Business in brief: Chief executive resigns at GM

Detroit – General Motors Co. Chief Executive Fritz Henderson stepped down Tuesday, signaling continued turmoil over turnaround efforts at the troubled automaker.

Board chairman Edward Whitacre Jr. will temporarily take over as CEO until a permanent replacement is found, GM said.

“We all agreed more changes were needed,” Whitacre told reporters at a news conference in Detroit.

Henderson, a longtime GM veteran, was named the top executive in March, following the removal of his predecessor, Rick Wagoner, at the hands of the Obama administration.

Los Angeles Times

Boeing 787 passes key test

Seattle – Boeing’s new 787 Dreamliner on Monday successfully completed the wing test the jet failed last May, and now looks set to fly before Christmas, according to two sources familiar with the test outcome.

Engineers are still analyzing data from the repeat test and haven’t yet given the official thumbs-up, but the composite fibers in the wing did not delaminate when it was bent to the same point as in the previous test, the sources said.

An initial look at the data suggests the structure performed as anticipated after a complex fix Boeing has worked on since postponing the scheduled first flight in June.

Boeing’s current target date for first flight is Dec. 22, according to people familiar with the plan.

Seattle Times

Brucellosis found in cow in Idaho

Boise – The infectious bacterial disease brucellosis has been found in a beef cow in eastern Idaho, and state agriculture officials are scrambling to see if the infection is isolated or if it has spread to other herds.

Idaho Department of Agriculture state veterinarian Bill Barton sent a memo to state animal health officials on Monday, saying that a beef cow from a newly assembled 600-head herd tested positive for brucellosis. No calves or bred females have been sold from the herd, according to Barton’s memo.

The herd has been quarantined and is being tested, and epidemiologists are trying to determine the source of the infection, Barton told the Associated Press on Tuesday.

Brucellosis is rarely transmitted to humans but can cause spontaneous abortions, infertility, decreased milk production and weight loss in cattle, elk, bison and other mammals.

Associated Press