by Laura Conaway

From the auto industry's hometown paper: "Chrysler bankruptcy slams state." Whatever the company's long-term viability, reports the Detroit Free Press, in the short run "pain rained down on metro Detroit." Like this:

Three metro Detroit plants — Sterling Heights, Detroit Axle and Conner Assembly — are to close by December 2010, along with three other U.S. plants. While Obama billed it as a "surgical" bankruptcy, stamping plants in Sterling Heights and Warren shut down Thursday afternoon because suppliers stopped shipping parts out of fear they won't be paid.

Chysler plans to close all its American plants for 60 days, starting Monday, while it gets reorganized.