Locate an Auto Repair Shop in Hazelwood, Missouri

Did you notice the convertible in the town scene picture? Yes, I noticed the convertible and I think it is an Audi. Surprising the Skoda was voted best overall new car in England this year. Made in Chekloslavakia. Someone should start importing these."> These cars have the most satisfied owners; The drivers were asked to rate their own cars on everything from reliability to build quality and running costs. Skoda won the award for best manufacturer and also had two cars in the top three individual models - with the Superb second and Octavia third. The company overtook luxury brand Lexus after finishing second last year in the poll by Auto Express. Robert Hazelwood, Skoda's UK director, said: "The firm were delighted but not surprised by the award. "We put customers first in everything we do from design to quality and the reliability of our cars." Jaguar's XF saloon was voted overall Best Car. Last place in the list of 100 cars was the previous version of the Land Rover Discovery, built from 1998 to 2005. The top five brands are: 1 Skoda; 2 Lexus; 3 Porsche; 4 Jaguar; 5 Honda. Top five models: 1 Jaguar XF; 2 Skoda Superb (pre-2008); 3 Skoda Octavia; 4 Land Rover Discovery; 5 Lexus RX. They should start importing them into the US if they are that good. Maybe GM should look into it??

Fishing rights in Alaska is like water rights in Idaho - there's not enough time to even hit the high spots. The best analogy I can come up with is liquor licenses - tightly controlled and regulated in most places and often they are hard to come by (or expensive to purchase). Looks like salmon permits are relatively cheap these days, around 50k. If you have to ask how much the gear and seiners cost, you can't afford to play. A lot of the oil cleanup crews were carpetbaggers who came up just to work the spill, just like the good ol' pipeline boom days. Lots of people, including at least one Anchorage non-fisher friend of mine, bought boats to lease to Exxon. Everyone was scrambling to get in on the action and Exxon was spreading money around like chicken scratch. Except me - we left for a road trip about that time. Ran into a camper in NM whose husband was working the spill. She was carrying around a baby food jar of fresh crude he had mailed her. Talk about aromatic. We got the most friendly waves and honks with our Alaska plates that trip when we hit New Jersey, home of Capt. Hazelwood. I bet I've bought less than 20 gallons of Exxon in the last 20 years. One woman I've lost track of in Cordova lost her fishery (herring roe on kelp) to the spill. Last I heard the bank took her permit, but it's too long ago to depend on my memory. That's a shore fishery so she probably just worked it with an inexpensive skiff until the oil shut it down. All of which has zilch to do with the topic....

If Ford wanted to open a plant in San Antonio I'm sure they would be offered some sort of tax break. They were, in fact, offered some great tax incentives to keep open their Hazelwood, MO plant that makes the Explorer/Mountaineer/Aviator. ("Political and business leaders offer the automaker millions of dollars in incentives and in return Ford agrees to leave the Hazelwood plant open until 2007.") Despite this support, the plant closing was announced in January 2006, due to the fact that Ford's December 2005 "SUV sales levels (were) expected to be at their lowest since they were introduced in 15 years ago." Interestingly, at that plant the "average autoworker, with overtime, makes around $65,000, about double what the average Missouri resident makes each year." Reference: Hazelwood Plant Fact Sheet

When I read about the Ford plant in Hazelwood, MO, being closed, I thought I understood that Ford is getting out of the minivan business entirely. Did I misinterpret (or mis-remember)? ---------------------------------- I seem to recall hearing that too. But I think the Fairlane concept would be an excellent opportunity for Ford to re-enter the "minivan" market with something that didn't look like a minivan.

When I read about the Ford plant in Hazelwood, MO, being closed, I thought I understood that Ford is getting out of the minivan business entirely. Did I misinterpret (or mis-remember)?