Tagged: WKAR

By Mark Bashore, WKAR Radio News

East Lansing, MI – East Lansing, MI
Mark Bashore, WKAR Radio News

There's been a sudden, but so far isolated, outbreak of stomach illness at Michigan State University.

School officials report about twenty students who dined at Shaw Hall recently, began getting sick overnight on Wednesday.

They have been treated at Sparrow Hospital in Lansing.

University officials have closed the Shaw Hall cafeteria until further notice.

Others remain open, but none are serving fresh produce.

By AP

Detroit, MI – Detroit, MI (AP)
March proved to be another dismal month for U.S. auto sales, as low consumer confidence and job insecurity kept buyers away from showrooms.

General Motors led the slide with a 45% U.S. sales plunge compared with a year earlier, while Ford reported a 41% drop.

Sales at Toyota and Chrysler both dropped 39%, while Honda reported a 36% decline.

Detroit-based GM sold a total of 155,334 light vehicles, while Ford sold a total of 131,102.

By AP

Detroit, MI – Detroit, MI (AP) - General Motors Corp.'s new chief executive says more of the automaker's plants could close as part of GM's effort to meet new, tougher requirements for government aid.

In his first press conference as CEO, Fritz Henderson said Tuesday that he expects the company would "need to take further measures" in terms of plant closures.

He's referring to plants beyond the five plants the company said it would shutter when it submitted a restructuring plan to the government last month.

By Rick Pluta, Michigan Public Radio Network

East Lansing, MI – East Lansing, MI (MPRN) - Governor Granholm is scheduled to meet Wednesday in Lansing with President Obama's auto recovery director, Edward Montgomery.

The governor says she will continue to press her case for more aid for the Detroit auto companies.

The governor says she still hopes all the Detroit car companies can avoid bankruptcy.

By Rob South, WKAR Radio News

East Lansing, MI – East Lansing, MI
Rob South, WKAR Radio News

After 10 hours of testimony and two hours of deliberation, the Lansing City Council failed to pass a resolution early Tuesday morning dealing with the Cadillac Club's Liquor License.

The Lansing Police Department wanted the council send a letter to the State Liquor Control Commission requesting that the club's Liquor License not be renewed after it expires at the end of April.

By AP

DETROIT (AP) – DETROIT (AP) - Rick Wagoner has stepped down as chairman and CEO of General Motors under pressure from the White House.

GM says in a statement today that president and chief operating officer Fritz Henderson is the Detroit automaker's new CEO.

Board member Kent Kresa has been named interim chairman of the GM board. The automaker says new directors will make up the majority of the board.

By Rick Pluta, Michigan Public Radio Network

Lansing, MI – Lansing, MI (MPRN) - Governor Granholm says General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner's resignation was necessary to win political support for the domestic automotive industry.

She appeared this morning on N-B-C's "Today" show to talk about the resignation. And she addressed the Obama administration's insistence that the Detroit carmakers need to do more restructuring.

By Rick Pluta / Kevin Lavery, Michigan Public Radio Network

East Lansing, MI – East Lansing, MI (MPRN/WKAR) - A union local leader says President Obama's two-month deadline for General Motors to come up with a new restructuring plan is a lifeline for the company.

Brian Fredline is the president of United Auto Workers Local 602.

The union represents workers at two Lansing-area GM plants.

Fredline says the plants he represents are state-of-the-art and environmentally friendly manufacturing facilities.

By Rick Pluta, Michigan Public Radio Network

East Lansing, MI – East Lansing, MI (MPRN) - Governor Granholm says the two-month deadline extended by President Obama to the Detroit car companies to complete reorg plans signals his faith in their future viability.

The governor says she was pleased to hear there's a strategy to create more demand for US-built cars and trucks.

She says government-backed vehicle warranties will help ensure buyers remain confident even if one or more of the car companies is forced into a managed bankruptcy.

By Laura Weber, Michigan Public Radio Network

East Lansing, MI – East Lansing, MI (MPRN) - U.S. Representative Pete Hoekstra announced Monday he will run for governor of Michigan in 2010.

Michigan Pubic Radio's Laura Weber has this report.

The Republican congressman distanced himself from the unpopular tenure of President Bush.

Hoekstra says he was not well liked by the administration after trying to gut the president's "No Child Left Behind" legislation.

Hoekstra says he's a maverick within the G-O-P.

By AP

LANSING, Mich. (AP) – LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Seventy-two Michigan lawmakers, including 34 Democrats, are asking Gov. Jennifer Granholm to reconsider an order slowing down the approval of proposed coal-fired electric plants.

Democratic House Speaker Andy Dillon, Republican Minority Leader Kevin Elsenheimer and others say thousands of new construction jobs promised under a 2008 energy law shouldn't be stalled. Granholm says she did NOT issue a moratorium against new coal plants.

By AP

Lansing, MI – Lansing, MI (AP)

Michigan is expected to get $8.6 million in federal stimulus money to expand services offered at community health centers.

The plans for investment were announced Friday by President Barack Obama's administration.

The funds will be distributed to 29 federally qualified health centers in Michigan.

The health centers will use the money over the next two years to create or retain about 150 health center jobs and to provide care for nearly 54,000 additional patients.

By Rick Pluta, Michigan Public Radio Network

East Lansing, MI – Rick Pluta, Michigan Public Radio Network
East Lansing, MI

Governor Granholm says she is ready to approve permits for utilities that get federal grants to build coal-fired power plants that store carbon gasses below ground.

The governor ordered new coal plant permits to be delayed while environmental regulators review the requests.

By AP

Detroit, MI – Detroit, MI (AP)

A person briefed on the government's efforts to save Chrysler LLC and General Motors Corp. says the Obama administration is likely to require further concessions from the companies and their stakeholders in exchange for more aid.

The requirements could go beyond concessions outlined in the terms of the first government loans given to the automakers by the Bush administration, according to the person, who did not want to be identified because the administration's plans have not been revealed.

By Rick Pluta, Michigan Public Radio Network

Lansing, MI – Lansing, MI (MPRN) - A state panel is examining the feasibility of locating electricity-generating windmills off Michigan's Great Lakes shoreline.

The Michigan Wind Energy Council is part of Governor Granholm's plan to reduce the state's reliance on fossil fuels, and develop an alternative energy industry.

Rich Vanderveen is a commission member who runs a wind power company in northern Michigan.

By Rick Pluta, Michigan Public Radio Network

Lansing, MI – Democrats at the state Capitol are calling for some up-front financial help for automotive suppliers that consolidate their operations in Michigan.

There are about five thousand automotive suppliers in the US.

And state House Speaker Andy Dillon says he expects about half of them will be downsizing and combining their operations in the coming year.

He says up front tax breaks could convince them to move operations from other states to Michigan.

By Scott Pohl, WKAR Radio News

EAST LANSING, MI – Listen during the week of April 6 to hear WKAR's Scott Pohl report on Jack Newman, the MSU golfer who has qualified to play in the 2009 Masters Tournament.

By Rick Pluta, Michigan Public Radio Network

East Lansing, MI – East Lansing, MI (Rick Pluta, MPRN)

State lawmakers have taken a first step toward cutting the paychecks of elected officials.

The state Senate approved the recommendations of a salary commission that elected officials pay and be reduced by 10%.

Republican Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop said it s necessary for elected officials to lead by example during the budget crisis.

By AP

Detroit, MI – Detroit, MI
AP

A person familiar with the numbers says about 7,500 General Motors Corp.
hourly workers have signed up to take buyout and early retirement offers.

That's about 12% of the company's U.S. hourly work force of 62,400.

The person says most of the workers took early retirement options and few took buyouts to leave the company.

The person did not want to be identified because the number has not been released publicly.

By Rick Pluta, Michigan Public Radio Network