St. James' Gyrodyne to add properties; other business briefs

LONG ISLAND

Gyrodyne to add properties

The new chief executive of Gyrodyne Co. of America, a St. James-based real estate investment trust, Thursday said the company is looking to add properties to its portfolio by next year. The purchases will be funded by $98 million in damages the company received from New York State last summer in a lawsuit over Gyrodyne land the state had condemned, said Frederick Braun, the new president and CEO. He said the company will focus on purchases in the metropolitan area. Gyrodyne, a publicly traded REIT with a stock market value of $110 million, primarily invests in industrial and service-oriented buildings. On Long Island, it owns office property in St. James and Port Jefferson Station. Braun, who also serves as chairman of the Brookhaven Industrial Development Agency, was appointed head of the company in February. -- Lisa Du

NEW YORK

Yahoo to add 115 jobs in N.Y.

Yahoo Inc. said Thursday it will build new data and customer care centers in Lockport, in western New York State, later this year and add 115 new jobs. The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company said the expansion will provide additional capacity and customer care service for the company. It intends to create 115 new jobs across engineering, technology and customer care fields. The Internet company already has a data center in Lockport, which opened in 2010. A number of technology companies have put their data centers and other facilities near hydropower sites for access to the energy source.

AP wins copyright lawsuit

A company that relays excerpts of Internet news articles to its customers violates copyright laws, a Manhattan judge said Thursday in a decision that gave The Associated Press a victory in its attempts to protect its online news content. U.S. District Judge Denise Cote rejected claims by Meltwater U.S. Holdings Inc. and its Meltwater News Service, a 12-year-old electronic news clipping service, that its use of Web stories plucked from a scan of 162,000 news websites from more than 190 countries is a fair use of copyright-protected material. In a statement, Meltwater said it will appeal.

NATION

Sears sets CEO salary at $1

Sears Holding Corp. has signed a contract with Edward Lampert to keep him on as CEO of the company at a salary of $1 per year. A regulatory document filed this week shows the billionaire hedge fund manager will be paid an annual base salary of $1, but with the opportunity for a bonus of up to $2 million in cash or stock and up to $4.5 million in stock per year. A number of companies have given their top leaders a salary of $1 during tough times to demonstrate their commitment to a turnaround. Some are then also rewarded through performance-based bonuses to encourage results. Sears, which operates the Sears and Kmart chains, is trying to turn itself around after years of weak sales and a failure to entice new shoppers.

Index of leading indicators up

A measure of the U.S. economy's health over the next six months increased in February from January, a sign that growth could be improving. The Conference Board said Thursday its index of leading indicators rose 0.5 percent in February to 94.8. That followed an equal gain in January, which was revised higher. The gauge is designed to anticipate economic conditions three to six months out. The increase was also more broad-based, with eight of its 10 components rising. That compared with only five in January and six in December. A gain in housing permits, a longer manufacturing workweek and rising stock prices were among the elements that drove the index higher. -- AP