The News Journal from Wilmington, Delaware • Page 1

ftk I I BB Get breaking news SEE on your cell phone Text DELNEWS to 44636 to get breaking local news as It happens. ci TIlhieNewsl umai www.delawareonline.com 75tf FINAL EDITION TUESDAY June 2, 2009 U.S. government now has majority stake in General Motors to tune of $50 billion Nationally, GM plans to cut 21,000 people: For every worker cut, 10 more jobs could fall Mawe's aioto imwsito'jf wan iiiii wi.i ii myfajaa. Boxwood one of 14 facilities that will close -uJrl rV '4' By ANDREW EDER The News Journal For generations, General Motors Corp. provided well-paying jobs and retirement security to thousands of workers at its Boxwood Road assembly plant near Newport.

The 62-year-old factory, together with Chrysler's now-closed assembly plant in Newark, formed the backbone 62 of one of the state signature industries the daily grind of turning steel, plastic and glass into finished automobiles. On Monday, GM killed the last auto plant in Delaware. As it entered into a historic bankruptcy filing, GM said the local plant was one of 14 to be closed Years that Boxwood Road was in operation 545 Employees remaining at The News JournalRON SOUMAN Autoworkers at GM's Boxwood Road assembly plant near Newport put the finishing touches on Pontiac Solstice coupes on Monday, after hearing the plant will close forever in July. facility who will lose jobs 5,200 Number of as the automaker shrinks its production footprint and cuts costs in a bid to return to profitability. The company's monumental restructuring Plants affected by the bankruptcy GM announced today fourteen plants will be closed, State's economy will feel shock, but decline has been ongoing including Boxwood Road in Delaware, and three idled.

autoworkers in Delaware To close 0 Idled will displace 21,000 GM employees, virtually wipe out $29 billion in debt to bondholders and eliminate 2,100 dealerships across the country. A new firm to in 1985 727 Expected day of closing MA. NY. Michigan i emerge from Chapter 11 will have more than 70 percent of its stock 4 IND. 0HM DEL VA.

UENN. FLA. dence rebounding, economists said. Although the Obama administration managed to hold off the bankruptcy for several months until the economy was in a better position to absorb it, the nation is still in a recession, Vitner said. What's more, the auto industry won't be the white knight it was during previous recessions, when it led the nation to recovery, including during the most recent recession in 2001.

"It's a real hurdle for the economy on the way to recovery," Vitner said. "The message for America is: There are no easy solutions." Delaware is certain to feel the sting of the loss of GM's Boxwood Road assembly plant, which the state said was a $182 million economic engine. Although Delaware will experience less anguish than communities in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana, the state's auto manufacturing sector has evaporated in less than a year. See ECONOMY -A6 By MAUREEN MILF0RD The News Journal Back in the days of Cadillac tail-fins, the wisdom was: "What's good for GM is good for the country." Now that GM has declared bankruptcy, some people are asking: Is what's bad for GM bad for the country? "I think the saying is truer today than many people realize. GM is a good metaphor for the economy -both are large and complex and awfully hard to fix.

It's going to be painful," said Mark Vitner, senior economist at Wachovia Corp. in Charlotte, N.C. Economists agreed Monday that the bankruptcy filing of the once-mighty General Motors Corp. will be a blow to the American economy. The filing comes at the same time the economy was starting to show some glimmers of hope, with the rate of decline slowing and consumer confi Service Parts Operations Assembly 4 1 Orion, Mich 'Idled (Sept 2009); 2 Pontiac, Close (Oct.

2009) 3 Spring Hill, Idled (Nov. 2009) 4 Boxwood Road: Close (July 2009) Stamping 5 Grand Rapids, Close (June 2009) 6 Indianapolis: Close (Dec. 2011) 7 Mansfield, Ohio: Close (June 2010) 8 Pontiac, Idled (Dec. 2010) Powertrain 9 Livonia, Close (June 2010) Source: General Motors owned by the U.S. and Canadian governments.

The Boxwood Road factory is likely to be closed no later than July 27, said John Raut, a spokesman for the GM plant. The factory will be idle from June 8 to July 13 as part of previously scheduled production cuts. That means the 545 employees at Boxwood Road will build only a handful more of the Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky roadsters, cars whose decline in sales amid the recession helped speed the plant's demise. "This is purely a discretionary product that people just aren't buying," Tim Lee, GM's vice president for North American manufacturing, said in a conference call with reporters Monday. See BOXWOOD -A6 DELAWARE ONUNE.COM Visit for an interactive timeline, reaction videos.

10 Flint, Close (Dec. 2010) 11 Willow Run, Close (Dec. 2010) 12 Parma, Ohio: Close (Dec. 2010) Fredericksburg, Close (Dec. 2010) 14 Massena, N.Y.: Closed (May 2009) Warehousing Parts Distribution Centers 15 Boston: Close (Dec.

3L 2009) 16 Jacksonville, Close (Dec. 3L 2009) 17 Columbus, Ohio: Close (Dec 3L 2009) The News JoumalDAN HARROW DID YOU WORK FOR GM? Share your story and photos with THE BEST OF TIMES, WORST OF TIMES A history of GM's plant on Boxwood Road. A6 WHAT CHRYSLER RETRAINING MONEY? Automaker's deal with Del. didn't materialize. A7 LOTS OF SPACE, LOTS OF POTENTIAL Boxwood site could host a number of things.

A7 THE BUYERS AND SELLERS SPEAK Dealers, customers stay optimistic about GM. A8 Business Editor Doug Williams at 324-2773 or dwilliamsdeiawareonline.com. Wilmington, NCCo divert federal funds for public safety jobs into social work of his members from being laid off when the fiscal year starts July 1. The city's budget also includes 17 police layoffs. "I simply don't understand how the city's top priority wouldn't be its police and firefighters," he said.

Michael Lawson, vice president of the police union, called the city's decision "crazy." "We had an officer-involved shooting and another shooting this weekend and it's not See FUNDS A2 budget-cutting measures learned of the news Monday at New Castle County police headquarters, where elected officials announced $11 million from the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program. The grant money was made possible by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Wilmington firefighters' union President Kevin Turner said he was "flabbergasted" to learn the money was available to the city and that it is not being used to prevent eight By ADAM TAYLOR and ANGIE BASIOUNY The News Journal MINQUADALE The city of Wilmington and New Castle County are getting more than $1.5 million each in federal stimulus money designed to preserve public safety jobs, but neither government will use the cash to keep officers on the force. Instead, officials in Wilmington Mayor James M. Baker's administration chose to use the bulk of its grant for salaries and equipment for a program in which social workers partner with police and the city's network of anti-crime surveillance cameras.

The county will spend its $1.6 million on the same things it typically uses federal grant money for: problem-solving, overtime, equipment and training. Leaders of the police and firefighters unions who have been threatened with layoffs if they don't cooperate with government Firefighters, police facing layoffs are surprised by moves Love is in the Air 1 1 r-i i a ri i r- a ri-r -rrv rrTi INDEX TODAY'S WEATHER Details on A4 iNtW lUAln tAbtK I BKlNb I Itx that nmP Call Today! FRESH OFFENSE TO 76ERSa rH Torek Amid toi Marketplace fttikt Trust Performance Integrity Winner 2009 BBB of Delaware BBB 8163 Wilmington: Partly cloudy. West wind 10 mph. v. 1 DELAWAREHEALTH CITY PLANNING WITH HEALTHY LIVING IN MIND Business A8 Classified C5 Comics B4 Crossword B6 Dear Abby B6 Editorial A10 Letters A10 Lotteries B3 Movies B7 Obituaries B10 Police report B3 Scoreboard C4 Sports CI Stocks A9 TV listings B6 American BETTER KNOW THE BEES Zoo buzzing over new exhibit B5 The News Journal Co.

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