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“Okemos senior killed in car crash touched lives in many circles - Detroit Free Press” plus 4 more

“Okemos senior killed in car crash touched lives in many circles - Detroit Free Press” plus 4 more

Okemos senior killed in car crash touched lives in many circles - Detroit Free Press

Posted: 09 Oct 2009 06:54 AM PDT

OKEMOS -- Alex Baker is in goal for the Okemos water polo team when the opposing team makes a rush and Baker, a first-year player, begins to panic.

"Adam, I'm going to need you right here," Baker says. "They're going to take a tough shot on goal, and you're going to be there with me."

Baker isn't talking to a defenseman or another teammate. He is speaking to Adam Nevells, who had been Okemos' goalie until the night of Sept. 4, the night he died in an auto accident.

Nevells, a senior, had dropped off classmate Dan Jorgensen in the Okemos parking lot late that night so Jorgensen could get his car and follow him to another classmate's home.

Nevells pulled out onto Jolly Road when Jorgensen was startled by a thunderous crash.

"I heard it and got to him as soon as I could," Jorgensen said. "The driver's side was pushed in considerably. All I remember seeing was his hand hanging out the window."

Police say Nevells drove his car into the path of an oncoming pickup truck, but they have offered few other details.

"We don't know much," said Elaine Nevells, Adam's mother. "The investigation is still ongoing."

So is the pain, and it is shared by a wide variety of students and school officials at Okemos.

A renaissance man

Adam Nevells was not easily defined. He intersected with every type of student imaginable.

He was captain of the water polo team and the wrestling team, but you couldn't classify him as simply a jock.

He was also a member of the marching band and the orchestra band, but he wasn't a band geek.

"I don't think anybody looked at him funny because he was part of the band," band director Mark Stice said. "Not saying that it's the geek squad or anything, but there tends to be that stigma that goes around with it. Adam was one of those kids who showed you can be a serious athlete and be a part of the fine arts and do well at all of it. He was a huge influence on a lot of our younger kids."

Nevells helped film school events for the Okemos television channel, but he wasn't an audio/visual nerd.



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New Regional Drive Tire from Continental - Biloxi Sun Herald

Posted: 09 Oct 2009 07:08 AM PDT

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FORT MILL, S.C., Oct. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Capitalizing on its success in the regional highway segment, Continental Tire North America, Inc. ("Continental") has introduced the HDR1® drive tire for sales in the North American market.

The HDR1® (Heavy Drive Regional) integrates tire technologies learned from Continental's expertise in the demanding regional application, including features developed to combat wear and tear often created by rough, unpredictable road conditions. The tire features a proven open shoulder design which offers excellent wet and dry traction. For regional haul trucks that need a highly resilient tire with long mileage capabilities, the HDR1® offers 28/32nds of tread depth. The tire also maintains a resistance to irregular wear and includes a robust cut- and chip-resistant compound for long, even wear and durability.

The HDR1® also features Continental's stone ejection technologies which reduce the retention of stones and penetrations to the tire's casing. The stone bumpers eject small stones or prevent them from reaching the bottom of the groove, where premature casing damage can start. Even with the addition of the bumpers, the groove bottom of the HDR1® offers sufficient passage for water, ice and snow. Reducing stone damage can increase the tire's longevity and its potential for retreading, a major concern for today's cost-conscious fleets.

"The Continental HDR1® is a highly robust tire that can withstand the demanding traffic of regional operations, while still providing excellent handling and all-weather suitability," said Clif Armstrong, director of marketing for Continental commercial vehicle tires - The Americas.

The HDR1® can be used as an all-position tire and is available in the 11R22.5, 11R24.5, 275/80R22.5 and 285/75R24.5 sizes. For more information, visit www.continental-truck.com.

With sales exceeding euro 24 billion in 2008, the Continental Corporation is one of the top automotive suppliers worldwide. As a supplier of brake systems, systems and components for the powertrain and chassis, instrumentation, infotainment solutions, vehicle electronics, tires and technical elastomers, the corporation contributes towards enhanced driving safety and protection of the global climate. Continental is also a competent partner in networked automobile communication. The corporation currently employs approximately 130,000 at nearly 190 locations in 35 countries.

Online media database: www.mediacenter.continental-corporation.com

Continental Tire North America Media Site: www.ctnamedia.com

SOURCE Continental Tire North America, Inc.

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General Motors says China sales set new record - Wichita Falls Times Record News

Posted: 09 Oct 2009 06:54 AM PDT

BEIJING (AP) — General Motors Co. said Friday it set a sales record in China in September and total sales for the first nine months of the year rose 55 percent to nearly 1.3 million vehicles.

GM and other global automakers are looking to China's fast-growing market to drive sales amid slack demand elsewhere. China's monthly sales have surpassed those of United States for all but but two months this year.

GM and its Chinese joint-venture partners sold a total of 181,148 vehicles in September, the company said. It gave no comparative year-earlier figure.

"Sales continue to surpass forecasts as nearly all market segments experience growth," said GM China Group President Kevin Wale in a statement.

First-time buyers in smaller Chinese cities were an important force driving sales, Wale said.

Beijing has helped to boost auto sales with tax cuts and subsidies for drivers to shift to cleaner, more fuel-efficient cars. Most of that aid has gone to Chinese makers of smaller cars, though foreign producers also see sales rising.

GM said September sales by its flagship joint venture, Shanghai GM, set a monthly record of 71,566 vehicles, while total sales for the first nine months of the year rose 40.2 percent from a year earlier.

SAIC-GM-Wuling, GM's mini-commercial vehicle joint venture, sold 100,635 vehicles in September, boosting total sales for the first nine months by 64.5 percent to 801,869 units.

GM's joint venture with Chinese truck maker FAW, FAW-GM Light Duty Commercial Vehicle Co. Ltd., sold 8,780 light-duty trucks and vans in September.



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Paumac Tubing moving to Marysville - Port Huron Times-Herald

Posted: 09 Oct 2009 05:57 AM PDT

Paumac Tubing LLC and its 55 employees are moving out of the Port Huron industrial park and into a former Blue Water Automotive site in Marysville early next year.

Michelene Distelrath, Paumac controller, said the company bought the facility at 315 Cuttle Road this summer and plans to move into it in March.

"We were looking at obviously space, and basically a facility that we could make more conducive to our business," she said. "The opportunity came up where real estate is fairly cheap."

The company does bend tubing for heavy trucks and buses.

While Paumac's departure is a hit to the city of Port Huron, Doug Alexander, executive director of the Economic Development Alliance of St. Clair County, said it's a win for the Blue Water Area.

"The company's growing, and they're moving into a larger facility, so it's good news for the whole community if you look beyond the bounds of one jurisdiction," he said.

Alexander would not disclose if any other businesses are looking to leave or move into the park.

"There are always people we're working with that are in danger of shutting down or leaving. On the other side of that, there are always opportunities we're working on to bring new people to the park," he said.

He said nine of the about 40 buildings in the park are vacant.

Distelrath said they looked at several sites inside and outside the park.

The price of the facility, location, square footage and layout were major factors in choosing the site, she said.

The company occupies about 50,000 square feet in the triplex on Beard Street. The new location is about 60,000 square feet.

Distelrath said there are no plans to expand the business, but the company is taking steps to bring employees back who had been laid off.

"Obviously at the end of 2008, we had to do a reduction in our work force just because of the economy, but business has picked up so we're calling some employees back," she said, adding the company has employed up to 81 people.

Paumac also will renovate the facility to allow for more efficient operations.

The Marysville City Council recently approved a 12-year Industrial Facilities Plant Rehabilitation Certificate, which will freeze the facility's current taxable value at $652,213 for 12 years.



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Ron Ceridono’s 1931 Ford Model A pickup - Kauai Garden Island News

Posted: 09 Oct 2009 04:52 AM PDT

"When I was five years old growing up in the working class neighborhood of Richmond, Calif., I fell in love with hot rods and was influenced by car guys all over the neighborhood," Kaua'i resident Ron Ceridono said.

One guy that lived across the street from him had a 1941 Chevy with a split manifold, glass packs and dual pipes that could be heard a mile away.

"I was so excited about those pipes that my dad took my pedal car down to the Sante Fe Railroad yard where he worked and put dual brass exhaust pipes on it for me," Ceridono said.

From this early impression of building hot rods, Ceridono gravitated toward the world of the mechanical and later became an automotive teacher, an author of books and eventually the senior editor of a national magazine.

"My first car was a 1950 Chrysler that my dad gave to me when I was 16 years old. It looked like a big round jelly bean. I think Dad gave it to me because he knew it was worn out and wouldn't go very fast," Ceridono said.

While growing up in the San Francisco Bay area, Ceridono had a succession of hundred-dollar cars that he would fix up, drive around and then sell. After finalizing the mechanical part of a car, Ceridono drove them over to Spray Craft in Oakland for a $19.95 paint job.

"Spray Craft was a paint shop where you could get the worst enamel paint job you ever saw in your life. I'll never forget this one time my buddy and I took in a 1954 Ford over there to get it sprayed and they literally knocked the bugs off during the prep work," Ceridono said.

A hearty laugh erupted at this memory as Ceridono continued, "The drying booth had around 40,000 light bulbs in it and when they closed the door that little room got so hot the enamel was completely dry when they rolled it out the other side."

When the car emerged from the room the windows usually had overspray on them but for a little more money you could get the deluxe paint job and they would mask off the windows, he said.

"The paint stayed shiny for about six months until it would just gradually sort of chip away," he said.

Ceridono said he picked up his 1931 Ford Model A pickup around 1965 from a high school buddy who lost interest in it and needed an engine for his 1956 Chevy. He swapped a spare small block engine that he had for it and has kept the Ford classic in his collection ever since.

The '31 Model A is kind of an unusual car because it was made in the last months of production and the roof was solid metal, not a soft-covered cloth top. The pickup bed is also longer and wider than a standard Model A.

Ceridono's truck has been through a lot of changes over the years running on all kinds of engines. On this last go-around he built a new chassis then dropped a 1948 Mercury flathead in it with a quick change rear end and a "bunch" of hot rod stuff in it.

"I've got a '50 Mercury crank shaft stroked an eighth of an inch, bored oversize ported and relieved which helps it to breathe better. It's got Sharp aluminum heads and an off Nazar manifold with two Stromberg 97 carburetors," he said.

Ceridono chose the Mercury flathead because there are lots of aftermarket parts due to a revival in flathead Mercurys.

"When I bought the new chassis I figured I'd put it back together the way I wanted it and then I'd paint it later and make it pretty. But once I put it back together and had such a good time running it, I just couldn't bring myself to take it all apart again to paint it, 'cause every time I take a hot rod apart it stays apart for about four or five years," Ceridono said.

Asked why the Model A sports a basic black paint job, Ceridon said, "It's not the end of my life if a rock chips it, or if somebody opens a door on it, or my dog jumps all over it with muddy paws, and besides, I didn't want to become a slave to it."

He said when he was growing up they called this kind of hot rod a "beater" but today it might be called a "rat rod."

"I drive this truck everywhere. It's mechanically sound, never gets overheated, it's got air conditioning and gets reasonably good gas mileage. It does everything I need it to do and it's fun to drive," Ceridono said.

He also owns a 1950 Plymouth, a 1963 split window Corvette, a 1934 Ford Roadster and 1941 Ford sedan; all are projects in the works.

One day Ceridono met a guy named Tex Smith who wrote automotive books and encouraged him to become a writer. As time went by Ceridono co-authored a number of automotive books and later wrote for a number of motor magazines. Eventually he became the senior editor of Street Rodder magazine which is what he does today.

"I have lived on Kaua'i for the past three years and it saddens me that due to the poor economy, the magazine has decided I need to be more centrally located on the Mainland to travel to other states for major car events," he said.

Asked about what will happen to his Ford Model A after he is too old to drive it or when he passes on to hot rod heaven, Ceridono said, "The running joke with my kids and my five grandkids about inheriting my classic cars and trucks is, 'The day I die, I hope I'm totally broke and everything I own is worn out, and then you can deal with it.'"

'Donut Derelicts'

One of the things Ron Ceridono wanted to do while living on Kaua'i was to put together a couple of cruise nights where a group of motor heads could meet at a special location once a week.

"Every kind of automotive interest you can imagine is here on Kaua'i, like off-road guys, the big-truck guys, the street-rod guys, the tri-five Chevy guys, motorcycle guys and more," he said.

Other than Harvey Maeda's Kaua'i Classic Car Club and the Garden Island Racing Association's drag strip at Mana, Ceridono said, "There's really no organization that pulls all the different automotive groups together in one place."

He shared an idea on the potential of gathering Kaua'i car enthusiasts for one particular kind of event.

"There is an organization in Huntington Beach, Calif., called Donut Derelicts, where a bunch of classic car guys meet at 5 a.m. in the morning at a local donut shop to admire their custom cars, talk story and swap auto parts," Ceridono said.

He recommended checking out donutderelicts.com for more information.

"I think the same kind of thing could happen here and benefit the local car and motoring community," he said.

Watch video

footage online

of Ron Ceridono's 1931 Ford Model A pickup as part of The Garden Island's recurring series on Kaua'i's Classic Car Club.




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