Four leading companies partner in support of education and workforce development mission NEWPORT NEWS, Va., Dec. 11, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the BayPort Foundation, Ferguson, Newport News Shipbuilding, a division of HII, and Virginia Natural Gas announced that the Newport News Education Foundation has been awarded the $500,000 Accelerating Change Together (ACT) Grant to support the Newport News Public Schools (NNPS) New Teacher Institute (NTI) program. The ACT Grant extends the four companies' existing charitable giving and social impact efforts to its education and workforce development mission. The three-year, $500,000 step-down grant will provide the funding necessary for NTI to answer the regional call to build a workforce pipeline to expand its new first—and second-year teacher programs. It will also fund the development of a model program, provide credentialing assistance, and invest in Career and Technical Education and English as a Second Language teachers. The ACT Grant will assist the Newport News Education Foundation in raising funding to guarantee support for the NTI program. The expiration of the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds could have several consequences as districts look to trim expenses and consolidate operations. ESSER was a one-time emergency relief program designed to support K-12 schools in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Twenty-one nonprofits submitted an ACT Grant application. The Contributions Committee selected the Newport News Education Foundation application based on its ability to address the specific needs outlined in the ACT Grant application, including a sound financial investment and an original, innovative, and sustainable project plan to impact a target population/community. The ACT Grant initiative launched in 2022, and the first recipient was the Virginia Beach Education Foundation and Virginia Beach City Public Schools (VBCPS), new two-year, half-day Advanced Technology Center Renewable Energy Technologies program. For additional information on the ACT Grant, please visit actgrant.org . B-roll of the NNPS NTI program facility and check presentation is available upon request. About BayPort Foundation BayPort Foundation is the charitable arm of BayPort Credit Union, headquartered in Newport News, Virginia and was established to extend the credit union's philosophy of "people helping people." The Foundation is an extension of the credit union's charitable giving. BayPort Credit Union commits more than half a million dollars in annual corporate donations and pays all the Foundation's overhead to ensure that 100% of the Foundation donations support its mission. For more information, visit bayportfoundation.org . About Ferguson Ferguson (NYSE: FERG; LSE: FERG) is the largest value-added distributor serving the specialized professional in our $340B residential and non-residential North American construction market. We help make our customers' complex projects simple, successful and sustainable by providing expertise and a wide range of products and services from plumbing, HVAC, appliances and lighting to PVF, water and wastewater solutions and more. Headquartered in Newport News, Va., Ferguson has sales of $29.6 billion (FY'24) and approximately 35,000 associates in nearly 1,800 locations. For more information, please visit corporate.ferguson.com . About HII HII is a global, all-domain defense provider. HII's mission is to deliver the world's most powerful ships and all-domain solutions in service of the nation, creating the advantage for our customers to protect peace and freedom around the world. As the nation's largest military shipbuilder, and with a more than 135-year history of advancing U.S. national security, HII delivers critical capabilities extending from ships to unmanned systems, cyber, ISR, AI/ML and synthetic training. Headquartered in Virginia, HII's workforce is 44,000 strong. For more information, please visit hii.com . About Virginia Natural Gas Virginia Natural Gas is one of four natural gas distribution companies of Southern Company Gas, a wholly owned subsidiary of Southern Company (NYSE: SO). Virginia Natural Gas provides natural gas service to nearly 300,000 customers in southeast Virginia. Named a Top Workplace in 2024, Virginia Natural Gas also has been recognized as one of the safest, most reliable and customer-focused natural gas service providers and is consistently ranked in the top quartile for customer satisfaction by J.D. Power and Associates. For more information, visit virginianaturalgas.com . View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/500-000-act-grant-awarded-to-fund-newport-news-public-schools-new-teacher-institute-program-302329370.html SOURCE BayPort Credit Union
US goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher is retiring from international soccer
CBC is restoring its live New Year’s Eve celebration. A year after the national broadcaster cancelled the 2024 countdown due to “financial pressures,” it says the special event is back on the TV schedule to mark the dawn of 2025. Festivities begin Dec. 31 with the one-hour “22 Minutes New Year’s Eve Pregame Special,” a satirical reflection on the events of 2024 with the cast of the political comedy series “This Hour Has 22 Minutes.” It will be followed by “Canada Live! Countdown 2025,” a special hosted by news anchor Adrienne Arsenault and singer Jann Arden broadcasting live from Toronto’s Harbourfront Centre, and anchor Ian Hanomansing and comedian Ali Hassan at Vancouver’s VanDusen Botanical Garden. A representative for the CBC says the coast-to-coast show will feature reporters at more than a dozen community events across the country while a countdown to the new year will take place in each of the six time zones. Throughout the seven-and-a-half-hour program, “many Canadian celebrity guests” will appear in live and pre-taped messages. “Canada Live! Countdown 2025” begins at 8 p.m. ET on CBC News Network and CBC Gem with CBC-TV and CBC Radio picking up the feed at 9 p.m. in local markets. Last year, the CBC replaced its live New Year’s Eve programming with a taped Just For Laughs special hosted by comedian Mae Martin. That left Canadians without a homegrown countdown on any of the major networks, which sparked blowback on social media from some viewers. The CBC began its annual specials in 2017 to mark Canada’s sesquicentennial year. Some of the more recent broadcasts were hosted by comedian Rick Mercer and featured fireworks and musical performances in key cities. But when CBC paused those plans last year, it said the show had become “increasingly expensive to produce.” The decision to sideline the program was made shortly after members of Parliament summoned outgoing CBC president Catherine Tait to testify about job cuts and her refusal to rule out bonuses for CBC executives.
Nick Saban shocked viewers with his take on the college football flag-planting row. The Big Ten fined Michigan and Ohio State $100,000 each after a brawl overshadowed the Wolverines' incredible 13-10 upset of the No. 2 seed. Michigan players started the fracas by planting their flag at midfield in The Horseshoe, with fans divided over whether such acts should be banned. Saban 's belief that the fines went too far was not a particularly hot take - but his choice of words raised some eyebrows. "First of all, I think we need guidelines," the 73-year-old began. "But to fine these schools $100,000 dollars is like worrying about mouse manure when you're up to your ears in elephant s***." Saban later insisted that stamping out flag-planting drama is for the good of the game. "I would be much more upset with my team planting a flag, because I think coaches can control that," he added. "If you tell your team, 'We're not doing this.' They're not doing it. "It's like faking injuries, they can stop that, they can stop this, and I think it's good for the game that we do stop it." The fight lasted for around five minutes and police officers used pepper spray to restore control. Ohio State University police said that one officer was injured, with coaches and players left bloodied. "Not only did the actions of both teams violate fundamental elements of sportsmanship such as respect and civility, the nature of the incident also jeopardized the safety of participants and bystanders," the Big Ten said via a statement. "What happened post-game yesterday was unfortunate," Ohio State said accepting the decision. "Good sportsmanship is always important in everything we do at Ohio State. "Moving forward, we will continue to examine and address our post-game protocols to ensure our student-athletes, coaches, visiting teams and staff safely exit the field." Buckeyes coach Ryan Day, whose record against Michigan fell to 1-4, put all the blame on the Wolverines. “I don’t know all the details of it, but I know that these guys are looking to put a flag on our field, and our guys weren’t going to let that happen,” he said. “I’ll find out exactly what happened, but this is our field. "Certainly, we’re embarrassed with the fact that we lost the game, but there’s some prideful guys on this team that just weren’t going to let this happen.” The ESPN cameras are in Georgia today as the 11-1 Texas Longhorns take on the 10-2 Bulldogs. Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers and Georgia's Carson Beck are both hopeful of going in the first round of next year's NFL Draft. Beck's stock has taken a slide this year but a strong showing in Saturday's collision between two top-five seeds could see him move up boards.2024 MLS Playoff GlanceA timing mess-up has left dozens of Coalition MPs scratching their heads waiting for Peter Dutton to brief them on the party’s nuclear costings. MPs were told of an online party room meeting at 10am AEST. Most took this to mean 10am AEDT, or “daylight savings time”, so a big group of MPs including frontbenchers Dan Tehan and Michaelia Cash logged onto the call. Tehan and others spoke on the hook-up trying to figure out when it was starting. Chief whip Bert Van Manen, a Queensland member, then clarified in a party WhatsApp group at about 10.20am that the meeting was actually beginning at 10am Brisbane time. He told the group to come back at 11am Sydney, Melbourne and Tasmania time. “Yeah we are going to build seven nuclear plants on time...” one MP said of the mess-up. Dutton was due to address the media in Brisbane at 9.30am AEST. It wasn’t just the Coalition dodging questions this morning, with Labor frontbenchers Chris Bowen and Bill Shorten playing coy on the broken 2022 election promise that power bills would come down by $275 by 2023. Energy Minister Chris Bowen was asked if he regretted making the promise in 2022, but he was keen to redirect the question to discuss the cost of renewable energy. Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen “I don’t regret obviously pointing out that renewables are the cheapest form of energy,” Bowen said. “I look forward to debating the competing plans before the Australian people at the next election.” Pushed to answer the question again, Bowen said we were dealing with “a different set of circumstances internationally” post-2022. “Australia’s increase in energy prices has been less than a lot of other comparable countries. We delivered billions of dollars of energy bill relief, which has been the appropriate thing to do, which has been opposed by the Liberal and National Party.” Asked about the promise on Nine’s Today , NDIS Minister Bill Shorten also opted to pivot to the Coalition’s nuclear plan. “We know that energy prices are part of the cost-of-living pressure on families. That’s why I think that the heroic assumptions of Peter Dutton promising some fanciful solution in 25 years’ time is just a crock,” Shorten said. “The idea we’re going to come from scratch and build a whole nuclear industry in Australia is, you know, just a fantasy.” The wait is over for Queensland’s year 12 graduates, with school-leavers across the state receiving their Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) results this morning. This year, 28,845 graduates received an ATAR – about 1000 more than last year – with 36 students achieving a top result of 99.95. ATARs were made available to eligible students through Queensland Tertiary Admission Centre (QTAC). Big smiles for Lachlan Howie and Kaiyu Su, two of the 36 students in Queensland to receive top ATAR scores of 99.95. Credit: QTAC Seventeen-year-old Brisbane Girls Grammar graduate Kaiyu Su was among those to achieve the top score. “I was definitely hoping for it but it’s been great to see that it’s a 99.95,” she said. “[I’m] definitely very happy and excited for where it might take me.” Read the full story. Queensland year 12 graduates are getting their ATAR results this morning, providing their ticket to tertiary study. But the Queensland government has not released the full data for year 12 results for years. The information released today in Queensland will include overall figures for the state, such as how many students received an ATAR and how many got the top rank of 99.95. Hardly illuminating. In comparison, our colleagues at The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age can access individual school data, which they can use to celebrate wins, including when students get great results against the odds. Queensland journalists can only get school-by-school data if they contact each school individually, and putting aside resourcing issues in stretched newsrooms for a minute, it would hardly be surprising if only the top-performing schools were happy to share – and we all know how controversial these media-created league tables are, especially if they lack context about a school’s socio-economic background. Without the full data, we can’t understand individual school data in its proper context and explain it. This was not always the case in Queensland. Before the OP system was swapped for ATARs, the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority released a more than 200-page report showing how many students received OPs in each bracket at each individual school , but this was discontinued in 2021 under the ATAR system, with a brief Queensland-wide report now produced. NSW and Victoria also use ATAR, but release more comprehensive results than the Sunshine State. Amid our constraints, Brisbane Times journalist Courtney Kruk has put together a story celebrating the achievements of this year’s graduates. We’d love to have brought you even more. Two of the ABC’s most well-known broadcasters, Patricia Karvelas and Michael Rowland, have signed off for the final time from their respective morning programs. Rowland wrapped up nearly 15 years at ABC News Breakfast helm in an emotional final bulletin surrounded by his family and colleagues. ABC News Breakfast host Michael Rowland has signed off after 15 years in the role. Credit: ABC “Thank you very much, It’s been wonderful,” said Rowland. “I have been genuinely touched and overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and affection from our viewers. One of my great achievements over the last 15 years has been building up this fantastic audience.” Meanwhile, Karvelas signed off after three years hosting ABC’s flagship morning radio show RN Breakfast. “You’ve been there with me throughout great change in our country and the world, and I want to thank you for it,” Karvelas said, thanking listeners and the Radio National team. Karvelas reflected on her “uniquely Australian” story, growing up in a household where she didn’t speak English. Patricia Karvelas has been filling in as host since Grant’s departure and will now stay in the chair until the end of the year. Credit: Scott McNaughton “Because of a strong public education system and dedicated teachers and incredible family support, I got to grow up and host a national radio show where rigour and curiosity is at the centre of what we do,” she said. Karvelas wished the best of luck to her replacement Sally Sara. “I’ll be listening because I care about this show, and I care about journalism, and I care about telling the truth in a world where the truth is not to be contested.” Coalition frontbenchers have avoided promising energy bills will be cheaper if they win government, as Opposition Leader Peter Dutton prepares to reveal the costings of his signature nuclear policy later today. Nationals Senator Bridget McKenzie and MP Barnaby Joyce were both asked if they would pledge power would be cheaper under the Coalition, but both dodged the question. McKenzie was asked on Nine’s Today , where she first said that the price is attached to the “cost of delivering something”. “And our plan is absolutely cheaper than Labor’s plan to get to 2050,” she said. Asked again if the Coalition would bring down power bills, McKenzie weaved again, saying prices would come down in the longer term. “By adding net zero nuclear to firm up the renewables that we’ve got in the grid as well, is the way to actually get prices down over the long term,” she said. Joyve was asked the same question on ABC’s RN Breakfast. On the fifth iteration of the question, would power bills come down under the Coalition, Joyce finally answered: “That is asking for a hypothetical question, which I could answer you, but I would not be telling the truth, because I don’t have the facts before me.” Airports around the country are bracing for chaos as hundreds of Qantas engineers walk off the job. But the airline has assured customers there will be no impact on their travel plans on one of the busiest travel days of the year. About 500 workers from three different unions began a 24-hour strike action at 3.30am this morning. It’s expected to impact major airports across the country, including Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide, and will end at 7.30am on Saturday. Friday marks the first day of the six-week summer travel period when 13.5 million travellers pass through Australia’s domestic airports. It’s also the first day of school holidays in Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia. The striking workers, responsible for the towing and marshalling of planes, are calling for a 5 per cent per year pay increase over 5 years after what they say is 3.5 years of frozen wages. Qantas says it has put forward a competitive package with 3 per cent per year over three years, with negotiations now at a stalemate. Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union National Secretary Steve Murphy says industrial action was the only way to get Qantas to the bargaining table. It’s been six weeks since the last strike. “Workers have no other choice. They will be taking industrial action to bring Qantas back to the bargaining table,” Murphy said. “Qantas is to blame if there’s any disruption to commuters over the holiday period. They have had six weeks to simply do what they said they would.” A Qantas spokesperson said a number of contingencies are in place to prevent delays. “Around 160 aircraft maintenance engineers are rostered on during Friday’s industrial action, and only members of the alliance unions can take industrial action,” said Qantas. The spokesperson noted there were no delays or cancellations during the previous strikes. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese took time out of his busy pre-Christmas schedule to join the farewell party for Sammy J on ABC Radio in Melbourne this morning, where he wasted no time using his appearance to go into political attack mode. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Credit: Kate Geraghty “It’s Friday the 13th, an auspicious day, I’ve got to say, for Peter Dutton to drop his nuclear nightmare policy out there,” Albanese said, bypassing the pleasantries and bonhomie in favour of dropping a bomb on the opposition leader. “Oh, so straight into it,” said Sammy J. “Have you had a sneak peek [at Dutton’s nuclear power plan]?” he asked. “I had a look at some of the fiction that’s out there,” the PM replied, claiming nuclear power would not lead to savings on the cost of household power but rather “increase bills by $1200”. “The truth is that renewables are the cheapest form of new energy. Everyone knows that’s the case. The science tells us that that’s the case. The economists tell us that’s the case.” The Brisbane City Council has offered sandbags to residents in the city’s tidal flood areas before a predicted anomaly from Sunday through to Tuesday next week. The council advised residents that tide peaks were expected to reach similar levels to September this year, and that “minor localised flooding may be experienced in bayside, riverside, and low-lying parts of nearby suburbs”. Sandbags were also made available for locals, and those in low-lying foreshore and riverside areas were warned to avoid parking their cars on the street. The higher-than-average tides were also expected to impact creeks within bayside suburbs.
An archbishop's knock formally restores Notre Dame to life as winds howl and heads of state look onTORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 12, 2024-- Sierra Metals Inc . (TSX: SMT | OTCQX: SMTSF | BVL: SMT) (“Sierra Metals” or the “Company”) announces that it will hold a special meeting of shareholders (the “Special Meeting”) on January 31, 2025. The Company has set a record date for the Special Meeting of December 30, 2024. The purpose of the Special Meeting is to seek authorization from the Company’s shareholders to enable the Board of Directors (the “Board”) to consider a consolidation of all of the Company’s issued and outstanding common shares (“Common Shares”) at a ratio of one post‐consolidation share for up to every twenty pre‐consolidation shares (the “Consolidation”). Shareholders will be requested at the Special Meeting or any adjournment thereof, to consider and, if thought fit, pass, with or without amendment, a special resolution approving the Consolidation. Following the Special Meeting, the Board expects to exercise its discretion to implement the Consolidation on such a date and time as the Board may determine. Additional details in respect of the proposed Consolidation will be included in a management information circular which is being mailed to shareholders in compliance with applicable laws and will be available under the Company’s profile on SEDAR+ ( www.sedarplus.ca ). The Board believes it is in the best interests of the Company to be in a position to complete the Consolidation to provide the Company with greater flexibility for future corporate activities, enhance the marketability of the Common Shares as an investment and lead to increased interest by a broader spectrum of potential investors, thereby increasing the Company’s ability to secure additional financing for operational and growth initiatives. Over the past 24 months, Sierra Metals has successfully stabilized, optimized and improved its operations, resulting in a lower cost structure, increased efficiencies and profitability across the Company. During this period, the Company, among its many achievements, has safely delivered the following: Ernesto Balarezo, CEO of Sierra Metals, comments, “ Over the past two years, Sierra Metals has been diligently delivering strong operating and financial results in a safe and responsible manner. Our strong financial position has us well positioned to focus on a period of organic growth at our two mines. The momentum we have generated across our business is poised to continue in 2025. As we embark on our next phase of growth, we believe the proposed share consolidation will provide an attractive entry point for potential new institutional investors and retail shareholders.” The implementation of any Consolidation is subject to Sierra Metals receiving all required approvals, including support from shareholders at the upcoming Special Meeting, and the approval of the Toronto Stock Exchange. If the approvals required for the Consolidation are obtained and the Board decides to implement the Consolidation, the Consolidation will occur at a time determined by the Board and additional information in respect of the Consolidation will be announced by the Company. About Sierra Metals Sierra Metals is a Canadian mining company focused on copper production with additional base and precious metals by-product credits at its Yauricocha Mine in Peru and Bolivar Mine in Mexico. The Company is intent on safely increasing production volume and growing mineral resources. Sierra Metals has recently had several new key discoveries and still has many more exciting brownfield exploration opportunities in Peru and Mexico that are within close proximity to the existing mines. Additionally, the Company has large land packages at each of its mines with several prospective regional targets providing longer-term exploration upside and mineral resource growth potential. For further information regarding Sierra Metals, please visit www.SierraMetals.com . Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information relates to future events or the anticipated performance of Sierra and reflect management's expectations or beliefs regarding such future events and anticipated performance based on an assumed set of economic conditions and courses of action. In certain cases, statements that contain forward-looking information can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", "believes" or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might", or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved" or the negative of these words or comparable terminology. By its very nature forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual performance of Sierra to be materially different from any anticipated performance expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking information, including, without limitation, the risks described under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's annual information form dated March 15, 2024 for its fiscal year ended December 31, 2023 and other risks identified in the Company's filings with Canadian securities regulators, which are available at www.sedarplus.ca . The risk factors referred to above are not an exhaustive list of the factors that may affect any of the Company's forward-looking information. Forward-looking information includes statements about the future and is inherently uncertain, and the Company's actual achievements or other future events or conditions may differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking information due to a variety of risks, uncertainties and other factors. The Company's statements containing forward-looking information are based on the beliefs, expectations, and opinions of management on the date the statements are made, and the Company does not assume any obligation to update such forward-looking information if circumstances or management's beliefs, expectations or opinions should change, other than as required by applicable law. For the reasons set forth above, one should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. View source version on businesswire.com : https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241212228164/en/ CONTACT: Investor Relations Sierra Metals Inc. +1 (866) 721-7437 info@sierrametals.com KEYWORD: NORTH AMERICA CANADA INDUSTRY KEYWORD: MINING/MINERALS NATURAL RESOURCES SOURCE: Sierra Metals Inc. Copyright Business Wire 2024. PUB: 12/12/2024 05:00 PM/DISC: 12/12/2024 04:58 PM http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241212228164/en
