Rockefeller Chairing Auto Hearing

Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., is slated to chair Wednesday's Commerce Committee hearing at which General Motors and Chrysler are expected to field questions "about sweeping plans to close hundreds of car dealerships as the auto companies undergo government-led bankruptcies," The Associated Press reports.

"The egregious time frame and terms of these franchise terminations seem unprecedented to me," Rockefeller said in a statement.

Rockefeller and his committee will also hear from a West Virginia dealer facing a double-whammy, both The Charleston Gazette and the Charleston Daily Mail report.

"We call it 'Spencer Auto Group' because we have Chrysler Dodge and Jeep and, on the GM side, Chevrolet, Buick and Pontiac," Pete Lopez told the latter newspaper. "The problem is they (the bankrupt automakers) are taking the franchises."

The Gazette also notes that Rockefeller's committees plans to webcast the afternoon hearing.

MetroNews also has an item on the hearing.