Janesville certainly is "local" to the Times when there is news of the magnitude of what came from General Motors headquarters Tuesday.
GM is closing its Janesville plant, which finally has succumbed to the impact of high gasoline prices and a slumping economy. The Janesville factory will end production of medium-duty trucks by the end of 2009 and SUV production by the end of 2010 - possibly sooner.
GM once was Janesville's largest employer. Now it is second with about 2,600 workers; Mercy Health Care has the biggest workforce. But that doesn't lessen the blow sure to be felt by Janesville and surrounding communities.
Including Green County.
There are people who live in Green County who work at the Janesville facility. There are companies in Green County that will be impacted by a plant closing there.
That is why, when GM chief executive Rick Wagoner made the announcement at about 7:20 this morning, we shifted our plans for the front page with the hour or so we had left to complete it and put the Janesville story on the front page in the lead position.
The Janesville GM plant story, I'm sure, will continue to be one of our bigger "local" stories of the next year or two.
GM is closing its Janesville plant, which finally has succumbed to the impact of high gasoline prices and a slumping economy. The Janesville factory will end production of medium-duty trucks by the end of 2009 and SUV production by the end of 2010 - possibly sooner.
GM once was Janesville's largest employer. Now it is second with about 2,600 workers; Mercy Health Care has the biggest workforce. But that doesn't lessen the blow sure to be felt by Janesville and surrounding communities.
Including Green County.
There are people who live in Green County who work at the Janesville facility. There are companies in Green County that will be impacted by a plant closing there.
That is why, when GM chief executive Rick Wagoner made the announcement at about 7:20 this morning, we shifted our plans for the front page with the hour or so we had left to complete it and put the Janesville story on the front page in the lead position.
The Janesville GM plant story, I'm sure, will continue to be one of our bigger "local" stories of the next year or two.
