CHARLOTTE -- Henry Crocker, area developer for the Charlotte and Asheville markets, will conduct a Quiznos ownership seminar at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Marriott Executive Park, 5700 Westpark Drive. Anyone interested in becoming a Quiznos franchise owner is welcome to attend.

Topics include the current available opportunities. The Charlotte and Asheville markets cover 27 counties, including York County. The program is free, but seating is limited. Interested individuals should contact Henry Crocker at hcrocker@quiznos.com or (803) 417-3332 to reserve a seat.

York after hours event on Thursday

YORK -- The Greater York Chamber of Commerce's Business After Hours will be hosted by Bradford & Bradford, P.A. from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday at 4 E. Liberty St. Light refreshments will be served.

York Electric annual meeting Saturday

YORK -- The York Electric Co-op will elect new trustees and conduct its annual business meeting Saturday at its York office.

Registration and voting will begin at 8:30 a.m. Saturday with a business meeting at noon. The meeting will be at the York Electric headquarters at 1385 E. Alexander Love Highway in York. Those attending will receive a $25 credit towards their electric bill. Attendees should bring a photo ID and registration postcard mailed last month to the meeting.

The following individuals have been nominated as candidates for the board of trustees: District 1, Robert Edwards of Fort Mill and Tom Settlemrye of Fort Mill; District 2, Jack Cornwell of Rock Hill and Dale Stanley of Rock Hill; District 5, Poinzettia Stephens of Rock Hill and Carolyn Hicks Boyd of Rock Hill. Trustees will be elected to three-year terms.

In addition to the business meeting and elections, live bluegrass music, door prizes, drawings and food will be included during the event.

For details, visit the Web site www.yorkelectric.net or call 684-4248.

Chrysler offers buyers $2.99 gas incentive

DETROIT -- Chrysler announced a new incentive program this week that will allow customers to lock in the price of gasoline at $2.99 a gallon for three years when purchasing most of the automaker's new vehicles.

The automaker and its truck-heavy lineup have been hit hard as the price of gasoline has skyrocketed and buyers have shifted away from trucks to more fuel-efficient cars.

Chrysler executives say the new program is aimed at giving customers greater peace of mind regarding the volatility of gas prices -- a major issue customers are bringing up to dealers across the country.

The so-called Let's Refuel America campaign will be available at Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep dealers beginning today through June 2.

It includes most of the automaker's vehicles, including its minivans, Dodge Ram pickup and Jeep Grand Cherokee SUV.

Fannie Mae sees steep home-price declines

WASHINGTON -- The steeper slide in home prices is accelerating the pace of foreclosures, Fannie Mae said Tuesday as it outlined plans for shoring up its finances after a $2.2 billion first quarter loss.

While the nation's largest buyer of home loans will slice its dividend and attempt to raise $6 billion, mostly by issuing new shares, federal regulators loosened Fannie's capital requirements as the government looks for ways to bolster the housing market.

Moody's Investors Service downgraded the company's financial strength rating because of the potential for further losses from soured home loans over the next two years, but investors pushed Fannie's shares higher, in anticipation of the bigger role Fannie will play in the mortgage market.

Walt Disney's profit grows to $1.1 billion

LOS ANGELES -- Strong growth in its media networks, film studios and theme parks lifted Walt Disney's second-quarter net profit 22 percent from a year ago, the company said Tuesday.

Disney said it earned $1.13 billion, or 58 cents per share, in the quarter that ended March 29, compared with $931 million, or 44 cents per share, a year earlier.

Revenue for the period grew 10 percent to $8.71 billion.

The results beat Wall Street estimates.

Fed auctions $75 billion to troubled banks

WASHINGTON -- Battling to relieve stressed credit markets, the Federal Reserve said Tuesday it has provided a total of $435 billion in short-term loans to squeezed banks since December to help them overcome credit problems.

The central bank announced the results of its most recent auction -- $75 billion in short-term loans -- the 11th such auction since the program started in December.

It's part of an ongoing effort by the Fed to help ease the credit crunch, which erupted last August, intensified in December and January and took another turn for the worst in March.