Big 3 lays off more workers • GM shares offer to UAW • Police search for nonverbal 3-year-old boy with autism

TUESDAY NEWS HIT - All Big Three automakers laid off more employees this week as the UAW strike nears one month.

Ford said 71 Livonia Transmission Plant employees were laid off, effective Monday.

"This layoff is a consequence of the strike at Chicago Assembly Plant, because Livonia Transmission Plant must reduce its production of parts that would normally be shipped to Chicago Assembly Plant," the automaker said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Stellantis has laid off 520 people at the Trenton Engine Complex in Michigan and 50 at the Kokomo Casting plant in Indiana.

GM has also laid off 200 more workers.

The automakers are citing strikes targeting their plants as the reason for layoffs. The automakers have previously laid off other workers since the strike began Sept. 15.

Currently, UAW members at 43 facilities nationwide are on strike.

GM's latest offer to the UAW

Though some parts of GM's newest offer have been in existing offers, others, such as the reinstatement of cost of living adjustments, are new.

The automaker highlighted wage increases for both regular and temporary employees, along with changes to max wage progressions, and upped retirement contributions. 

This offer comes as the Big Three have been facing more additions to the picket line. Last week, GM narrowly avoided the union targeting its Arlington, Texas plant after agreeing to put its battery manufacturing plants under the UAW master agreement. 

See what the GM is offering the union:

Police search for 3-year-old with autism

A search is ongoing for a 3-year-old nonverbal Clinton County boy who wandered away from home Monday afternoon.

Authorities said the boy, whose name they did not share, is nonverbal. He left his home on S. Bauer Road just north of Clark Road in Watertown Township, which is north of Lansing, just after 2 p.m. As of Tuesday morning, the boy is still missing and volunteer search parties are headed out to continue to look for him.

The Clinton County Sheriff's Office said it was using specialized resources to search for the child, along with volunteer searchers. The office asked that residents in the area check their homes and outbuildings, and review their camera footage. Authorities say the boy climbs, so he could possibly be in a tree.

Anyone who sees the boy is asked to call 911.

Family says Michigan teen caught in Israel amid violence is helping

Amid the conflict escalating out of Israel, one family whose 18-year-old son was there when it was attacked over the weekend is feeling mixed emotions of fear and pride as he prepares for more carnage this week.

"I'm very worried," said Rachel Lopatin. "I'm scared for him, but I'm also very scared for all of our friends who have sons and husbands and nephews and brothers who were called in to fight."

Her son Judah was attending a seminary school in the Jewish state when early Saturday news reports came in of terrorist bombings and kidnappings. The surprise attack and violence directed toward civilians has shocked the world.

Read the latest on the conflict here.

Since then, Israel's leaders have declared they are at war and ordered its citizens to prepare to fight. For those caught in the middle of the fight, many have been called to the front lines. For Judah, his mom says he's had to take shelter multiple times.

New grocery store opens in Detroit

The first day of business for Raphael Wright was a busy one after opening a community grocery store on Detroit's east side.

Long starved of local food stores, the city suffers from a lack of available places to buy food and produce. But with the opening of Neighborhood Grocery on Manistique, Wright hopes to see "neighborhoods that look like mine" restored.

"I had a vision of rebuilding the neighborhood and that starts with food," he said.

And rebuilding started off with a sprint. He sold through so much food Sunday that the second of business on Monday - the only day the grocery store isn't open - was mostly spent restocking. However, he still had time to open up and serve a few more customers.

Live on FOX 2

Daily Forecast

Rain is likely this afternoon.

What else we're watching

1. The Eastpointe mayor will be sentenced Tuesday after fraudulently receiving a $10,000 grant. Monique Owens pleaded no contest last month.
2. A Macomb County nursing home employee is facing charges after a patient under her care choked to death in 2021.
3. The Edsel & Eleanor Ford House in Grosse Pointe Shores is celebrating the holiday season with a new winter event, "Home for the Holidays."
4. A shopper at the Bloomfield Township Kroger allegedly pulled a gun on another customer last week, police said.
5. Workers at three Metro Detroit nursing homes are striking. The strike at Four Seasons in Westland begins Tuesday.

Will oil and gas be impacted due to war in Israel? Expert weighs in

Relief for drivers is now in jeopardy following a surprise weekend attack on Israel by Hamas.

Experts say the newly-declared war in Israel could impact oil and gas prices at the American pumps, much as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine caused oil and gas prices to surge last year.

Traders already drove up the price of oil to more than 4 percent when markets opened after the weekend. Brent Crude Futures, the global benchmark rose to $87 a barrel. Meanwhile, U.S. marker West Texas Intermediate topped $85.

"There's so much disruption right now," Jay Young, an oil and gas expert, told LiveNOW from FOX. "We can really see oil move up to over $100 to $150 a barrel literally overnight if these interruptions continue on." 

While oil is not produced in the Gaza area and Israel produces only a small amount of oil for its own use, the Middle Eastern region accounts for almost a third of the global supply. Experts warn that prices could increase further if the fighting were to spread across the region. 

Read more here.

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