Opinion: The Senate goes wobbly on card check, by Kimberley A. Strassel, Wall Street Journal, January 2, 2009
New York—It hasn't been much noticed, but the political ground is already shifting under Big Labor's card-check initiative. The initial union strategy was to whip this through before Americans understood the debate, but in that they've already failed. The more time goes on, the more likely this issue turns into trench warfare.

Steel industry, in slump, looks to federal stimulus, by Louis Uchitelle, New York Times, January 1, 2009
New York—Steel industry executives are waiting anxiously for details of President-elect Barack Obama’s stimulus plan, and adding their voices to pleas for a huge public investment program — up to $1 trillion over two years — intended to lift demand for steel to build highways, bridges, electric power grids, schools, hospitals, water treatment plants and rapid transit.

• Steel makers peak, then slump in '08, by Daniel Lovering, AP via Akron Beacon Journal, January 2, 2009

General Motors gets first installment of U.S. loan, by Kimberly S. Johnson, AP via Cleveland Plain Dealer, December 31, 2008
Detroit—General Motors Corp. received its first multibillion dollar loan installment from the U.S. Treasury Department Wednesday night, right in time to avert a financial disaster.

Opinion: Let Detroit build profitable cars, by Holman W. Jenkins, Jr., Wall Street Journal, December 31, 2008 (Subscription)
New York—An alternative to the proposed bailouts is freeing auto makers to build cars for a profit, rather than to meet regulatory mandates. Foreign automakers have been building profitable small cars in this country by paying fines for violating CAFE regulations. But the Big 3 have opted not to adopt that strategy. CAFE is an idiotic scheme that has done little to reduce gasoline demand or oil imports.

Opinion: Why Detroit has an especially bad union problem, by Logan Robinson, Wall Street Journal, December 31, 2008 (Subscription)
New York—As the Obama administration takes the helm, the key political question is whether the Democratic Party, which has so benefited from union support, will have the courage to push the UAW into a more reasonable relationship with the Detroit Three.

Opinion: State of warming, Akron Beacon Journal, December 30, 2008
Akron—Environment Ohio recently released its report ''What's at Stake: How Global Warming Threatens the Buckeye State.'' According to the report, if Ohio were a country, it would rate 24th worldwide in emitting greenhouse gases. It already ranks 4th among the 50 states.

Limits on textiles from China to end, by Lisa Zagaroli, McClatchy Newspapers via Cleveland Plain Dealer, December 30, 2008
Washington—Textile manufacturer executives worry that tough competition from China will get far worse when the remaining U.S. limits on imports of certain textile products expire. The quotas expire at the end of this year, and, under a World Trade Organization agreement, the U.S. government can't re impose restrictions on Chinese textiles.

JumpStart invests in 35th startup, Akron Beacon Journal, December 30, 2008
Cleveland—JumpStart Inc. announced a $400,000 investment in Wireless Environment of Elyria. The company is developing and patenting technologies for use in a wide range of lighting products that use light emitting diodes (LEDs).

Wind power leads green push in Ohio, AP via Springfield News Sun, December 29, 2008
Dayton—As Ohio looks for way to go green, it has a number of alternative energy sources it could tap to help produce power. Topping the list for now is wind power, which so far is attracting the most interest from outside investors.

Year in Review: Amid clouds, some brightness: Jeep suffers slowdown as solar firms grow, by Homer Brickey, Toledo Blade, December 28, 2008
Toledo—Amid pluses and minuses for the regional economy, Toledo's evolution from a traditional "glass capital" into a center for solar glass continued this year.

Opinion: Population squeeze, Toledo Blade, December 28, 2008
Toledo—Ohio and Michigan are facing more than a brain drain - they are suffering from a relative population hemorrhage that threatens to doom both states to increasing political irrelevance. Midwestern demographers and politicians are muttering about what can be done about this, but the only real answer is a simple, yet difficult, four-letter word: Jobs.

Opinion: Sun on the horizon, Toledo Blade, December 28, 2008
Toledo—Area residents should take heart in the knowledge that the future is not as dark as Toledo's gloomy winter weather. There is a sun on the horizon capable of powering northwest Ohio's economic recovery.

Could Ohio become 'Silicon Valley of alternative energy'? by Steve Bennish, Dayton Daily News, December 28, 2008
Dayton—In some respects, the race for wind power conjures up the days of wildcatters searching for untapped oil deposits. Company reps armed with wind maps are combing high ground, signing up farmers for the right to locate wind turbines on their land.

Slew of hybrids set to headline Detroit show, by Brent Snavely, Detroit Free Press via Akron Beacon Journal, December 28, 2008
Detroit—With Toyota set to debut a concept version of a battery-powered electric vehicle and a slew of new hybrids slated to be unveiled, it's becoming clearer Detroit's 2009 auto show will be less about sexy designs and powerful 16-cylinder engines.