Latest news with #Alerts
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Ontario to back ‘handful' of mineral projects with $500M fund
The Ontario government plans to make big-ticket investments in 'three or four' critical minerals processing projects using $500 million allocated in the province's 2025 budget, according to Vic Fedeli, Ontario minister of economic development, job creation and trade. The narrow focus of the Critical Minerals Processing Fund will let the province make large contributions to a 'handful' of major projects, as opposed to delivering small-scale support to many, Fedeli told Automotive News Canada. 'There are many, many mines in Ontario that want to open, and we want to make sure that every ounce of ore that comes out of the ground gets processed here in Ontario.' Sign up for Automotive News Canada Breaking Alerts and be the first to know when big news breaks in the Canadian auto industry. The province's latest budget, introduced at Queen's Park in mid-May, received royal assent June 5. The province is already taking applications for the new fund, Fedeli said, pointing to nickel-mining projects in Sudbury and Timmins, as well as developments in the Ring of Fire region 500 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay as possible candidates for a share of the $500 million. The fund is not directly tied to the province's electric-vehicle battery supply chain, but the nascent sector looks likely to benefit from the provincial investment capital. Fedeli pointed to Frontier Lithium's planned processing plant in Thunder Bay as an example of the type and scale of the projects that the new fund will support. The Ontario company is developing a lithium mine about 500 kilometres northwest of Thunder Bay and a conversion plant that will process mined material into battery-ready lithium salts in the city. The provincial government committed up to $160 million, separately from the new fund, in March to the processing portion of the project. Meanwhile, Ontario intends to designate the mineral-rich Ring of Fire as a so-called special economic zone 'as quickly as possible,' Premier Doug Ford said June 5. Ford said he and several ministers will consult all summer with First Nations about the new law that allows the Ontario government to suspend provincial and municipal rules before making the designation. 'We need to start moving on that,' Ford said of the designation for the Ring of Fire. The law seeks to speed up the building of large projects, particularly mines. Ford's government has committed $1 billion to develop the Ring of Fire. Three First Nations have signed various agreements with the province to help build roads to the region, as well as develop the area where it connects to the provincial highway system. However, First Nations across Ontario have risen up to protest the province's new law, livid about what what they describe as the government's audacity to strip away any law it sees fit for any project at any time. They say it tramples their treaty rights and ignores their concerns. The First Nations want to be part of development, including mines, but want to be equal partners with the province on the legislative side. — The Canadian Press contributed to this report.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Canadian battery recycler Li-Cycle puts itself up for sale as cash runs low
Li-Cycle Holdings Corp. is seeking a buyer for either its business or assets as it runs low on cash and a possible tie up with mining giant Glencore has failed to materialize. The Toronto-based battery recycling startup, which has ties with General Motors, said May 1 that it has hired Hilco Corporate Finance to assist in finding a buyer for all or part of the company. Failing to secure a deal could force Li-Cycle to seek creditor protection, the company warned. 'Considering the company's current circumstances, Li-Cycle, will need to significantly modify or terminate its operations and may need to dissolve and liquidate its assets under applicable insolvency laws or otherwise file for insolvency protection,' the company said in a statement. Sign up for Automotive News Canada Breaking Alerts and be the first to know when big news breaks in the Canadian auto industry. Founded in 2016, Li-Cycle expanded rapidly through late 2023, building shredding plants to process battery manufacturing scrap and end-of-life lithium ion batteries from electric vehicles and electronics. The plants in Canada, the United States and Europe represented the first phase in the company's two-stage process for readying valuable metals such as lithium, nickel and cobalt for reuse in new batteries. General Motors has a vested interest in Li-Cycle. Ultium Cells LLC, a joint venture between General Motors and LG Energy Solution, announced an agreement in 2021 that saw Li-Cycle agree to recycle up to 100 per cent of the material scrap from battery cell manufacturing. Then, in 2022, Li-Cycle received a $50-million investment from the automaker's battery suppliers LG Chem and LG Energy Solution. The company was partway through construction on a chemical plant in Rochester, Ny. that would carry out the second stage in its recycling process, when cost overruns forced it to pause work in November 2023. The company has been unable to secure adequate financing to complete the project, despite locking in a $475-million loan from the U.S. Department of Energy in November 2024. In March, the recycling company and longtime partner Glencore began talks about a 'potential transaction involving Li-Cycle,' but to date, the two sides have not reached an agreement. Retaining Hilco will broaden the company's search for a buyer, but Li-Cycle warned that 'no assurances can be made as to whether any such buyers will be found.' Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Yahoo
Who Killed Amber Hagerman? What We Know About the Still-Unsolved Case That Inspired AMBER Alerts
It's been almost three decades since Amber Hagerman was abducted and killed in Arlington, Texas. On Jan. 13, 1996, 9-year-old Amber and her younger brother, Ricky, were riding their bicycles around a parking lot. Ricky decided to return to their grandparents' house, but Amber did not make it back with him. Her body was found four days later near a creek roughly six miles from where she had been abducted, per The New York Times. "Finding Amber's body is a sad moment I'll never forget," Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson previously told PEOPLE. Despite efforts by investigators and her family, the case is still unsolved. In response to Amber's heart-wrenching case, a Texas mom named Diana Simone had the idea to create an emergency system for abducted children, similar to a weather or civil defense alert. After the pitch was picked up by the Child Alert Foundation, AMBER (America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response) Alerts were created. The system went into development in 1996 and is still used today. "It's a shame my daughter had to be butchered and had to go through what she went through for us to have the AMBER Alert, but I know she would be proud of it," Amber's mother, Donna Williams, told Yahoo News in 2016. On the 25th anniversary of her disappearance, in January 2021, Arlington Police held a news conference in the parking lot where Amber was abducted. They honored the young girl's legacy and assured her family and the public that they were still looking for Amber's killer. 'I miss her voice. I miss her touch. I miss her hugs,' Williams said, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. 'I remember everything about her. There's nothing I've forgotten about her." Here's everything to know about Amber Hagerman and how her murder led to the creation of AMBER Alerts. Amber Hagerman was born on Nov. 25, 1986, in Arlington, Texas, to Richard Hagerman and Donna Williams (at the time of Amber's disappearance, Williams went by the name Whitson). Williams left Hagerman in 1994, according to WFAA-TV. Amber was 9 years old when she was abducted. Williams described Amber to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in 2021 as an 'innocent and sweet little girl' who loved being like a 'little mommy' to her younger brother, Ricky. She was a Girl Scout who loved writing, Barbies, the Disney princess Pocahontas and her pink bike. Her third-grade classmates at Barry Elementary in Arlington described her as 'pretty' and 'nice," according to a National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) blog post. Months before her abduction, Amber, Ricky and Williams, who at the time was a single mother working toward her GED, were interviewed by WFAA-TV for a special on welfare reform. In the piece, Amber showed off her scrapbook, which included awards for good grades and attendance, and Williams said Amber 'loved school.' "Amber was just a very sweet, innocent child, and that's the memory we got to hold onto as we investigate," Arlington Police Sgt. Grant Gildon told PEOPLE in 2022. "That this is someone who was doing something as innocent as riding a bicycle, and evil found her that day." On Jan. 13, 1996, Amber and her 5-year-old brother, Ricky, took their bicycles to a parking lot in Arlington, Texas. After a few minutes, Ricky decided to go back to their grandparents' home, about two blocks away. Before Amber could join her brother, according to one witness, a man in a black pick-up truck pulled into the parking lot, snatched Amber off her bicycle and took off. The abduction took place in broad daylight, at 3:18 p.m. local time. One month after Amber's murder, Williams visited her daughter's elementary school classmates. A boy asked what time Amber left on her bike, and Williams told him 3:10. 'It just took eight minutes,' she said, according to a 2021 NCMEC blog post. 'So you guys stay close to home, okay?' In 2016, 20 years after his sister's murder, Ricky told reporters that at the time, he 'didn't quite understand what was going on," per The Seattle Times. 'I just knew my sister was taken from us,' he said with tears in his eyes. 'She was my best friend, like a second mother.' A man named Jimmie Kevil was the only witness to come forward after Amber's abduction. He claimed to have seen the abduction from his backyard, telling police that a 1980s or 1990s single-cab black truck had been parked earlier at a nearby laundromat. The assailant allegedly drove up in the truck, kidnapped Amber and traveled away from Highway 360 towards the center of Arlington. 'I saw [Amber] riding up and down,' Kevil told CBS Dallas-Fort Worth in January 2016. 'She was by herself. I saw this black pickup. He pulled up, jumped out and grabbed her. When she screamed, I figured the police ought to know about it, so I called them.' Sgt. Ben Lopez, who was a rookie on the Arlington police force when Amber disappeared, acknowledged at a 2021 press conference that police knew there may have been undocumented residents at the laundromat who were afraid to come forward but 'if there is a witness or witnesses who have that concern, we are not interested at all in pursuing any kind of deportation.' Kevil died in May 2016. Four days after her disappearance, Amber's body was found in a drainage ditch with cuts, including to her throat. Amber's body was spotted by a man behind the Forest Ridge apartment complex, about six miles from the parking lot from which she was taken. Dee Anderson, a spokesperson for the Tarrant County police, said at the time that maintenance workers had been near the creek hours earlier, but Amber's body was not found. It was believed that her body 'moved there during a rainstorm,' according to The New York Times, and that she had been alive for 48 hours after her kidnapping. "We will find the person who did this," Anderson said. "We never want another little girl, another family, to go through what this little girl, this family, has been through." Sgt. Gildon described the area where Amber was found as 'very secluded.' "We do believe you'd have to be somewhat familiar with that area to know where that creek is," he told PEOPLE. "Was there a connection with that location? And was it someone who had a reason for turning back to the center of town? The thought has always been that the easiest way to get out of the area would've been to go to Highway 360." Police believe the suspect was a local male. Officials described him as White or Hispanic, in his 20s or 30s, under 6 ft. and with dark hair. "Based on the direction of travel when they left and then based on her being found in Arlington, being abducted in Arlington and just being in that spot, the question has always been, did somebody have a connection with that area where the abduction was?" Sgt. Gildon told PEOPLE. After Amber's murder, a local Texas mother named Diana Simone kept thinking about how Amber disappeared without a trace. "I said, 'I can't get over this child. There has to be something we can do,' " Simone told PEOPLE. There were weather and civil defense alerts so, "why wouldn't they do it for this?" Simone called a local radio station with an idea for an emergency system. The concept was that when a 911 call was placed, radio stations would immediately interrupt programming to broadcast the alert. Fourteen days after Amber's abduction, Simone wrote a letter to the station requesting that if the alert system got put into place, it should be known as Amber's plan. Dallas-Fort Worth broadcasters and local police then teamed up to develop an early warning system, according to the official AMBER Alert website. The system, officially named AMBER (America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response) Alert, began development in 1996. It was first implemented on July 5, 1997, and the first success story came on Nov. 10, 1998, per Nevada's AMBER Alert website. The system, which is used in 'the most serious child-abduction cases,' aims to 'instantly galvanize the community to assist in the search for and safe recovery of a missing child,' according to the NCMEC, which manages the program for the U.S. Department of Justice. The alerts are first issued by law enforcement to broadcasters and state transportation officials. NCMEC is then notified, and they re-distribute the alert to secondary distributors, which include radio, television and road signs. As of 2013, messages are sent to phones through the Wireless Emergency Alerts program (WEA), and alerts are also shared on social media via Facebook, Instagram and X. Today, AMBER Alerts are used in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, parts of Indian country, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and 45 other countries, according to its website. As of Oct. 31, 2024, they have saved at least 1,221 children in the U.S., according to the NCMEC. Despite how far-reaching and impactful Amber's case has been, it is still unsolved. In the three decades since Amber's abduction, police have received over 7,000 tips. Gildon told PEOPLE that they 'continue to have leads' and several that 'we continue to investigate extensively as possible suspects.' 'A lot of people will refer to Amber's case as ... a cold case,' he said. 'But for the Arlington Police Department, it has never been listed as a cold case because we've never gone 180 days without having some lead come in." Gildon also said he believes the killer is still alive. Police remain hopeful that recent advancements in DNA testing, which have been used on evidence collected in Amber's case, and new tips from the public will help solve the case. "I remain optimistic that this case will be solved," Gildon said. "I do believe there's definitely someone out there who has the answers that we're looking for and can help lead us in the right direction. So, that's why we continue to work on it. Our goal has always remained the same, and that's to catch who did this and be able to prosecute them." Williams told Yahoo News that detectives call 'when they get a hot lead or something, but nothing ever comes of it.' 'How can [the killer] get away with this? I can't comprehend how you can't catch someone like that,' she said. In 2021, 25 years after Amber's murder, Arlington Police held a news conference in the parking lot where Amber was abducted. They honored the young girl's legacy and made it clear that they were still looking for Amber's killer. Williams also spoke to the media, then directly to the abductor: 'Please turn yourself in. Give Amber justice.' Amber's mother, Donna Williams, still lives in Texas and is a child safety advocate. In 2016, she did not own a smartphone and avoided spending time online, but she did hear AMBER alerts when they came through the TV or radio. 'Of course I think of my daughter first,' she told Yahoo News. 'I have to accept that the alerts are always going to be there." Williams has faced additional tragedies since losing her daughter, including the death of her fiancé in a car accident two months after Amber's funeral, her older sister's 1998 death from a seizure disorder and, in 2009, both her husband's death from a heart attack and her father's death from cancer. Amber's brother, Ricky Hagerman, is also still in contact with the police and continues to speak out about his sister. 'Every day she's on my mind,' he told reporters in 2016. Read the original article on People
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Tesla's $43M in Canadian EV rebate claims raise alarm as competitors demand answers
Auto dealers and the Canadian public 'deserve answers' for Tesla's flurry of rebate claims during the final three days of Canada's Incentives for Zero-Emission Vehicles program, according to Huw Williams, director of public affairs for the Canadian Automobile Dealers Association (CADA). The U.S.-based EV maker filed 8,669 rebate claims worth $43.2 million Jan. 10-12, according to data from Transport Canada. The legion of claims helped empty government coffers of incentive funding and left 226 franchised dealers on the hook for at least 2,295 unpaid government rebates, worth up to $5,000 apiece, Williams said, before some automakers stepped in to lend assistance. Chaotic end to Canada's EV rebate program leaves buyers, dealers in limbo 'We don't know the mechanics. We don't know if there's malfeasance. We don't know if somebody was tipped off. We don't know if it's gaming the system. But we do know that there's nothing normal about that amount of claims over that short a period of time.' Tesla did not respond to request for comment. Sign up for Automotive News Canada Breaking Alerts and be the first to know when big news breaks in the Canadian auto industry. The automaker's weekend filing frenzy, first reported by the Toronto Star, kicked off Jan. 10, when Transport Canada warned stakeholders that the iZEV program was running low on funding and likely to conclude sooner than its expected March 31 end point. The government warning set off what amounted to a run on the program. While corporately owned Tesla stores were the primary actors, they weren't alone. Nearly 500 dealerships submitted thousands of claims and pre-approvals to the iZEV portal Jan. 11 and 12, according to Transport Canada. As funding ran dry Jan. 12, the government department shut down the submission portal. It informed dealers that the program's funding pool had been fully exhausted and no further claims would be accepted a day later. Tesla accounted for 88.7 per cent of the 9,782 claims made in the final three days of the program, with all other brands registering 1,113 claims, according to government data. That's a stark difference from the breakdown of iZEV claims throughout 2024. While Tesla led the way among brands for the year, it recorded only about 20 per cent of total claims. Transport Canada gave dealers relatively wide latitude when submitting claims, though advised dealers to begin the claims process and receive a pre-approval from the department 'before the delivery of the vehicle and providing an incentive.' CADA CEO Tim Reuss told Automotive News Canada in January that dealers did not typically submit claims in real time, but filed them in batches every week or so, Some dealers established firm processes for filing claims — when a vehicle built abroad arrived at the Port of Vancouver, for instance. Others waited until after delivery, or after a handful of claims built up, putting them in a precarious position in January when iZEV funds ran out. To provide consumers the rebate, dealers applied the incentive directly on the vehicle's bill of sale. Transport Canada then typically reimbursed the dealer within 20 business days of the purchase being validated. Notably, the claims submitted by Tesla and other dealerships Jan. 10-12 do not necessarily reflect sales or deliveries in that timeframe. The claims captured by Transport Canada's data, reported monthly, reflect the date the claim enters the government's system. They may be paid or be in processing. Tesla also has a history of clustering its claims, though not previously on the level reached in the iZEV program's final days. During Ottawa's previous two fiscal years, the automaker made several large sets of claims in short spans of time, topping 1,000 claims in three-day stretches in several instances. In one particularly busy period in August of 2023, Tesla made 5,653 rebate claims over five days. Transport Canada would not directly address whether it is investigating Tesla's large volume of claims in the lead up to the iZEV program's end. But that doesn't mean the rebates have been paid. Spokesperson Sau Sau Liu said the department 'continues to assess the large batch of claims submitted by dealerships' after the announcement of the program's pause. CADA's Williams said while Tesla's staggering number of claims 'need answers,' ensuring dealers are reimbursed for incentives provided to consumers is the organization's primary focus. Several dealers are out hundreds of thousands of dollars, he added, putting local jobs on the line. In the past two months, Transport Canada has softened its stance on reimbursing dealers who sold rebated vehicles to consumers but did not file the paperwork in time. In February, the department told Automotive News Canada that dealers who had not begun the claims process would not be eligible to receive the incentive. By mid-March, Liu said Transport Canada 'is examining all possible options for dealerships who did not submit their eligibility application before the deadline.' Williams said Transport Canada should be looking to iZEV contingency funding, cash from Ottawa's undersubscribed Incentives for Medium- and Heavy-Duty ZEVs program or returning to Parliament to appropriate more funds to ensure dealers are paid.
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
EVs outperform ICEVs on lifetime emissions, study finds
Electric vehicles in Canada generate on average only about a quarter of the lifecycle emissions produced by comparable internal-combustion-engine models, and handily outperform gasoline and diesel vehicles even on the country's dirtiest electricity grids, according to a recent study from TD Economics. The bank's analysis published March 4 found cradle-to-grave emissions savings for the average battery-electric vehicle in Canada ranged from 70-77 per cent compared to ICEVs, depending on the vehicle segment. 'This relationship holds even in a scenario where the lithium-ion battery of the BEV is replaced before the vehicle reaches its end of life though the average emissions savings decline to 59-69 per cent,' the study said. Sign up for Automotive News Canada Breaking Alerts and be the first to know when big news breaks in the Canadian auto industry. The assessment incorporates every stage of a vehicle's lifecycle, including the extraction of raw materials used as inputs, the manufacturing process, production and consumption of fuels to power the vehicle, maintenance and end-of-life disposal. It assumes drivers will put 15,000 kilometres on their odometers annually and gives the vehicles lifespans of 18 years. While EVs save on lifecycle emissions across the country, the cleanliness of the provincial power grid determines how much. In Quebec and Manitoba, which generate nearly all their power at hydroelectric stations, emissions savings for an electric- versus gasoline-powered SUV lead the country at about 83 per cent. In Ontario, where nuclear, hydro and renewables make up 90 per cent of electricity-generating capacity, emissions savings are about 80 per cent. Savings are less pronounced in provinces that rely heavily on coal, natural gas and diesel for their electricity-generating capacity. Savings for an electric- over a gasoline-powered SUV are about 55 per cent in Alberta and about 45 per cent in Saskatchewan. In sparsely populated Nunavut, where electricity is produced entirely using diesel generators, lifecycle emissions savings for EVs versus ICEVs fall to a national low of 25 per cent, the report found. While EVs outperform ICEVs throughout their lifecycle, the TD report found upfront resource extraction and manufacturing emissions for EVs in the 2024 model year are about double those for ICEVs. EV batteries are the primary contributor, requiring 'vast quantities' of metals and energy intensive processing steps. But running on electricity instead of gasoline or diesel allows EVs to quickly make up ground. In Canada, the average EV pulls ahead of the average ICEV on lifecycle emissions in the second year of ownership, according to the report. More efficient use of energy by electric motors is another contributing factor that gives EVs a significant edge over ICEVs. EVs make direct use of 87-91 per cent of the energy in their batteries to turn their wheels, including the power recovered through regenerative braking, the report found. This compares to ICEVs that use just 16-25 per cent of the energy in gasoline for propulsion. Engine, drivetrain and idling losses result in up to 80 per cent of the energy in gasoline being wasted in ICEVs, according to TD. This gulf in powertrain efficiency allows EVs to outperform ICEVs on lifecycle emissions, even in provinces and territories such as Alberta, Saskatchewan and Nunavut, where the electricity grids are more emissions intensive than gasoline. In addition to the current cradle-to-grave emissions savings, further decarbonization of power grids in provinces reliant on fossil fuels will increase the savings associated with EVs, the TD report said.
