Inside Report (4)

August 13, 1982

And you thought sandbags helped prevent floods!

International Harvester, the No. 1 employer in Fort Wayne, Ind., plans to close one of its three truck plants. Unemployment would hit 21 percent in the city if the IH plant closes. It's offering to put up $15 million to keep the facility open, and has offers of aid from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development and the state of Indiana. Fort Wayne officials also hope to stuff sandbags -- left over from the March flood -- with 100,000 letters pleading to keep the plant open. They hope to truck the flood of letters to IH headquarters in Chicago for delivery Monday.''We're hoping just to overwhelm them,'' says a city spokeswoman. ''We want to do everything we can to keep the plant here.''