Business

Obama's tax plans revisited By KATHLEEN PENDER San Francisco Chronicle On the campaign trail, Barack Obama proposed more than a dozen tax changes that would affect individuals. The net effect would be to raise taxes on higher-income people and reduce...  Read Story.

UAW leader says blame economy for Detroit 3 woes COLUMBUS (AP) -- Even as Detroit's Big Three teeter on collapse, United Auto Workers president Ron Gettelfinger said Saturday that the problem is not the union's contract with the automakers and that...  Read Story.

Friday and Saturday evenings on the south side of Defiance are reserved for country western and bluegrass music. Bill Cavin and Jerry Howard recently opened the Black Swamp Opry House on South Jefferson Avenue, behind Ranchland Motel, to bring the...  Read Story.

Drop in auto sales leads to record retail dip in Oct. WASHINGTON (AP) -- Retail sales plunged by the largest amount on record in October as the financial crisis and the slumping economy caused consumers to sharply cut back on their spending. The Commerce...  Read Story.

SS offers quicker compassionate allowances By Emily Kuhn Defiance Social Security Manager Social Security is making the disability process much faster for people with rare diseases and cancers. That's because Social Security has begun the first phase...  Read Story.

Calming uneasy investors NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street is showing signs of settling down but the economy is still quite troubled, so putting money into funds that focus on dividends might help some investors regain their confidence in the market. The...  Read Story.

Parents pull children from day care as money tightens ROCKFORD, Ill. (AP) -- The nation's economic troubles play out one family at a time at the New Horizons Learning Center in this struggling city two hours northwest of Chicago. Some parents have been...  Read Story.

Diehl Food Ingredients announced that Jim Holdrieth has been named general manager for the Defiance location. In addition to his current responsibilities for sales and research and development, Holdrieth will add plant operations as well as general...  Read Story.

WASHINGTON -- Democrats are fighting over control of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the outcome could affect President-elect Obama's efforts to limit the heat-trapping gases blamed for global warming. Obama has said he wants to act quickly...  Read Story.

NDLAY, Ohio (AP) " Whirlpool Corp. is laying off about 170 workers at a plant that makes dishwashers in northwest Ohio. Whirlpool says the layoffs that begin Monday in Findlay will be temporary and reflect falling...  Read Story.

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) " General Motors Corp. has opened its first Russian assembly plant. The $300 million, 70,000-car-a-year factory that was dedicated Friday just outside of...  Read Story.

General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. plants in Ohio: GM plants Cincinnati Service and Parts Operation: 111 employees, hourly number unavailable Columbus Service and Parts Operation: 103 employees, hourly number unavailable Powertrain...  Read Story.

Gas drops another 30 cents in Ohio COLUMBUS (AP) -- Gasoline prices continue to plummet in Ohio, dropping another 30 cents in the last week. The daily survey from AAA and the Oil Price Information Service puts the current statewide average for regular at...  Read Story.

Circuit City closing 155 stores, including 11 in Ohio RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- Circuit City Stores Inc. said today it is pulling the plug on about 20 percent of its U.S. stores in an effort to return the nation's No. 2 consumer electronics retailer to...  Read Story.

Calculating a home's value By MARILYN KENNEDY MELIA bankrate.com Whether you're a home buyer, seller or an owner, you probably have one central question about this market: Where are prices headed from here? You can gain some insight into the pricing...  Read Story.

Banks using government bailout money for deals By RACHEL BECK rbeck@ap.org NEW YORK -- Critics are outraged that the nation's banks are using billions of dollars of federal bailout money to buy other banks instead of boosting their lending. But is that...  Read Story.

Tightened credit terms could hurt credit scores NEW YORK (AP) -- Don't throw out that letter from your credit card company. It may be notifying you of a reeled in credit line, interest rate hike or even an account closure. In this recessionary climate,...  Read Story.

Weak economy means some firms can't use tax break NEW YORK (AP) -- When Congress passed the economic stimulus package back in February, the measure contained a huge tax break for small businesses, dramatically increasing a popular deduction on equipment...  Read Story.

Start shopping for a holiday season job now By SUE STOCK Raleigh News & Observer Here's the bad news for holiday job seekers: there are more of you competing for fewer jobs. The tightening economy has retailers planning for slower sales, which means...  Read Story.

The Wauseon Athletic Boosters partnered with Don's Automotive Group in a scooter give-away contest. Over 200 people participated in a football toss contest at all of this season's home football games. The winner, Timothy "TJ" Rupp, pictured above, was...  Read Story.