PARKER — Bob Sterrett has announced his retirement from the Central Electric Cooperative board of directors.

He has represented Venango County for 40 years as a voting delegate for Allegheny Electric Cooperative.

His position will be filled by an election of the members at the co-op's 2013 annual meeting on Aug. 23 at Whitehall Camp and Conference Center in Emlenton.

ADAMS TWP — The McGinnis Sisters special food store off Route 228 will have an open house from noon to 3 p.m. Saturday.This “Taste of the Holidays” event will have food experts to offer tips and recipe ideas for the holidays.At 12:30 p.m. there will be a demonstration on how to carve a standing rib roast.

DETROIT — Superstorm Sandy gave an extra boost to already strong U.S. auto sales last month, although carmakers warned that uncertainty over the “fiscal cliff” could undo some of those gains.Most major companies, from Toyota to Chrysler, posted impressive increases from a year earlier. Only General Motors was left struggling to explain its 3-percent sales gain and large inventory of unsold trucks.The storm added 20,000 to 30,000 sales industry wide in November, mostly from people who planned to buy cars during the October storm but had to delay their purchases, Ford estimated. People who need to replace storm-damaged vehicles are expected to drive sales for several more months. GM estimates that 50,000 to 100,000 vehicles will eventually need to be replaced.

NEW YORK (AP) — Former presidential candidate and Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney is rejoining Marriott International's board of directors.He's held the post with the hotel chain twice before. The first time was from 1993 to 2002, when he left to campaign for governor of Massachusetts, and from 2009 to 2011, when he left to start his campaign for the presidency.It's the first job announcement Romney has made since he lost the November election to President Barack Obama. Romney has kept a low profile since the election.Romney has been connected to the Marriott dynasty all of his life. He was named after J.W. Marriott. Romney's full name is Willard Mitt Romney and Marriott's was John Willard Marriott.