HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. — The operator of Sears and Kmart stores said today that it lost more money in the second quarter as it marked down items to clear shelves for fall merchandise.

The quarterly loss is the second straight for Sears Holdings and fourth in its last five quarters. The company cut 250 jobs and closed 29 stores during the second quarter to help cut costs.

The net loss for long-struggling Sears Holdings totaled $144 million, or $1.37 per share. That compares with a loss of $39 million, or 35 cents per share, last year.

Excluding one-time items, net loss totaled $1.13 per share.

ROUSEVILLE, Pa. — A tiny oil well in northwestern Pennsylvania has celebrated its 150th birthday as the world's oldest continually producing well.The Titusville Herald reports dozens of people gathered in Rouseville, about 70 miles north of Pittsburgh, to mark the occasion at McClintock Well No. 1 on Tuesday.Officials at the nearby Drake Well Museum say the former Quaker State oil company donated the well to the museum in 1955.The well was drilled on Aug. 16, 1861 and produced about 175 barrels a day before slowing to 50 barrels some years later. The well still produces about 40 barrels of oil a year.

HERSHEY — About 150 people picketed outside a distribution center for chocolate-maker Hershey to protest conditions for foreign students working warehouse jobs there.Students who attended Wednesday's protest organized by the National Guestworker Alliance say the program they're taking part in was pitched as a way to see America.But the students say they're isolated and left with little money after rent is deducted from their paychecks while they live in company housing. One joked with The Patriot-News of Harrisburg that he'd hoped to improve his language skills but English isn't among the five languages spoken in the warehouse.Hershey officials say the warehouse is run by a subcontractor and it is expected to treat workers fairly.

BRADDOCK — Pennsylvania Superior Court is considering a citizen group's appeal of a county judge's decision that cleared the way for the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center to demolish a hospital in a poorer suburb.An attorney for Save Our Community Hospitals told the court in Pittsburgh Tuesday that UPMC Braddock should be rebuilt, or other medical services provided to residents, many of whom don't own cars.UPMC attorney John McGinley Jr. denies UPMC violated citizens' rights or laws governing nonprofits when it closed the hospital in January 2010 because it was losing money. He says UPMC has pledged $3 million to obtain state redevelopment money, paid the borough $450,000 in lieu of lost taxes, and is spending $5 million to turn over the “shovel-ready” site to Allegheny County for redevelopment.

HARRISBURG — Officials from a suburban Philadelphia casino are set to appear before state gambling regulators to discuss a series of incidents involving children left unattended in its parking lot while adults gambled.KYW-AM reports officials at Parx Casino in Bensalem are scheduled to testify before the state Gaming Control Board today in Harrisburg.The board asked Parx last year to come up with a plan for dealing with a series of incidents in which children were left in cars, sometimes for hours.But the problem hasn’t stopped; two incidents were reported last month.