METRO DIGEST || Small fire breaks out at GM plant

Small fire breaks out at GM plant

LORDSTOWN

A small fire broke out at the General Motors Co. Lordstown plant about 2:15 p.m. Thursday, according to plant spokesman Tom Mock.

Though the plant is not producing the Chevrolet Cruze this week, there were about 200 to 300 employees still working at the facility.

They were evacuated for about 45 minutes while the Lordstown Fire Department fought the fire.

Mock said the fire was in a nonproduction area between the first and second floors, below the old paint shop on the north end of the east plant.

The department is investigating the cause.

Boutique to have grand opening today

HOWLAND

Kelly’s Elite Boutique will host a grand opening at 2 p.m. today at its location at 1869 Niles-Cortland Road.

The boutique specializes in products for women including bras, wigs, skin care, mineral makeup and more. Kelly’s is open from noon to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays. For more info, call 877-424-9655.

Ohio tries to lure Sears headquarters

COLUMBUS

Ohio has pitched $400 million in incentives to lure Sears’ corporate headquarters away from Illinois, far more than that state was preparing to offer to keep the retailer in suburban Chicago, a spokeswoman for Illinois’ governor told an Ohio newspaper.

Ohio’s package is “basically about four times” what Illinois was considering putting on the table to keep Sears Holdings Corp. from leaving, said Brooke Anderson, press secretary to Gov. Pat Quinn. She told The Columbus Dispatch that Sears executives mentioned the $400 million figure during a recent Illinois House committee hearing.

Sears has not confirmed anything about incentive offers and is not commenting on them, said Kimberly Freely, a spokeswoman for the company. Sears wants to have the question of its headquarters settled by the end of December, she said.

GM to buy back Volts if owners wish

NEW YORK

The top executive at General Motors says the company will buy back Chevrolet Volts from any owner who is afraid the electric cars will catch fire.

CEO Daniel Akerson told The Associated Press on Thursday that the cars are safe. But he says GM would buy back the vehicles to keep customers happy. Three fires have broken out in Volts after side-impact crash tests done by a federal safety agency. The fires happened one to three weeks after the tests.

Akerson also says that GM could recall more than 6,000 Volts now on U.S. roads, if necessary, and fix them once the company and safety regulators figure out what caused the fires.

GM says no Volts involved in real-world crashes have caught fire.

Vindicator staff/wire reports