General Motors is recalling nearly 474,000 Chevrolet, Pontiac and Saturn cars to fix a transmission problem that can cause the cars to roll away unexpectedly.

The recall affects 2007-2010 Chevrolet Malibus, Pontiac G6s and Saturn Auras in the U.S., Canada and Mexico as well as a small number of exports. All the cars have four-speed automatic transmissions.

GM, which has an Allen County truck assembly plant, says part of the transmission cables can break. That can cause the shifter to show that the car is in park when it’s really in gear. GM says it knows of four crashes from the problem but no injuries.

Dealers will put a retainer over the end of the cables or replace them. Owners will be told by letter when to set up appointments with dealers.

The problem was discovered as GM gathered data for a U.S. government investigation of a similar problem with transmission cables on the same cars.

GM spokesman Alan Adler said that, as part of the recall, dealers will put retainer covers over both ends of the cables to fix both problems. In some cases, the whole cable will have to be replaced.

Gin Mill closes shop, files for bankruptcy

The Gin Mill Lounge, 3005 E. State Blvd., has gone out of business.

The establishment, which began as Alexander’s Restaurant decades ago, saw a rebirth in 2007. But an attorney for owner Sherrie Davis-Flaig said the business simply couldn’t survive in today’s economic climate.

“That’s about it,” said Douglas Adelsperger, a lawyer with the Fort Wayne firm of Skekloff, Adelsperger & Kleven.

Davis-Flaig filed Chapter 7 liquidation as KNS Acquisitions Inc. on Sept. 11 in the Fort Wayne division of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Indiana. She declined comment.

According to court documents, KNS Acquisitions has nearly $556,000 in debt but $91,608 in assets.

“(Davis-Flaig) would like to thank all of her customers for their patronage,” Adelsperger said.

Blackberry users deal with blackout

The chief executive of struggling BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion apologized Friday after an outage in Europe and Africa interrupted service for customers on the very day Apple Inc. released its new iPhone 5.

RIM announced the issues in postings on Facebook and Twitter on Friday and later said it resolved the issue. The service disruption lasted up to three hours for some BlackBerry users.

The outage brought up unpleasant memories of last year’s troubles with emails and chat messages that left many users bereft for up to three days.

The timing came as lines formed outside of Apple stores as the new iPhone 5 went on sale.

RIM shares plunged 6.5 percent.

Surack eyes new optical business

Local businessman Chuck Surack has acquired Longe Optical for an undisclosed sum.

Surack, president of Sweetwater Sound, said Friday he plans on spending at least $500,000 to revive the vision centers, which were struggling financially. Longe has four locations in Fort Wayne and one in Kendallville.

“I wanted to save the jobs,” he said, speaking of the 20 positions at the retail vision stores.

Surack said the business began in 1949.