plus 4, Owners of shut-down GM brands have few reasons to worry - Dubuque Telegraph Herald

Owners of shut-down GM brands have few reasons to worry - Dubuque Telegraph Herald
Temp: 42° - Toledo Blade
Rising to meet an infinite need - Boston Globe
Owners of dead GM brands have few reasons to worry - The Daily Advertiser
UAW officials expect third shift, hundreds of new jobs to be added at ... - MLive.com

Owners of shut-down GM brands have few reasons to worry - Dubuque Telegraph Herald

Posted: 24 Jan 2010 07:50 AM PST

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Temp: 42° - Toledo Blade

Posted: 24 Jan 2010 06:46 AM PST

Joe Minnich and Michael King prefer the title "Zamboni operator" rather than driver.

Mr. Minnich and Mr. King operate the iceresurfacing machines at the new Lucas County Arena in downtown Toledo.

"You can't just hire anyone off the streets to do this," said Mr. King as he tinkered with the truck-like vehicle prior to a Walleye hockey game last Sunday.

"It's a $90,000 piece of equipment."

Mr. Minnich, a 57-year-old from the Old West End, is one of three Zamboni operators at the new arena along with Mr. King and Charles Strange.

"There are nuances to it," Mr. Minnich said. "There are subtleties."

The vehicle, which is named after Californian Frank Zamboni, who invented it in 1949, cleans and then resurfaces the ice before games and between periods.

Mr. Minnich operated the Zamboni at Ottawa Park for the city of Toledo for 17 years. He estimated that he resurfaced the ice there between 2,500 to 5,000 times.

"That's insane, isn't it?" Mr. Minnich said.

Mr. King, a West Toledoan, got his start at the Team Toledo Ice House. "It was scary at first," he said. "There were a lot of things on the machine that I was not familiar with."

He said in the beginning he was not comfortable in front of crowds.

"I really enjoy it now," Mr. King said. "I'm so relaxed on the ice."

For Mr. King, it's the pride of making sure the ice is exactly how officials want it.

"The coaches and players want perfect ice," he said. Mr. Minnich said he took 21 years off before returning to the helm of the ice machine this year. But he said he did not have butterflies on opening night of the arena on Oct. 16 before a standing-room-only crowd of 8,000.

"I wasn't nervous on that first night," he said. "It's like anything else. You do it a few times and you get used to it. Even though people are banging on the glass and yelling at you, I don't get distracted."

Mr. Minnich also has a full-time job. He is an engineer technician and highway designer for Proudfoot Associates. He said his pay as a Zamboni driver is "modest."

"It's a little slow at work, so this helps," he said. "You can't make a career out of this. You have to enjoy it."

Mr. King, 47, is a mechanic at Auto Connection Brake & Muffler Shops in Toledo. He sports a new tattoo on his back which features a picture of a Zamboni with the words, "Ice Man" underneath it.

"You have to know your Zamboni. Each machine is different," he said. "You have to concentrate. You can't be showing off."

Mr. Minnich said the key is putting down the right amount of water.

"It's an equilibrium you try to maintain," he said.

He said ideally the ice should be no thicker or thinner than one inch. He said the machine shaves off the top layer of ice that has been damaged by skates.

"Then you have to lay down the same amount of water on it," Mr. Minnich said.

Mr. King said it takes a crew of six to keep the ice just right on game days.

"You understand this isn't a job. You're doing it for enjoyment," he said. "Thousands of people would love to drive the Zamboni."

Contact Mark Monroe at:
mmonroe@theblade.com
or 419-724-6354.

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Rising to meet an infinite need - Boston Globe

Posted: 24 Jan 2010 07:36 AM PST

The need will intensify in the coming months and years. "They need someone to be with them and to do simple care-giving, whether that's changing their dressing, changing their bedpan, holding their hand, walking to get the food they can't get because they don't have a leg,'' said Lyon, who worked the crowd on the hospital grounds, pumping doctors' hands, greeting soldiers, ducking in to check on surgeries. "That system of community care is what Partners in Health can contribute.''

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Owners of dead GM brands have few reasons to worry - The Daily Advertiser

Posted: 24 Jan 2010 06:17 AM PST

NEW YORK (AP) — Pontiac? Goodbye. Saturn? So long. Saab? Off to the old junkyard in the sky.

Those are the three brands that General Motors Co. is shutting down as it remakes itself into a smaller, nimbler and — it hopes — profitable automaker.

But just because the brands are disappearing doesn't mean their owners will be left out in the cold, even after the dealerships that sold them their vehicles shut their doors.

For owners wondering what the end of the brands means, here's some answers.

Q: What happened to Pontiac, Saturn and Saab?

A: Shutting down Pontiac had been part of GM's restructuring plan since early last year. It had hoped to sell Saturn to the auto dealership chain Penske Automotive Group Inc., but Penske abruptly backed out of the deal last autumn.

GM had planned to sell Saab to a Swedish race car manufacturer, but that deal also collapsed in late 2009. GM has begun dismantling the brand, though it is still hearing offers from other buyers.

Q: Should I be worried if I own one of those vehicles?

A: Owners of those vehicles have little reason to worry, at least when it comes to getting their cars and trucks serviced, GM spokesman John McDonald says. As it did when it shut down Oldsmobile in 2004, the automaker will continue to honor existing warranties on all Pontiac, Saturn and Saab vehicles. GM's standard warranty is five years long.

"People should feel very comfortable that they will be able to have their vehicles serviced," McDonald says.

Q: Will GM have the parts to continue providing service for that long?

A: GM has enough spare parts to last the life of all warranties on vehicles from discontinued brands, McDonald says.

It probably has enough to last even longer, he says. In addition, many GM vehicles share similar parts that will remain compatible in vehicles from shuttered brands.

"Just because you wind it down doesn't mean you don't have a million, bazillion parts in the system," he says.

However, he cautioned that parts shortages could arise many years down the road on some specialized components. Think headlights, taillights, engine grilles — mostly cosmetic parts that are specific to a single model.

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

UAW officials expect third shift, hundreds of new jobs to be added at ... - MLive.com

Posted: 24 Jan 2010 06:17 AM PST

Being a "car town" for so long, we should be used to the cyclical nature of the employment picture. Even though we will never get back to previous levels, a positive attitude and willingness to participate (on the part of the UAW) will result in the maximum benefit to the community. Kudos to the local officials and to the executives who have not forgotten Flint's contributions of the past. We have more to give!

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.