GOOD NEWS FOR LOCAL GM DEALERS
In a difficult week for auto dealers of two major product lines, GM followed suit Friday with the announcement of closures of 11-hundred dealerships nationwide. Locally, GM franchises were spared. WPPA News spoke with representatives at Bob Weaver GM in Pottsville, Outten GM in Hamburg and the Rinaldi dealerships, who tell us that they will remain open. Here's Bob Rinaldi Jr.

RINALDI 1

Thursday, Chrysler Corporation announced in a bankruptcy filing that 789 dealers nationwide would be closed, 53 of them in Pennsylvania. The difficult economic conditions prompted the companies to make drastic cuts in their dealer networks.

PVH TO CLOSE
A national apparel company that's been in our area for many years will shutter a distribution center in our area. The Republican Herald reports that Phillips Van Heusen will close their facility along Route 61, displacing more than 60 people. The New Jersey based company, which makes Arrow, Bass and Izod apparel lines made the decision last week. Slowing sales and shrinking profits are to blame for the closure.

SHENANDOAH MAN ARRESTED AFTER ASSUMING ANOTHER'S IDENTITY
A Shenandoah man is arrested by state police for assuming another's identity. Troopers from the Frackville barracks nabbed 43 year old Kenneth Lee Rhine at a restaurant in the borough. He was wanted by authorities for parole violations, along with a warrant from the Berks County Sheriff's department. Rhine was released from state prison in Allegheny County, and assumed the identity of a fellow inmate, William Keitel, who is in jail for life. Rhine was charged with forgery, identity theft and related counts. He was jailed after being unable to post bail.

MAN AND WOMAN JAILED
A man and woman are jailed following a domestic dispute in the city Thursday night. Pottsville police say that 41 year old Beverly Viars and 49 year old Anthony Dombrosky got into a fight at a home on 12th Street. Both were injured in the fight. The pair were arraigned on simple assault charges relating to domestic violence and were jailed, being unable to post bail.

GOOD NEWS FOR DEALERS
For three area GM dealerships, it will be business as usual as the company announced a round of 11-hundred closures Friday. WPPA News contacted representatives from Bob Weaver GM Superstore in Pottsville, Outten GM in Hamburg and the Rinaldi Dealerships, who said they were not affected by the cuts. Rinaldi's Bob Rinaldi Jr.

RINALDI 2

It was a tough week for the auto industry as Chrysler announced the closing of 789 dealerships nationwide on Thursday in a bankruptcy court filing. GM announced the cuts as part of a plan to survive the economic downturn that has hurt sales over the past 18 months.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Some state lawmakers are upset the Rendell administration didn't ask them for input before hiring a Minnesota company to develop standard end-of-course exams for high school students. The contract also is paying the company to develop a model curriculum, teacher training and tools to monitor student progress.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) - Penn State University president Graham Spanier says applications for admission this year could set a record. He says applications are 6 percent ahead of last year's pace. Applications to the Dickinson School of Law are up 50 percent.

MOUNTAIN TOP, Pa. (AP) - The support staff in a Luzerne County school district is planning to go on strike on Monday, but officials in the Crestwood School District say teachers will be
working and schools will be open. About 118 teachers' aides, cafeteria workers, custodians and secretaries are planning to strike.

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl will be competing in two primary elections Tuesday. He's seeking the nomination of his own Democratic Party for another term. He's also encouraging Republicans to write in his name in their primary, since nobody is on the ballot.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The new privately developed public square on the site of the former Schmidt's brewery in Philadelphia opens to the public today with artists and live music. The Piazza at Schmidts is the anchor of a $500 million residential, retail and office development in the Northern Liberties neighborhood.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - President Barack Obama is planning to name Utah's Republican governor as ambassador to China. That's according to a source close to Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, a popular moderate. Huntsman has been mentioned as a possible GOP presidential
candidate.

NEW DELHI (AP) - India's governing Congress party-led coalition appears to be heading to victory in the monthlong national elections. The Congress alliance could take about 250 seats in the 543-seat Parliament. The news is setting off celebrations in the streets by party loyalists.

ISLAMABAD (AP) - Officials say an apparent U.S. missile attack has destroyed an Islamic school in an al-Qaida stronghold in northwestern Pakistan. A dozen people are dead, including two suspected foreign militants.

TOKYO (AP) - Japan is ordering schools closed in a port city after confirming its first case of swine flu caught inside the country. Officials say a high school student in Kobe (koh-bee) has
tested positive for the virus. He had not traveled abroad recently. All city schools are being closed for seven days in an effort to prevent further spreading.

BALTIMORE (AP) - Three horses will be late arrivals for today's Preakness Stakes in Maryland. The trainers for Musket Man, Take the Points and Tone It Down decided to keep them home for as long as possible. Take the Points has the longest trip -- coming from Long
Island, N.Y.