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Melissa Cousineau | The Flint JournalJamila Stone is a freshman at University of Michigan - Flint living in the First Street Residence Halls. Stone who is from Washington DC can't believe the economy in Flint. She has been looking for a job and also is surprised that not many people walk much around here. She walked everywhere back home and describes walking to her grandmas house as a simliar distance from downtown to the Genesee Valley Mall.

FLINT, Michigan -- In her native Washington D.C., Jamila Stone usually perused shops, spent weekends at the movies, played ball in neighborhood parks and hopped on buses and trains to go everywhere.

Ishan Purani of Toronto is used to bustling city life -- streets packed with people and a wide variety of restaurants and shopping malls.

So Chrysler has identified General Motors as its next possible parent. On the surface, it would seem to make more sense for Chrysler than for GM.

Since Cerberus Capital Management bought 80.1 percent of Chrysler from Daimler in 2007, the private equity firm has had a quick lesson in the costs of running an automaker.

Global competition, new regulations being introduced all the time and the whims of consumers conspire to make it an industry suited only for those with strong constitutions and deep pockets.

Throw in the recent runup in fuel prices, and all three of the domestic automakers are facing significant trouble.

In Chrysler, GM would get a few notable prizes. Chrysler's three brands, Dodge, Jeep and Chrysler, all have their fans. The company also has a few top-shelf plants, such as in Belvidere, Ill.; Toledo, Ohio; Sterling Heights; and Brampton, Ontario.

GENESEE COUNTY, Michigan -- Two powerhouses in retail car sales both saw the news in Saturday morning's newspaper and both had a similar first- blush reaction:

General Motors and Chrysler talking merger now? You've got to be kidding.

Flint Mayor Don Williamson, whose wife owns Patsy Lou Buick GMC, and Joe Serra, president of Serra Automotive, said talks between GM and Chrysler shows almost anything is possible with auto stock prices in freefall last week, sales continuing to crash and companies of all kinds desperately trying to weather the storm.

"I don't discount anything now. These are very interesting times," said Serra, whose company operates Al Serra Auto Plaza in Grand Blanc Township and several other dealerships, including a Chrysler-Jeep outlet in Tennessee.

"I'm struggling a little bit to see ... what's the magic" in a merger? Serra said.

Both companies have too much capacity, no shortage of vehicle nameplates and too few vehicles customers are clamoring to buy.

Melissa Cousineau | The Flint JournalGeneral Motors retiree Dave Henderson of Flint staples Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama signs. Other retirees, their wives and volunteers helped assemble the signs as well.

GENESEE COUNTY, Michigan -- When UAW retiree Joe Couturier talks to his union brothers about the presidential campaign, he knows some of them are Reagan Democrats because of issues such as abortion and gun rights.

But this year, Couturier, 70, is part of a strong union push to bring back those working-class white voters to the Democratic Party and Sen. Barack Obama.

And the shaky economy might be providing the perfect backdrop for that effort.

"There's a lot of Republicans out there. We've got them in our own union halls," he said Friday. "But how can you say, 'We want to keep going like we are now?'

FLINT, Michigan -- Some drooled. Some barked. Most wagged their tails.

Sitting still was the hardest part for 50 dogs that participated Saturday in the Humane Society of Genesee County's 19th Annual Dog Walk-A-Thon. Before the dogs were taken on one- to two-mile walks around Mott Community College, they participated in a recall contest that required them to run 75 feet to their owners, then sit. Most of the dogs ran the course in no time but fell short when it came to sitting down.

Brown

IMLAY CITY, Michigan -- The cartoon about the farming industry was supposed to be funny.

"It read, 'what do I care if the farmer goes broke, I get my food from the grocery store,'" said Phyllis Brown, a fourth generation farmer.

Stuart Bauer | The Flint JournalAn Atlas Township firefighter surveys the scene on State Road at Hill Road in Atlas Township after a two-car crash injured two teenagers at 4 p.m. on Friday.

ATLAS TOWNSHIP, Michigan -- Police have identified the two teen drivers in a serious Friday afternoon accident and said that both remained hospitalized Saturday.

Leah Springsteen, 18, of the township, was in critical condition at Hurley Medical Center, said Captain Chris Swanson of the Genesee County Sheriff's Department.

FLINT TOWNSHIP, Michigan -- Almost one year exactly after she was diagnosed with breast cancer, Brenda Thompson of Flint laced up her white walking shoes Saturday and kept a promise to her family, her co-workers and herself.

Just days after her diagnosis in October 2007, Thompson's doctor told her then-11-year-old daughter that her mother would be at the Making Strides for Breast Cancer walk in 2008 and that the two of them would take on the 3.5-mile trek together.

Stuart Bauer | The Flint Journal A woman who wishes to be called Andrea (not her real name) has come to rely on her favorite magazine and a support group for help in dealing with AIDS.

This article is one of three parts in a series:

• The paradox of HIV/AIDS in Genesee County

• Sypillis continues to spread at record levels in Genesee County

• One Flint woman's tale of contracting HIV/AIDS

FLINT, Michigan -- Imagine being 18 years old.

Pregnant. Alone. Scared.

John W. Adkisson | The Flint Journal(From left) Joshua Odums, 14; Brooklyn Langston, 3; Tony Wells-Johnson, 15; and Jewel Langston, 12, listen to Sidney Bradford, program manager for YOUR Blessed Health Center during an HIV awareness session held during Sunday school at St. Peter Christian Methodist Episcopal Church in Flint. St. Peter is one of the churches involved in YOUR Blessed Health HIV program to train churches in HIV/AIDS education. "(We're) trying to help young people to learn about HIV and help the church feel comfortable in providing the information in a church setting, so that they have adults that they can go to and talk to," said YOUR Blessed Health Center Executive Director Bettina Campbell.

This article is one of three parts in a series:

• The paradox of HIV/AIDS in Genesee County

• Sypillis continues to spread at record levels in Genesee County

• One Flint woman's tale of contracting HIV/AIDS

GENESEE COUNTY, Michigan -- No one wants to open the door when Le'Sha' Tanimowo knocks.

Too often, the Genesee County public health nurse is bringing news that no one wants to hear: "You may be infected with HIV/AIDS."

Despite the perception that the disease is less of a threat, Tanomowo is knocking on more doors than ever these days -- and a growing number on the other side are teens and young adults.

The number of people living with HIV/AIDS is increasing an average of 5 percent a year in every age group in Genesee County.

But the figures are especially startling for young people.

Those under age 19 living with HIV/AIDS have increased 45 percent in Genesee County since 2000. The number of 20-24 year-olds has gone up 85 percent.

This article is one of three parts in a series:

• The paradox of HIV/AIDS in Genesee County

• Sypillis continues to spread at record levels in Genesee County

• One Flint woman's tale of contracting HIV/AIDS

GENESEE COUNTY, Michigan -- HIV/AIDS isn't the only sexually transmitted epidemic plaguing Genesee County.

Despite a public call to arms that began in April, syphilis is still spreading through the community at record levels, with 95 cases to date this year. In 2007, the county had a total of eight cases for the entire year.

Flint Journal feedback: Should a merger between GM and Chrysler take place. Vote in our poll and tell us your view in the comments area below.

The New York Times is reporting that General Motors is in preliminary talks about a possible merger with Chrysler, a deal that could drastically remake the landscape of the auto industry by reducing the Big Three of Detroit automakers to the Big Two.

The talks between GM and Cerberus Capital Management, the private equity firm that owns Chrysler, began more than a month ago, and the negotiations are not certain to produce a deal.

Two people close to the process said the chances of a merger were "50-50" as of Friday and most likely would still take weeks to work out.

A merger would be a historic event, with two of the most iconic names in American industry coming together to survive in an increasingly difficult environment.

Flint is the birthplace of General Motors, founded 100 years ago in a building now preserved as a historic place on Water Street by William C. "Billy" Durant.

News of merger talks came as a shock to current and recent GM workers.

Stuart Bauer | The Flint Journal

FLINT, Michigan -- Dort Highway is closed in both directions by a head-on collision involving a Genesee County paramedic vehicle near Lippincott Boulevard.

The crash happened about 10:50 p.m.

Officials at the scene said there were only minor injuries.

GENESEE COUNTY -- Renters will no longer be forced from their homes because of an eviction starting Monday -- a response to the deepening foreclosure crisis.

Sheriff Robert J. Pickell said he's placing a moratorium on enforcing all rental evictions because he's heard of situations where renters pay their rent on time, but are evicted because the houses are lost by their owners to foreclosure.

"We're not going to put these people out on the street," Pickell said. "That's cruel. We're going to build some compassion into the system."