Posted: 21 Aug 2009 09:21 PM PDT

Kerrville Police Department officers arrested a 23-year-old Kerr County man on charges of credit card abuse after he allegedly broke into a vehicle in the Guadalupe River RV Resort, stealing a credit card and making unauthorized purchases.

KPD officer Harry Holt was dispatched to the

2600 block of Junction Highway on Thursday morning at about 9:15.

He met with a female complainant who stated two of her vehicles had been broken into and her purse, dayplanner and CDs had been stolen.

The victim called her bank and was informed that her credit card had been used earlier that morning at a local auto parts store.

Detectives went to the store and learned a white male in his late 20s had been in the store and attempted to use a credit card that was rejected by the computer. He then tried another card, which also was rejected.

Store employees told police they had recommended the man go to another store and try the card there.

Officers drove to the second store and learned a man matching the description given at the first store had been there several hours before. The employees stated the man bought parts for a 1984 Chevy pickup truck, before getting in a truck and driving away. They described the truck as a silver 1984 Chevy.

As the officer was leaving the store, he noticed a 1984 Chevy matching the description pass him on Sidney Baker Street.

He stopped the driver in the H-E-B parking lot, and noticed he had boxes of auto parts in the truck matching the description of items purchased with the stolen credit card.

The man was placed under arrest and taken to the police station. While being questioned, the suspect volunteered information about several more vehicle break-ins that he was aware of, and to using the stolen credit card at several locations around town.

About the same time as the interrogation was being completed at KPD headquarters, three more burglaries of motor vehicles were reported to the station from the Guadalupe River RV Resort.

Several victims reported their vehicles had been burglarized. Among the items taken were a GPS navigational unit and CD cases.

Police have yet to charge the suspect with the burglaries, and may charge him when more evidence is processed.

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Premier Auction Group Heads West - Auto Remarketing

Posted: 24 Aug 2009 12:46 AM PDT

August 24, 2009

LAS VEGAS — The Premier Auction Group announced earlier this week that it will be expanding westward, as the company plans to open an auction in North Las Vegas in October.

"This is our first venture out west and will be the largest Premier auction in the chain" noted John Sullivan, vice president of PAG Investment Services, parent company of the Premier Auction Group.

The six-lane, 25,000-square foot facility will host auto, RV, marine and powersports sales.

"We are very excited to open in Las Vegas," he continued. "The location and attraction of Vegas presents an unlimited marketing strategy and great opportunity for us."

According to officials, Premier's Las Vegas Auction will be able to offer service to the entire Southwest region.

"The initial response from our customers and potential clients has been tremendous" shared Bob Hubregsen, president and owner of Premier. "Once again, we will be offering all of the services that our dealers expect, including live simulcast, in-house reconditioning, mechanical and transportation services with the personal attention that every Premier Auction is known for."

Managing the Las Vegas facility will be Paul McRae, who is the national accounts manager for Premier and general manager of Bay Auto Auction.

"Paul has been with us since day one," Sullivan stated. "His auction knowledge and expertise will make our October opening as seamless as possible for our customers."

Meanwhile, Matt Zientak, assistant general manager for Bay Auto Auction, will head up Bay AA.

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Auction/Wholesale

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July jobless rates hold mostly steady Marty Schladen The Journal ... - FortWayne.com

Posted: 22 Aug 2009 02:57 AM PDT

With two exceptions, unemployment fell in July across northeast Indiana, but the decrease was statistically insignificant in five counties.

The stabilizing employment picture, based on data released Friday by the state's Department of Workforce Development, is likely the result of improving RV sales and resumed production by General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLP.

LaGrange, Kosciusko, Noble, Steuben and Wabash counties saw their unemployment rates drop only 0.1 percentage point between June and July. Some of those counties still rank among the highest in unemployment of Indiana's 92 counties.

Adams and DeKalb counties saw increases in unemployment in July. In Adams County, the rate of joblessness rose 0.4 percentage point, to 15.2 percent, and in DeKalb County, it rose 0.3 percentage point, to 14.2 percent.

The biggest drop among the 11 counties was in Huntington County, where unemployment fell to 12.5 percent in July from 14.3 percent in June.

Some of the recovery is due to businesses such as United Technologies Corp.'s electronic controls plant and Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems LLC hiring back laid-off workers, said Mark Wickersham, executive director of Huntington County United Economic Development Corp.

"But if you're in that 12.5 percent, you're still feeling the pain," Wickersham said.

In Allen County, unemployment fell from 11.1 percent in June to 10.4 percent in July.

County unemployment rates aren't seasonally adjusted.

Statewide, non-seasonally adjusted unemployment was 10.4 percent in July, down 0.2 percentage point from June. The seasonally adjusted rate fell to 10.6 percent in July from 10.7 percent in June. It was 6 percent in July 2008.

In Ohio, the seasonally adjusted rate fell to 11.2 percent in July from 11.1 percent in June. County-level data won't be released until Tuesday.

Seasonally adjusted U.S. unemployment remained steady in July at 9.7 percent, but the rate in July 2008 was 5.8 percent.

Many officials say they're seeing a bottom to the recession. But during a visit to Fort Wayne last week, Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., said economists don't expect Indiana unemployment to peak until the second half of 2010.

Mark Lotter, spokesman for the Indiana Department of Workforce Development, said some improvements in northern Indiana in July could be traced to specific developments.

"There was definitely an increase in manufacturing statewide that's attributable to the GM and Chrysler emerging from bankruptcy," Lotter said.

About 2,600 workers at GM's plant in southwest Allen County returned to work in July after a 10-week layoff.

The Wells County unemployment rate dropped to 10.6 percent in July from 11.3 percent in June.

"Of course that impacted us," Mike Row, director of economic development for the Wells County Chamber of Commerce, said of the GM callback.

Row said workers in Wells County also are being hired by new businesses that will be announced soon. He said confidentiality agreements prevent him from giving details.

And as Allen County GM workers started making trucks again, 105 workers were called back in July to the Fort Wayne Foundry plant in Columbia City to make water pumps for GM. The plant, along with its sister facilities in Fort Wayne, was closed in late May.

Whitley County's unemployment rate for July fell 0.9 percentage point, to 12.9 percent.

Wickersham also attributed some of the improvement in Huntington County to the GM plant in operation again.

In Howard County, where Chrysler workers went back to work in July, unemployment fell 5 percentage points, to 14.7 percent.

In counties depending on the RV industry, improvement is expected in the coming months.

The industry was hit harder by the recession than the auto industry but will recover more quickly, Chuck Wilkinson, chief executive officer of Fleetwood RV Inc., said Wednesday.

Fleetwood plans to add 300 to its Decatur operations by mid-November.

And this month, Dometic LLC announced it would add 116 jobs making retractable awnings for RVs to its LaGrange operations.

LaGrange County unemployment was 15.7 percent in July, Indiana's third-worst. In March, LaGrange County had Indiana's worst unemployment at 18.8 percent.

At 16.6 percent, Noble County had Indiana's second-worst unemployment in July.

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