plus 3, Truck recall adds to Toyota's troubles - YAHOO!

Truck recall adds to Toyota's troubles - YAHOO!
Jim Bailey: Downtown Anderson has a lot of history - Herald-Bulletin
Toyota can recover from recalls, automotive experts say - Detroit Free Press
Snowfall Shatters Record, Leaves 150,000 Without Power - NBC Dallas-Fort Worth

Truck recall adds to Toyota's troubles - YAHOO!

Posted: 13 Feb 2010 01:53 PM PST

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TOKYO (AFP) – Toyota was facing more unwanted publicity Saturday after the world's biggest automaker said it was voluntarily calling in about 10,000 pickups in North America, the latest in a series of recalls.

The Japanese giant has recalled millions of vehicles worldwide in past months due to problems linked to accelerator and brake functions, sullying the company's safety reputation.

The latest vehicle cast into the spotlight is the 2010 model of Tacoma four-wheel drive pickups in the North American market, including 8,000 in the United States and 1,500 in Canada.

The voluntary recall was to inspect their front drive shafts, which may include a component that contains cracks that developed during the manufacturing process, the company said.

Earlier global Toyota recalls covered models with "sticky accelerators" that can cause cars to race out of control, a defect cited in several deadly crashes, and later widened to brake system problems in the Prius and other hybrid models.

On Friday a US woman filed a federal lawsuit in Los Angeles against Toyota, blaming the company for the death of her husband when the Prius she was driving suddenly accelerated.

The Tacoma recall came as the company suspended production of two hybrid models -- the Sai sedan and the Lexus HS250h -- in Japan on Saturday as it develops a fix for those vehicles' faulty brakes.

Embattled Toyota president Akio Toyoda on Saturday visited a Tokyo dealer where Prius repairs were underway.

"It will be absolutely okay from now on," the scion of the founder family assured as he deeply bowed to a couple who brought their Prius in for a software fix.

Japanese media have said Toyoda is prepared to testify at US congressional hearings if he is formally asked to do so, with the automaker facing intense pressure in the United States over the rash of recalls.

Outspoken Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara accused the United States of using Toyota's safety troubles to "bash" Japan because of jealousy of the Japanese automotive industry's fast rise.

Amid accusations in the US that Toyota had been slow to respond to safety concerns, President Barack Obama warned all carmakers that their brands were at risk if they dragged their feet on safety recalls.

In his first public remarks on Toyota's deepening defect crisis, Obama noted that Toyota was now under federal investigation over its recalls but predicted the company, which has supplanted the bailed-out US giant General Motors as global industry leader, would recover from its present troubles.

"Every automaker has an obligation when public safety is a concern to come forward quickly and decisively when problems are identified," Obama said in an interview with Bloomberg BusinessWeek magazine, which went on sale Friday.

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Jim Bailey: Downtown Anderson has a lot of history - Herald-Bulletin

Posted: 13 Feb 2010 01:39 PM PST

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Published February 13, 2010 03:39 pm - If downtown Anderson parking lots could talk, they'd have a lot of history to tell.

Jim Bailey: Downtown Anderson has a lot of history

If downtown Anderson parking lots could talk, they'd have a lot of history to tell.

When downtown was downtown, parking lots were few and far between. Many of these sites were marked by buildings that housed some very well known landmarks along the busy Anderson streets.

Take the lot close to 10th Street and Brown-Delaware. In days of old, the Waltz & Hiday Funeral Home overlooked what was then Delaware Street.

Two blocks away, where employees of this newspaper now park, stood the Notre Dame Bookshelf. Across the street was the original Donald's Beauty Shop, later the office of Dr. James Worster, and next door was the Nex-to-New Shop.

At 12th and Jackson, across from the YMCA, were the Farris Cafeteria and the Indiana Employment Security Division (predecessor to JobSource). Further west, the outdoor stage of the Town Center sits where once stood the Riviera Theater and Kelly Furniture.

I'm not exactly sure of the location of the former Kirkman's Jewelry, but there's a parking lot a half block or so south on Meridian in that approximate site.

Parking for the Madison County Government Center occupies land recalled as the "fireblock" in which numerous buildings burned down in the 1970s including a photo studio, law offices and a shoe repair shop. A similar fire took out buildings at 10th and Meridian including the former sites of Bing's clothing store, Woolworth and Tom Haston's Barber Shop (originally Fred Wiley's).

Parking lots and a park between 9th and 10th streets on Main Street give that area a different look. On the northwest corner was a drugstore, next to the Star Laundry. The block also included the Trade Winds bar, Idle Hour Cigar Store and hotels at both 10th and Main and Ninth and Meridian. Areas on the east side of Main Street now used for parking included Robert's Floor Store and the Salvation Army.

The KeyBank parking lot at Eighth and Central was the original location of the downtown fire station. And numerous landmarks that marked the area of Ninth and Fletcher are gone, including the Pennsylvania Railroad depot, the Tunnel Bar and across Fletcher what was reputed to be a house of ill fame (its proximity to the railroad station could lead us to believe it once provided lodging either for travelers or railroad workers, but that's for someone more into history than I to determine). And at 10th and Fletcher was the headquarters for Everybody's Oil Corp., a major gasoline and oil distributor and its flagship gas station.

The auto license branch was once near Ninth and Jackson, at different times on both sides of Ninth Street. And a National City parking lot sits on the site of the former Banner Store on Meridian.

That only hits the highlights. Suffice it to say downtown Anderson is quite different these days from its appearance 50 years ago.

Jim Bailey's reflections on Anderson's past appear on Sunday. His regular column appears on Wednesday. He can be reached by e-mail at jameshenrybailey @earthlink.net.

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Toyota can recover from recalls, automotive experts say - Detroit Free Press

Posted: 13 Feb 2010 02:22 PM PST

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CHICAGO -- Before Toyota can raise its image from the ashes, the world's largest automaker must make sure the fire is out.

Months of safety recalls have tarnished Toyota's image. Given time, though, the damage can be repaired if the company deals with the problems honestly and quickly from this point onward, auto industry analysts say.

All bets could be off if more defects come to light, however.

• Complete coverage of the massive recalls at Toyota

"Toyota must resolve the problem, and the fix has to stay fixed," said Jim Hall, managing director of auto analysis firm 2953 Analytics. "They have to earn back their reputation, but I've seen sicker dogs get well."

Toyota can ill afford more missteps, though.

"They can recover if the Prius recall is the last major one, and if their new models are good in terms of reliability," said Dave Champion, director of automotive testing for Consumer Reports. "Even if no further problems come to light, though, this is going to fester for some time" because it may take dealers a couple of years to repair the millions of vehicles Toyota has recalled.

Even if the bad news is behind it, Toyota sales will suffer for at least a year, several analysts said.

Toyota hopes to move past apologies

Toyota's greatest asset is its history of building dependable cars and trucks. Decades of reliability and quality created a reservoir of goodwill.

The escalating recalls -- 8 million and counting, including the automaker's prized hybrid models -- have tested owners' faith, however.

"The possibility that Toyotas are problem cars is starting to build up in people's minds," said Charlie Vogelheim, executive editor of Intellichoice, which this week named several Toyota vehicles the best values in their segments.

"People may forget the specifics of the recalls, but there may be a lingering aftertaste of something that's wrong with Toyota," said analyst Stephanie Brinley of AutoPacific.

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Snowfall Shatters Record, Leaves 150,000 Without Power - NBC Dallas-Fort Worth

Posted: 13 Feb 2010 12:06 PM PST

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Large, fluffy snowflakes fell heavily across North Texas for about 24 hours Thursday, bringing record snowfall that sailed past the previous all-time one-day record.

A new record of 12.5 inches of snow in a 24-hour period was set at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (11.2 on Thursday) -- and flakes were still coming down after midnight. The previous daily record was 7.8 inches on Jan. 15, 1964, and Jan. 14, 1917 and the previous 24-hour record was 12.1 inches.

The total for this winter, so far, is 15.7 inches, the second highest recorded in North Texas history. The highest recorded snowfall for a winter season was in 1977-78 with 17.6 inches of snow.

The snowfall forced the closure and delays of hundreds of schools and businesses on both Thursday and Friday.

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February Snowfall: Gallery I

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Snow-dorable: Gallery I

Now that the storm has passed, the damage assessment can begin. Heavy snow snapped tree branches, downed power lines and collapsed carports around the Metroplex.

At the height of the power outage, Oncor reported 200,000 were without power.

As of noon Saturday, Oncor Electric Delivery said crews had restored power to some 75,000 homes, leaving 125,000 homes and businesses in North Texas still without power.

"Oncor continues to deal with tree limbs, weakened by the weight of the heavy snow, dropping onto Oncor power lines," said Brenda Pulis, Oncor Senior Vice President of Distribution. "Oncor crews and contractors are making good progress. If the weather continues to improve, Oncor should be able to restore power to most homes over the weekend."

Oncor said at least 5,000 workers were working to repair power lines ripped down by thousands of tree branches laden with heavy snow. About half of those workers are coming from outside North Texas to help.

The electric delivery company asks that customers call 1-888-313-4647 to report outages and consider moving to where there is electricity. Oncor also asks that residents turn on their front porch lights to signal to crews that their area has power.

Oncor released the following checklist for keeping yourself safe during times of inclement weather.

The heavy snow also collapsed the roof of an Oak Cliff auto shop, causing a fire when a power line also snapped. And the roof over the Joe Pool Lake Marina collapsed Friday evening, landing on several boats.

The heavy snow also proved too much for the Rahr and Sons Brewing Company in Fort Worth. The roof caved in Friday, jeopardizing plans to participate in a Food Network program. The brewery, which distributes in the Metroplex, Houston, Austin and San Antonio, said it was assessing the damage and making plans Friday.

On Thursday, police across North Texas responded to hundreds of crashes, even before the wet, slushy roads began to freeze. The Texas Department of Transportation advised all drivers to use caution while they worked to treat the roadways.

The National Weather Service posted the winter storm warning Wednesday morning, well ahead of the storm. The warning expired early Friday.

AIR TRAVEL

Airlines canceled hundreds of flights -- about 40 percent of operations -- at DFW Airport in anticipation of the storm. Planes that left Thursday were being de-iced, which slowed down traffic.

Fort Worth-based American Airlines and American Eagle airlines canceled more than 1,000 flights system-wide as of sunset Thursday, including 305 departures at DFW Airport.

American spokesman Steve Schlachter said much of the backup was linked to weather problems along the East Coast.

Southwest Airlines, whose main hub is Dallas Love Field, advised travelers that many Thursday flights out of the Baltimore-Washington, Philadelphia and New York City areas had been canceled because of weather.

Love Field said it had more snow Thursday than it expected. Some inbound flights had trouble landing at Love Field and had to divert back to their departing airports. Departing flights at Love Field on Thursday were delayed one to two hours because of deicing.

TxDOT ROAD CLOSURE DELAY

TxDOT said Wednesday that current weather conditions are forcing them to delay the scheduled closing of U.S. 75 frontage road at Parker Road. The road will now be closed Monday from 10:30 p.m. to 6 a.m. the following morning, ahead of the morning rush. Then on Tuesday, TxDOT will close the U.S. 75 main lanes from 10:30 p.m. to 6 a.m. Wednesday.

"The closure is part of a $20 million construction project to convert the U.S. 75 and Parker Road interchange from a standard, grade-separated bridge to a single-point urban interchange (SPUI). Message boards announcing the lane closures have been placed along U.S. 75 to notify the public of the closures. Law enforcement will also be present to help with traffic control," TxDOT said in a news release.

For additional transportation related information please visit the TxDOT Web site www.txdot.gov.

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