Germany says GM must finance Opel restructuring
BERLIN (AP) - German Economy Minister Rainer Bruederle said Wednesday he told General Motors Co. officials at a meeting in Berlin that their company has to be responsible for paying for the restructuring of subsidiary Opel. GM last week called off the planned sale of Germany-based Opel to car parts maker Magna and Russian lender Sberbank. Chancellor Angela Merkel favored that deal to save jobs. Merkel now says she wants GM to present a restructuring plan that gives Opel Europe and the German sites the chance of a good future. Following meetings with new Opel and Vauxhall head Nick Reilly and GM official John Smith, Bruederle said he reiterated Merkel's message that GM needs to pay for the bulk of the restructuring. Bruederle said the restructuring is expected to cost some $4.96 billion.
BEAUMONT-FLU HOT LINE
Beaumont Hospitals start 24-hour swine flu center
ROYAL OAK, Mich. (AP) - The Beaumont Hospitals group has started a 24-hour nurse-staffed hot line for people with questions about swine flu. The suburban Detroit hospital chain says its H1N1 Call Center will be staffed around the clock. It says some callers may get voice mail at peak times, but the calls will be returned. Beaumont says the line is designed to give accurate information about flu symptoms and when and where to seek medical care. The center is reachable at 888-375-H1N1. Beaumont also is holding a live Web chat on swine flu next Wednesday from 2-3 p.m. at its Internet site, www.beaumonthospitals.com. State health officials said Monday that 28 Michigan residents have died and 801 have been hospitalized for the flu since Sept. 1.
STATE BUDGETS
Report: 10 states face looming budget disasters
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - California's ongoing fiscal crisis has attracted national attention, but a study warns that nine other states are barreling toward similar economic disaster. A report released Wednesday by the Pew Center on the States says Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island and Wisconsin also are at risk of fiscal calamity. That could mean higher taxes, more layoffs of government employees, increasingly crowded classrooms and fewer services in states that account for more than one-third of America's population and economic output. Most of the states face rising unemployment and high home foreclosure rates, and their revenues have dropped by double-digit percentages. The analysis urges lawmakers and governors to take quick action to prevent economic catastrophe.
WORKER ELECTROCUTED-MICH
DTE worker is electrocuted at utility substation
DETROIT (AP) - A DTE Energy Co. worker has been electrocuted while working at a company substation on Detroit's northwest side. DTE spokesman John Austerberry says the employee came in contact with some electrical equipment about 9 a.m. Wednesday and was taken to Sinai Grace Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The victim's name hasn't been release. Austerberry says the company will conduct an investigation and has notified state workplace safety officials.
DETROIT ORCHESTRA-SLATKIN
Conductor Slatkin to skip November DSO concerts
DETROIT (AP) - Renowned conductor Leonard Slatkin will skip appearances this month with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra as he recovers from a heart attack. The Detroit News reported Wednesday that the 65-year-old Slatkin was ordered to sit out Nov. 19-21 and Nov. 27-29 concerts at Orchestra Hall. American conductor Andrew Grams will appear at the DSO's Nov. 19-21 concerts. Norwegian conductor Arild Remmereit will lead the Nov. 27-29 concerts. Slatkin experienced chest discomfort during a Nov. 1 concert with the Rotterdam Philharmonic in the Netherlands. Doctors inserted two stents to permit normal flow of blood to his heart. He withdrew from scheduled concerts in Prague and Pittsburgh. Manager R. Douglas Sheldon says doctors want Slatkin to rest until early December. Slatkin is scheduled to conduct Holst's "The Planets" on Dec. 10-13 in Detroit.
WOOD ETHANOL SUPPLY
Study seeks steady supply for Mich. ethanol plant
KINROSS TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) - Researchers from Michigan State and Michigan Technological universities are seeking to ensure a steady and sustainable supply of material for the state's first wood-based ethanol plant. Funding comes from a $2 million grant the Michigan Economic Development Corp. made in 2008 to Lebanon, N.H.-based Mascoma Corp. Mascoma and Marquette-based J.M. Longyear LLC formed Frontier Renewable Resources to operate the plant planned for Chippewa County's Kinross Township. It's about 15 miles southwest of Sault Ste. Marie in the eastern Upper Peninsula. Michigan State forest biomass coordinator Raymond Miller says a goal is to make sure the material used to supply the plant is harvested in an efficient and renewable way.
GHOSTBUSTERS DENIED
Late night cemetery stay denied by local board
JACKSON, Mich. (AP) - A mid-Michigan cemetery has been ruled off-limits to ghost hunters looking into the unsolved murders of four people nearly 126 years ago. The Jackson Citizen Patriot reports Randy Waltz and Denise Gowen-Krueger failed to get permission from officials in Jackson County's Spring Arbor Township to spend five hours Nov. 21 to Nov. 22 at the Crouch Cemetery, about 75 miles west of Detroit. The board consulted with police and looked at township ordinances before denying the request Monday. It cited past noise, parking issues and neighbors' complaints about inappropriate behavior. Buried in the cemetery are Jacob Crouch, his daughter, her husband and a man who was visiting the family when all were shot to death between Nov. 21 and Nov. 22 in 1883. --- Information from: Jackson Citizen Patriot, http://www.mlive.com/jackson
MURAL PUNISHMENT
Mich. court reverses conviction of mural artist
LANSING, Mich. (AP) - The Michigan Court of Appeals has reversed the conviction of a Detroit-area artist who got into trouble over a mural on the exterior wall of his studio. Roseville artist Ed Stross' mural was a take on Michelangelo's "Creation of Man." It depicted Eve with a bare breast and had the word "love" written on it. Roseville officials who protested the mural said Stross wasn't supposed to use lettering, and an ordinance prohibits depicting genitalia. The appeals court released an opinion Wednesday saying a breast doesn't fall under the definition of genitalia. The court ordered a new trial because it was unclear whether the jury convicted Stross of writing the word "love" or painting the breast. Stross' 30-day jail sentence is void for now.
IOWA-HUNTING ACCIDENT
Man wounded in hunting accident
BELLE PLAINE, Iowa (AP) - The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is reporting that a Michigan man has been injured in a hunting accident in Tama County. According to authorities, Adam Post of Howell, Mich., on Wednesday was taken to Mercy Hospital in Cedar Rapids after being struck with shotgun pellets in the face and chest. The shot was fired by 56-year-old Leas Hill of Salem, Va. The accident occurred near Belle Plaine. Investigators say the two had taken a break from hunting for lunch when Hill closed the action on a double-barrel shotgun. The shotgun fired, with pellets striking a nearby truck and ricocheting to strike the 33-year-old Post. Conservation Officer Brett Reece says the accident is a reminder to hunters to always make sure their firearm in pointed in a safe direction at all times.
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