Nissan mulls move of production to US

Nissan mulls move of production to US

DETROIT

Nissan Motor Co. said Thursday it is considering moving some engine production from Japan to the U.S. because of earthquake damage to a Japanese plant, another illustration of how seriously the disaster has upended the global network of auto supplies.

Car factories could face serious shortages of Japanese parts by the middle of next month unless Japan’s auto industry can quickly restart its shuttered production after a devastating earthquake and tsunami March 11, experts say.

As stockpiles of parts from Japan run low in the coming weeks, some North American plants are bracing for shutdowns. Toyota has warned workers it may idle operations.

Noted playwright Lanford Wilson dies

NEW YORK

Lanford Wilson, the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright of such plays as “The Hot L Baltimore,” “Burn This,” “Fifth of July” and “Talley’s Folly,” has died. He was 73.

The Steppenwolf Theatre said Thursday that Wilson died Wednesday at a long- term acute-care facility in Wayne, N.J. The playwright, who had been a longtime resident of New York’s Sag Harbor, died on the eve of the Chicago company’s first preview production of a staging of his “Hot L Baltimore.”

He won the Pulitzer for drama in 1980 for “Talley’s Folly,” the second in a trilogy of plays that follows the Talley family of Lebanon, Mo., over several generations. Wilson himself was born in Lebanon, Mo.

Adviser: Bachmann likely to enter race

ST. PAUL, Minn.

Tea-party favorite and Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann is feeling pressure from the political calendar to rush a decision on a White House bid and may announce her intentions as early as May, one of her top advisers said Thursday. Bachmann, a third-term congresswoman from Minnesota, could form a presidential-exploratory committee before two televised Republican debates scheduled the first week of May, said Ed Brookover, a Bachmann adviser.

Fewer people apply for jobless benefits

WASHINGTON

Fewer people applied for unemployment benefits last week, adding to evidence that layoffs are slowing and employers may be stepping up hiring.

The number of people seeking benefits dropped by 5,000 to a seasonally adjusted 382,000 in the week ended March 19, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Republicans have doubts about cuts

BROOKFIELD, Wis.

Almost five months after Election Day, some Republican voters are having doubts about their choices at the ballot box. Although they consider themselves fiscal conservatives, many of the same people who put GOP leaders into office are now having second thoughts, largely because of possible budget cuts to local schools.

In Ohio, the two-year budget offered by Gov. John Kasich would increase state aid to K-12 schools, but overall funding would drop because of allocation changes and loss of stimulus dollars.

In Wisconsin, GOP Gov. Scott Walker’s two-year spending plan includes an 8 percent cut in aid to schools — about $835 million.

Even long-time Republican voters are worried about the consequences of education cuts. And some are asking whether the quest for a balanced budget justifies gutting top schools that took decades to create.

Associated Press