ATLANTA — The U.S. Small Business Administration reminds homeowners, renters, businesses and nonprofit organizations Nov. 9 is the deadline to submit disaster loan applications for damage caused by storms that occurred between July 16 to 30.

Residents and businesses in Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver and Butler counties, just to name a few, who were effected by flooding, are eligible to file for loans.

For more information, call 800-659-2955, between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, or send an e-mail to disastercustomerservice@sba.gov.

CRANBERRY TWP. — Altmeyer's Bed, Bath and Home, a 12-unit regional chain, is opening a new store this month in the Cranberry Mall on Route 19.Altmeyer's specializes in home furnishings including window treatments, bed and bath items, kitchen linens and home gifts.In a news release, Rod Altmeyer Sr. said, "We are very excited about this new outlet. It is located in the best shopping center in this affluent area, and we expect it to quickly become one of our better locations."He said, "This has been a very progressive year for us. We have moved and enlarged two of our older stores in Uniontown and Monroeville. Now the new Cranberry outlet will be an exciting new addition to our company."Altmeyer's has been in business in the Pittsburgh area since 1941. Founded by the late George Altmeyer, the company is still family owned.

Dr. Louis D. "Skip" Nichamin, medical director of the Laurel Eye Clinic in Brookville, recently returned from Mexico City where he was the first U.S. eye surgeon to do a revolutionary new surgical technique.Nichamin said he believes the new laser technology to be the first significant advancement in the treatment of cataract and implant surgery in 10 to 15 years.A femtosecond laser cuts into the eye and helps to remove the cataract.Nichamin said he hopes clinical trials will begin soon in the United States and the Laurel Eye Clinic will be one of the first sites in the country to offer this technology.The clinic has offices in Grove City and Butler.

Scrap Salvage & Surplus of Butler patented a mobile processing unit for heavy torching oversized metal scrap generated by steelmakers and other metal manufacturers.The unit, which began operating in 2005, reduces energy consumption and labor costs, and effectively eliminates 99.8 percent of airborne emissions generated by ferrous and non-ferrous metal torching in the traditional cutting process, according to the company.Michael Keith, company president, said the mobile unit is more efficient for scrap processing than standard stationary units because it travels over the materials. Scrap Salvage & Surplus helps metal manufacturers maintain environmental compliance by eliminating the emissions they would otherwise generate by heavy on-site torching.

CRANBERRY TWP — The U.S. Department of Labor filed suit against A-1 Mortgage to recover back wages and liquidate damages for 21 employees.A-1 Mortgage's sole corporate officer is Maria Makozy, and manager Gregory Makozy is named in the suit.The department's Wage and Hour Division reports it found the company violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by not paying its commissioned loan officers minimum wage for all the houses they worked, nor were they properly compensated for hours worked over the regular 40 hours per week. Record keeping violations also were found.John DuMont, district director of the Wage and Hour Division's Pittsburgh office, said in a news release this is the third time A-1 Mortgage has been investigated and found to have made the same violations.This suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

• Gov. Ed Rendell appointed Michael J. Dennehy Jr. of Gibsonia to the state's Uniform Construction Code Review and Advisory Council.