Tracy Samilton

U.S. automakers have finally agreed on a uniform standard to determine the towing capacity of a pickup truck, veteran auto journalist Bill Visnic tells us in his article in Edmunds.com.

Except, now that they've created it, automakers are backing away from actually using it.

It could be a long, hot, NOISY summer in Warren, Michigan, along with many other communities.

The city's mayor, Jim Fouts, is one of the most vocal critics of the state's one-year-old fireworks law, which permits individuals to purchase commercial-grade fireworks, and set them off the day before, the day of, and the day after ten major holidays.

He says a modification to the law being considered by the state legislature will do no good.

Car companies closed a lot of North American factories in the past ten years as the auto industry restructured.

That has made Jim Tetreault's job even more of an art and a science.

Tetreault is Ford's head of North American manufacturing.  He's responsible for maximizing the number of vehicles that any of the Detroit automaker's remaining plants can produce, while minimizing the downtime at each facility.

An anti-bias group says it has received a written apology from Chrysler and Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne for his use of a pejorative word to refer to Italians.

The Italian American ONE VOICE Coalition says Marchionne apologized for using the word "wop" during a press conference at the Detroit Auto Show.    Marchionne was commenting on the long-delayed introduction of the new generation of Alfa Romeos.  He stated, “I won't put an American engine into that car. With all due respect to my American friends, it needs to be a wop engine.” 

Buick will be 110 years old on Sunday.  But the brand nearly didn't survive.

In 2009, GM's bankruptcy forced the automaker to cut brands.  The company tried to find buyers for Saturn, Hummer, and Saab, but eventually those sales fell through.

The company also decided it had to choose between Pontiac, and Buick.  Pontiac's customers on average were younger - that's a desirable thing for a brand - and it was outselling Buick.  Yet, GM chose Buick.

A group that opened the state's first shelter for underage victims of sex trafficking says there's a need for more such shelters.

Andy Soper is with the Manasseh Project, which opened the 12-bed shelter six months ago.

"We're seeing the growth in the young women getting back up to their grade level in school, working diligently on their therapy and their recovery process, getting jobs, so we're seeing progress and it's wonderful to see," Soper told Michigan Radio.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reports "not stellar" results for the latest group of vehicles to undergo a new "small overlap frontal crash" test.

The test sees how well a vehicle protects an occupant in a situation where just a part of the front of the car hits something. One example would be two vehicles approaching each other, and one strays a little bit over the center line, causing an offset accident.

In 2004, a majority of Michigan voters approved an amendment to the state constitution, banning any recognition of marriage or civil unions between same-sex couples.

Just nine years later, it appears there has been a sea change.

A new poll, paid for by Chicago-based marketing consulting company, the Glengariff Group, finds that not only do most respondents agree the 2004 amendment should be reversed, they also support immediately replacing the ban with a new amendment, protecting marriage rights for gay and lesbian residents of the state.

Ray LaHood has seldom kept his opinions to himself.

The country's U.S. Secretary of Transportation since 2008, LaHood early established a reputation for bluntness and rattling cages.

After Toyota recalled millions of vehicles around the world for faulty floor mats that could entrap the gas pedal, LaHood advised people who owned Toyota cars to "park them" immediately and not drive them until the company fixed the problem.

He later distanced himself from the startling pronouncement.

LaHood also angered many a car company executive for attacking sophisticated car infotainment systems as too distracting.  Those systems promise a new source of precious revenue for the automakers.

Every school child knows the name Henry Ford, and his contribution to the auto industry.

Billy Durant never achieved anywhere near Ford's fame. 

Durant was one of the progenitors of the company we now know as General Motors.

Durant's role in the building of the American auto industry could become better known, depending on just what GM decides to do with Durant's first factory in Flint.  GM recently acquired the building for an undisclosed amount.

EMU's Board of Regents unanimously approved a two-year contract extension for the university's president, Susan Martin, at a special meeting on Friday.

Last fall, the Board reprimanded Martin for problem drinking, and told her to seek counseling or lose her job.

There was no mention of the issue during the Board meeting, in which Martin was praised for leading Eastern "during a five-year period of significant growth in enrollment, academic success, and major upgrades to campus buildings and the University's infrasture," said Board chair Francine Parker.

As you read this article, just remember, people laughed at Henry Ford, too, when Ford said he wanted to make a motorized vehicle that anyone could afford to buy.

More than 100 years later, Paul Elio has the same dream.  

While Ford's Model T had four wheels, Elio's car has three -- two in front, and one in the back.  And the car will seat only two people, but not side by side.  The passenger seat is directly behind the driver's seat.

That configuration, Elio says, largely explains the car's eye-popping fuel economy of about 84 miles per gallon on the highway. 

Troy Mayor Dane Slater won re-election in a bitterly-waged race against challenger Marty Knollenberg, whose campaign apparently paid for negative robo-calls the weekend before the vote. 

All this for a volunteer position that pays $175 a month only, for expenses. 

"Of course, that's before taxes," he joked.  "That doesn't even pay my cleaning or gas bill, quite honestly." 

Slater decried the city's "dirty" politics, and says he hopes things get better from now on.  "We need to put an end to this dirty trick campaigning," the Mayor told Michigan Radio, "and I'm hoping they recognize, because of what happened tonight, we can stop this nonsense that is tearing us apart." 

Slater was appointed mayor in 2012, after voters recalled Janice Daniels, who gained statewide attention for making anti-gay slurs shortly after her 2011 election. 

Slater says he wants Troy to be known for its positives - safe streets, a strong business environment, a diverse population, and good schools.

Teachers at Buena Vista School District have voted to work without pay for a week. 

They hope the district and the state can figure out a way to keep the doors open through the end of the school year.

The Saginaw area district lost its state aid after officials discovered the school system accepted money for a program it no longer operated.

The state is withholding the district's March, April, and May payments - leaving the already-distressed district without money for payroll.

State officials say the financial emergency in the city of Ecorse has been resolved.

Under the direction of emergency manager Joyce Parker, the city's nearly $20 million deficit was eliminated.  Its police and fire departments were merged.   

The city's operating costs were reduced by $4.3 million a year, while its revenues were boosted by $2.3 million. 

And Ecorse's bond rating went from "junk" to "A", with the help of special legislation at the state level.

So, Ecorse's emergency manager is stepping down.  Sort of.