BRIEFS

MERRILL, Wisconsin (AP):Jurors have convicted a man accused of killing his mother in Lincoln County, USA, so he could collect an insurance payout. On Wednesday the jury convicted 25-year-old Chase Boruch of first-degree intentional homicide in his mother's death.

Boruch acknowledged on the witness stand that he staged a car crash at Moraine Lake in June 2010 to make his mother's death look like an accident so he could claim her insurance payouts.

But he maintained the death of his mother, 63-year-old Sally Pergolski, was indeed an accident. Boruch says he found his mother dead on the floor of her Wausau home after she appeared to have choked on a piece of meat.

WSAW-TV reports that an autopsy revealed that Pergolski died of a brain injury at least two hours before Boruch called 911.

__________________________________

Surprise sales in US

DETROIT (AP): Car dealers are getting a surprise end-of-the-year bonus. More Americans are replacing old cars and trucks, enlivening a normally sleepy time for auto sales and putting November on track to be the industry's strongest month of the year.

Dealers and analysts say people are finally getting rid of cars and trucks they've held onto for more than a decade. That demand, plus attractive lease deals, an ample supply of Japanese models and promotions on remaining 2011 models have drawn buyers to showrooms in large numbers the last two weeks.

___________________________________________

Chrysler banks on Jeep

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP): Chrysler is counting on a new Jeep sport-utility vehicle and its strong brand name to help withstand uncertainty in the European auto market and expand into new markets in China and Russia, the automaker's chief executive said on Wednesday.

The company announced plans to spend US$500 million at its Ohio assembly complex that will make the new model and add 1,100 jobs by late 2013. The expansion is part of a US$1.7 billion investment to build the new Jeep.

_____________________________________

Bike rider killed by plane

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP):

A man on a motorcycle who collided with a plane as it was landing on a rural airstrip in Guyana has died. Health Minister Leslie Ramsammy said Friday that 46-year-old farmer Winston Francis had lost his left arm and received severe injuries to the head and face.

Francis was riding along a road that intersects the rural airstrip when the collision occurred late Wednesday.

Authorities urged residents to take extra precautions while on the road as government officials met to talk about improving safety at airstrips in remote jungle communities. 

______________________________________________


Toyota starts US plant production

BLUE SPRINGS, MissiSSIpPi (AP): Toyota celebrated the start of Corolla production at its newest US auto plant on Thursday after a lengthy delay that the car maker blamed on the weak economy.

The ceremony formally marked the start of production last month, almost five years after Toyota Motor Corp. announced in February 2007 that it would build a sprawling facility in Blue Springs, a tiny town in the sparsely populated hills of north Mississippi.