CRANBERRY TWP — Courtyard Pittsburgh North/Cranberry Woods opened its 125-room hotel on Friday.

Each room has complimentary in-room high-speed Internet. Some suites offer refrigerators and microwave ovens, ideal for extended stays.

Throughout the hotel, guests can connect to Wi-Fi.

Located at 150 Cranberry Woods Drive in the Cranberry Woods business Park, the hotel is neighbor to MSA and Westinghouse Electric.

It also has a restaurant, The Bistro, offering casual, flexible seating.

The hotel is developed by Winegardner & Hammons of Cincinnati and Eagle Realty Group.

Store accepts donations of shoesCENTER TWP — Shoe Sensation in the Clearview Mall is accepting donations of new or worn shoes on behalf of Soles4Souls, which helps people in need around the world.Until Dec. 17, Shoe Sensation will collect these shoes for Soles4Souls’ global relief effort. Individuals making a donation will get 20 percent off shoes bought at the store.

CANDLE group gets national honorGreatNonprofits has awarded the Community Action Network for Drug-Free Lifestyle Empowerment Inc. (CANDLE Inc.) of Butler the prestigious 2012 Top-Rated Non-Profit Award.“We are excited to receive this national honor,” said CANDLE executive director Norma Norris in a news release.CANDLE is a nonprofit that started the grassroots Reality Tour Drug Prevention Program, an anti-drug educational program.CANDLE was founded in 2004 to provide drug and alcohol prevention programs at the community level.GreatNonprofits of Palo Alto, Calif., is the leading provider of nonprofit user reviews.

Bank speeds up paying dividendsWARREN, Pa. — Northwest Bancshares has declared a quarterly cash dividend of 12 cents per share for the first quarter of 2013 and is accelerating its payment into the fourth quarter of 2012.The cash dividend is payable on Dec. 24 to shareholders of record as of Dec. 17.In making this announcement, William J. Wagner, president and CEO, noted, “Considering current deficit reduction negotiations and potential increases in federal income tax rates on dividends next year, we felt it would be beneficial to our shareholders to accelerate the dividend payment that normally would have been received in February 2013.”The bank has offices in Butler County.

Cranberry man leads gas groupPITTSBURGH — A Cranberry Township man has been re-elected chairman of the Marcellus Shale Coalition.Dave Spigelmyer, Chesapeake Energy Corporation vice president of government affairs, will be chair again.Randy Albert, chief operating officer, gas operations, CONSOL Energy; Scott Roy, vice president, government and regulatory affairs, Range Resources Corp; and John Mollenkopf, senior vice president and chief operating officer, MarkWest Energy Partners, were re-elected as vice chair, treasurer and secretary, respectively.Spigelmyer said in a news release, “As an organization, we remain committed to engaging communities and key stakeholders across the region in a fact-based dialogue about responsible natural gas development and ensuring we have the rigor in our rules and laws to keep our industry world-class in environmental compliance.”