publisher, did not return a request for comment. Gannett's U.S. community newspaper division, which has more than 80 daily papers, saw about 1,400 jobs cut out of a workforce of about 41,500. - Alan J. Heavens

Motion filed for line of credit

TH Properties, the Harleysville homebuilder that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection April 30, yesterday filed a motion that would provide the company with a revolving line of credit of up to $3 million in financing to complete homes in progress in another six developments. THP received permission from U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Stephen Raslavich last month to complete homes in two other developments. THP lawyer Natalie Ramsey said the revolving line, if approved, would also provide for additional funds to reimburse any buyers for whom THP is unable to deliver the homes for which they contracted. The motion is slated to be considered at a hearing Thursday. - Alan J. Heavens

Deal for heart-ailment drug

Merck & Co. and Portola Pharmaceuticals Inc. said they had signed an exclusive deal to develop and market an experimental drug to prevent strokes in people with a dangerous irregular heart rhythm. Merck, the world's eighth-biggest drugmaker, with major operations in the region, will pay Portola $50 million initially to license the drug, called betrixaban, and a possible total of $470 million, if all further research and development goes well. Betrixaban prevents blood clots by blocking a clotting protein called Factor Xa. The pill would be taken daily by people with atrial fibrillation, a sometimes deadly abnormal heart rhythm affecting roughly seven million people in the United States and Europe. - AP

Bank cites more bad loans

Susquehanna Bancshares Inc., Lititz, Pa., said an increase in bad loans contributed to lower-than-expected second-quarter earnings. The bank said it would likely report a provision for loan losses of $50 million in the second quarter, up from $35 million in the first quarter. Net charge-offs are expected to climb to $24.6 million from $16.6 million in the first quarter. Other hits to earnings included an FDIC insurance special assessment of $6.2 million and an $900,000 pre-tax impairment charge on investments. Susquehanna plans to release earnings July 22. The bank's shares closed at $4.54, up 4 cents, on Nasdaq. Their 52-week high was $24.03. - Harold Brubaker

Law firm opens two offices

Cozen O'Connor, Philadelphia, said it was opening new Pennsylvania offices in Harrisburg and Wilkes-Barre. The Harrisburg office will concentrate on state and federal affairs with a special emphasis on tax, insurance regulatory, energy, environmental, and public utilities matters, the law firm said. Cozen O'Connor has 550 attorneys. - Roslyn Rudolph

New applicant for Pa. slots license

There's a new suitor for Pennsylvania's last license for a resort-style casino with as many as 500 slot machines. The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board said an investor group that includes the owners of a Berks County hotel applied for the license this week. Board officials will begin reviewing the application for the Crowne Plaza Reading Hotel in Wyomissing. A spokesman for the group would not disclose the investors' names, and a gaming board spokesman said he did not immediately have the information. - AP

Comcast adds Starz films to test

Comcast Corp., Philadelphia, says that movie selections from the Starz premium movie service will be part of a test to put more entertainment content on the Internet for paying Comcast cable-TV subscribers. The test of this online service, which has been called "TV Everywhere" or "On Demand Online" will begin this summer with about 5,000 customers. - Bob Fernandez

Daily Toronto-A.C. service planned

Passengers who want to fly between Atlantic City and Toronto will have another travel option starting in the fall. Canadian airline WestJet will offer daily flights between the cities from Oct. 22 through May. From Toronto, travelers can take WestJet planes to other major Canadian cities, including Montreal, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver. Initially, the service will be seasonal. But a spokeswoman for the South Jersey Transportation Authority, which operates Atlantic City International Airport, says the SJTA is confident there will be enough support to make it a year-round route. - AP

Elsewhere

GM, Chrysler want dealerships shut

General Motors and Chrysler are urging lawmakers to stop legislation that would prevent automakers from closing car dealerships that the dealers want to keep open, saying it would complicate their emergence from government-led bankruptcies. The companies are closing nearly 3,000 dealerships as part of their bankruptcies, but the moves angered lawmakers pushing measures to restore the shuttered dealerships. - AP

Citigroup's former CFO leaving

Citigroup Inc. said its former chief financial officer and current chairman of Citi Holdings, Gary Crittenden, 55, is leaving the company as part of the bank's latest shuffling of management and will become a managing director at the private equity firm Huntsman Gay Global Capital. Crittenden took over as chairman of newly created Citi Holdings in March after the bank separated some of its riskier assets from more traditional banking operations, which became known as Citicorp. Citigroup has been among the hardest hit banks by the credit crisis and the recession. Citigroup has received $45 billion in aid from the government since last fall. - AP