Latest news with #Dupuy
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
'He believed in local news': Former KSFR news director brought dedication, passion to job
William "Bill" Dupuy's love of local news started early. Growing up in Baton Rouge, La., Dupuy was just 11 or 12 when, according to family lore, he convinced his father to put an antenna on the roof of their house so he could pipe in straight to the neighbors' radios. Bill Dupuy Bill Dupuy "He'd find something to say," said Dupuy's wife, Ellen Dupuy, laughing in a recent interview. "He'd do the news or something." Dupuy landed a job in radio a few years later, and while his career took him from broadcast to the worlds of the military, scientific research and big business, he eventually made a return to the airwaves, taking a job as news director of Santa Fe-based public radio station KSFR. "It was kind of a ... dream role for him," son Max Dupuy said. "He got a lot out of the people working at KSFR, and also I think contributed a lot." Dupuy, who stepped down from that position in 2013, died April 12 following a stroke at his Santa Fe home. He was 84. Communication was a through-line for Texas-born and Louisiana-raised Dupuy, who worked at a Houston radio station out of college before joining the U.S. Air Force and serving as a public information officer, according to his obituary. He was a captain by the time he left the military in the 1960s. That was about the time he first met his future wife, during a night out on the town in San Francisco, Ellen Dupuy said. bill dupuy 3 Bill Dupuy, former news director at KSFR public radio station in Santa Fe. Ellen Dupuy's roommate at the time was about to return home to England. Inspired by an article about the "swingingest spots" in various cities, the two decided to go for a farewell drink — only to find the place packed and themselves "immediately surrounded by some nice gentlemen." But it was another gentleman who caught Ellen Dupuy's eye: the one walking back and forth through the bar. "Brazen me, I put my hand across the bar and I ... said, 'If you go by one more time, you're going to have pay a toll,' " said Ellen Dupuy, who at the time had just stepped away from her job as a flight stewardess. "... He looked at me, I looked at him, and here we were 57 years later." It was a spark, but it lasted through decades, multiple moves and career changes, two children — son Max and daughter Nikki — and, eventually, three grandchildren. "The way he was with his wife, you would have thought they were newlyweds for 50 years or however long," said Zélie Pollon, a former colleague from KSFR. Bill Dupuy's post-Air Force job for Kaiser Industries took him to New York City — a lively chapter for the young couple as they "wined and dined" people on behalf of the company. "We were in our 20s with a nice large expense account," Ellen Dupuy said. "So we'd go out to all the great restaurants and theater." Eventually Dupuy moved on to a job doing public relations for Plymouth State College — now Plymouth State University — in New Hampshire. From there he took another communications job even further up the coast of New England, at The Jackson Laboratory, a cancer research institute on Mount Desert Island in Maine. The time in Maine was fulfilling, Ellen Dupuy said, but eventually came to an end. "After years up on Mount Desert Island, we decided it was probably time for Bill to get back into corporate life again, because ... we had kids going to college, things like that," she said. Bill Dupuy took a job in Cleveland, Ohio, at Edward Howard, a large public relations firm, and later another job as a senior executive at a regional bank, his obituary said. It was a friend from Cleveland living in New Mexico, according to Ellen Dupuy, who eventually paved the Dupuys' way to Santa Fe in about 1999. The friend wanted to come back to Ohio to see her children, and proffered a house swap vacation. Bill Dupuy was unenthused. "I dragged Bill out here kicking and screaming," Ellen Dupuy said. "But the minute he got out here, we both fell in love with it." So much so, she said, that by the end of the vacation, they'd fulfilled the ultimate vacation fantasy. "We purchased a little house on Delgado at the end of the two weeks," Ellen Dupuy said. "... It's one of the best choices we ever made." Bill Dupuy opted to take an early retirement at the time of the move to New Mexico, but it didn't suit. At his wife's urging to "do something," he took a science writing job at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Then, Ellen Dupuy said, he spotted a notice in The New Mexican for a volunteer role at KSFR and decided to go see about it. "That was it," Ellen Dupuy said. "No more laboratory. Total dedication to KSFR." During Bill Dupuy's years as news director, Ellen Dupuy said, he built KSFR's news team into a force, albeit a volunteer one. bill dupuy 4 Bill Dupuy, former news director at KSFR public radio station in Santa Fe. "People were going out interviewing," she said. "We had people at the city meetings. We had people at the Legislature. I mean, he believed in local news." Steve Terrell, a KSFR host and former longtime newspaper writer for both The New Mexican and the Albuquerque Journal, said in 2004 when he was sent to the Republican and Democratic national conventions as a political reporter, Bill Dupuy recruited him to record short features to bring the events to life for local listeners. "He took his job very seriously," Terrell said. "He was very serious about the news." Dupuy's second retirement went about as well as his first one. When he departed KSFR, Ellen Dupuy said, he converted a closet in the garage into a studio and began auditioning to narrate audiobooks, which he intoned in his classic radio broadcaster voice. He helped facilitate Journey Santa Fe events, bringing panels of speakers on a wide array of topics to the Collected Works Bookstore & Coffeehouse. Together the couple took to delivering food during COVID-19 for local nonprofit Kitchen Angels. Son Max Dupuy, who lives in Washington, D.C., said for the last two decades, his father was driven above all by a passion for his final adopted hometown. "He loved Santa Fe, he really did," Max Dupuy said. "I know it's easy to say that, and a lot of people say that, but he loved it and contributed to it."
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
'He believed in local news': Former KSFR news director brought dedication, passion to job
William "Bill" Dupuy's love of local news started early. Growing up in Baton Rouge, La., Dupuy was just 11 or 12 when, according to family lore, he convinced his father to put an antenna on the roof of their house so he could pipe in straight to the neighbors' radios. Bill Dupuy Bill Dupuy "He'd find something to say," said Dupuy's wife, Ellen Dupuy, laughing in a recent interview. "He'd do the news or something." Dupuy landed a job in radio a few years later, and while his career took him from broadcast to the worlds of the military, scientific research and big business, he eventually made a return to the airwaves, taking a job as news director of Santa Fe-based public radio station KSFR. "It was kind of a ... dream role for him," son Max Dupuy said. "He got a lot out of the people working at KSFR, and also I think contributed a lot." Dupuy, who stepped down from that position in 2013, died April 12 following a stroke at his Santa Fe home. He was 84. Communication was a through-line for Texas-born and Louisiana-raised Dupuy, who worked at a Houston radio station out of college before joining the U.S. Air Force and serving as a public information officer, according to his obituary. He was a captain by the time he left the military in the 1960s. That was about the time he first met his future wife, during a night out on the town in San Francisco, Ellen Dupuy said. bill dupuy 3 Bill Dupuy, former news director at KSFR public radio station in Santa Fe. Ellen Dupuy's roommate at the time was about to return home to England. Inspired by an article about the "swingingest spots" in various cities, the two decided to go for a farewell drink — only to find the place packed and themselves "immediately surrounded by some nice gentlemen." But it was another gentleman who caught Ellen Dupuy's eye: the one walking back and forth through the bar. "Brazen me, I put my hand across the bar and I ... said, 'If you go by one more time, you're going to have pay a toll,' " said Ellen Dupuy, who at the time had just stepped away from her job as a flight stewardess. "... He looked at me, I looked at him, and here we were 57 years later." It was a spark, but it lasted through decades, multiple moves and career changes, two children — son Max and daughter Nikki — and, eventually, three grandchildren. "The way he was with his wife, you would have thought they were newlyweds for 50 years or however long," said Zélie Pollon, a former colleague from KSFR. Bill Dupuy's post-Air Force job for Kaiser Industries took him to New York City — a lively chapter for the young couple as they "wined and dined" people on behalf of the company. "We were in our 20s with a nice large expense account," Ellen Dupuy said. "So we'd go out to all the great restaurants and theater." Eventually Dupuy moved on to a job doing public relations for Plymouth State College — now Plymouth State University — in New Hampshire. From there he took another communications job even further up the coast of New England, at The Jackson Laboratory, a cancer research institute on Mount Desert Island in Maine. The time in Maine was fulfilling, Ellen Dupuy said, but eventually came to an end. "After years up on Mount Desert Island, we decided it was probably time for Bill to get back into corporate life again, because ... we had kids going to college, things like that," she said. Bill Dupuy took a job in Cleveland, Ohio, at Edward Howard, a large public relations firm, and later another job as a senior executive at a regional bank, his obituary said. It was a friend from Cleveland living in New Mexico, according to Ellen Dupuy, who eventually paved the Dupuys' way to Santa Fe in about 1999. The friend wanted to come back to Ohio to see her children, and proffered a house swap vacation. Bill Dupuy was unenthused. "I dragged Bill out here kicking and screaming," Ellen Dupuy said. "But the minute he got out here, we both fell in love with it." So much so, she said, that by the end of the vacation, they'd fulfilled the ultimate vacation fantasy. "We purchased a little house on Delgado at the end of the two weeks," Ellen Dupuy said. "... It's one of the best choices we ever made." Bill Dupuy opted to take an early retirement at the time of the move to New Mexico, but it didn't suit. At his wife's urging to "do something," he took a science writing job at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Then, Ellen Dupuy said, he spotted a notice in The New Mexican for a volunteer role at KSFR and decided to go see about it. "That was it," Ellen Dupuy said. "No more laboratory. Total dedication to KSFR." During Bill Dupuy's years as news director, Ellen Dupuy said, he built KSFR's news team into a force, albeit a volunteer one. bill dupuy 4 Bill Dupuy, former news director at KSFR public radio station in Santa Fe. "People were going out interviewing," she said. "We had people at the city meetings. We had people at the Legislature. I mean, he believed in local news." Steve Terrell, a KSFR host and former longtime newspaper writer for both The New Mexican and the Albuquerque Journal, said in 2004 when he was sent to the Republican and Democratic national conventions as a political reporter, Bill Dupuy recruited him to record short features to bring the events to life for local listeners. "He took his job very seriously," Terrell said. "He was very serious about the news." Dupuy's second retirement went about as well as his first one. When he departed KSFR, Ellen Dupuy said, he converted a closet in the garage into a studio and began auditioning to narrate audiobooks, which he intoned in his classic radio broadcaster voice. He helped facilitate Journey Santa Fe events, bringing panels of speakers on a wide array of topics to the Collected Works Bookstore & Coffeehouse. Together the couple took to delivering food during COVID-19 for local nonprofit Kitchen Angels. Son Max Dupuy, who lives in Washington, D.C., said for the last two decades, his father was driven above all by a passion for his final adopted hometown. "He loved Santa Fe, he really did," Max Dupuy said. "I know it's easy to say that, and a lot of people say that, but he loved it and contributed to it."
Axios
20-02-2025
- Politics
- Axios
National Park Service layoffs hit Texas' Big Bend
The Trump administration's recent federal workforce layoffs have hit Texas National Park Service sites, though not as severely as in other states. Why it matters: Advocates for the parks warn the layoffs — part of a nationwide reduction of 3,400 U.S. Forest Service and 1,000 National Park Service jobs — could weaken the maintenance of beloved campgrounds and trails heading into spring break season. Officials with the Association of National Park Rangers say the cuts will result in slower emergency response times, park closures, reduced hours and educational programs, and more uncollected litter. By the numbers: At least eight employees at NPS sites in Texas have lost their jobs, Bill Wade, executive director of the Association of National Park Rangers, tells Axios. That includes five people at Big Bend National Park, two at Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park in the Hill Country, and two at Palo Alto Battlefield National Historical Park in Brownsville. Wade says the number of losses are compiled from the association's members and social media posts. Yes, but: Texas doesn't appear to be as severely impacted as other states. More than 150 workers have been cut in Colorado, over 60 were laid off in Oregon, and at least 10 employees at Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona have lost their jobs. At least two trailheads in Washington state have closed due to staffing shortages. Staff at the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park declined to answer questions about layoffs, referring questions to federal NPS representatives. The NPS did not immediately respond to Axios' messages. State of play: The National Park Service runs 18 sites across Texas, including Big Bend and Guadalupe Mountains national parks in West Texas and Padre Island National Seashore in South Texas. There are four National Forests in Texas. In 2023, Texas National Park sites saw 5.3 million visitors who contributed about $323 million to local economies. That spending supported 4,460 jobs and $488 million in economic output in Texas, per the NPS. The big picture: The cuts come as NPS sites nationwide already face staffing shortages amid growing park visitation, Cary Dupuy, Texas regional director with the National Parks Conservation Association, tells Axios. The NPCA is a nonprofit that advocates for national parks. Dupuy says maintenance, fee collection and cultural interpreter positions appear to be the hardest hit. Between the lines: The Trump administration's federal hiring freeze means one of the NPS' newest sites — The Blackwell School in Marfa — can't hire a site manager and has shorter operating hours as a result, per Dupuy. Fort Davis National Historic Site in West Texas can't replace its superintendent who recently retired, she added. What they're saying: National parks tell the story of America and of Texas, Dupuy says. "Our park staff is wonderful, and they want to do their jobs" she says. "They want to be able to provide that experience, and I know that they will to the best of their ability."
Morocco World
15-02-2025
- Business
- Morocco World
French Firm KNDS Says Morocco's Shift to Israeli Artillery Was Technical, Not Political
Doha – French defense manufacturer KNDS (formerly known as Nexter) has acknowledged technical problems with Caesar artillery systems delivered to Morocco, leading to its second failed contract with Rabat, which opted to purchase Atmos 2000 howitzers from Israeli Elbit Systems. During a hearing at the French National Assembly on Wednesday, Alexandre Dupuy, Director of Systems Business Unit at KNDS, detailed the circumstances that led to Morocco's shift toward sourcing the military equipment from Israel. The revelation comes after French newspaper La Tribune first reported Morocco's decision to acquire 36 Atmos 2000 self-propelled howitzers from Israel's Elbit Systems. 'The Moroccans observed some operational and reliability issues with certain subassemblies, particularly hydraulic components. These subassemblies are not manufactured by us but through the subcontracting chain,' Dupuy explained during his testimony. The problems emerged after Morocco received its first batch of Caesar systems in 2022, a delivery that coincided with KNDS's increased production commitments for Ukraine. The timing of these technical issues proved particularly challenging for KNDS. 'We had to produce new equipment at a time when we were already at maximum production capacity for the ramp-up for Ukraine,' Dupuy stated. He acknowledged that while KNDS mobilized to identify and address the problems, the process was complex, requiring on-site firing tests and technical evaluations. 'These operations took some time,' Dupuy admitted during the hearing, conceding that the Ukraine conflict's impact on production capacity had also played a role in the delays and complications encountered. A shift for technical reasons, not political Morocco had initially ordered 36 Caesar pieces in 2022 in a contract valued at €170 million, which included 30 million in ammunition and training for Royal Armed Forces (FAR) personnel. However, recurring technical problems led to multiple complaints from FAR to the French group. Dupuy insisted that the technical difficulties have since been resolved, stating, 'Today, both regiments are fully operational, and we are proud to equip the Moroccan armed forces. They are members of the Caesar club and will continue to benefit from the improvements we make to Caesar.' In this context, the KNDS executive insisted that Morocco's decision to opt for Elbit Systems' Atmos 2000 was primarily driven by technical capabilities rather than political considerations. The Israeli manufacturer offered a combined solution featuring both cannon and rocket launcher capabilities, which KNDS could not match. 'It's not that Morocco chose Elbit, but rather that Elbit proposed a different offer, with faster development capability,' Dupuy explained. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Israel has become Morocco's third-largest military equipment supplier, providing more than 11% of its armament. The developments interlace with Morocco's broader military modernization efforts. Recent reports in the country's official bulletin indicate that Turkish firm Baykar may establish the first Bayraktar drone manufacturing facility in Africa on Moroccan soil. The North African country has already acquired eighteen Bayraktar TB2 drones and is expected to receive the next-generation Akinci model. Morocco's defense budget also saw a 7% increase in 2025 compared to the previous year. This case mirrors a similar situation in Denmark, where Elbit Systems successfully used the same strategy of offering combined artillery and rocket launcher capabilities to secure a contract over KNDS France. Despite the setback, Dupuy maintained that the initial Caesar systems supplied to Morocco remain operational, and the country will continue to receive technical updates as part of the 'Caesar club.' However, the episode exacerbates the intensifying competition in the global defense market and the necessity of comprehensive weapons systems capabilities in securing military contracts. Experts describe Morocco's approach to arms procurement as 'pragmatic,' prioritizing efficiency and strategic adaptability over ideological alignment. Read also: Morocco Acquires Advanced Chinese TB-001K Combat Drone Tags: Defense Industrymilitary equipmentMorocco France Relations
Ya Biladi
15-02-2025
- Business
- Ya Biladi
France : KNDS clarifies CAESAr Cannon defects delivered to Morocco
Morocco has made a strategic shift in its artillery procurement, choosing the ATMOS 2000 howitzers from Israeli company Elbit Systems over the French CAESAr systems delivered in 2022 by KNDS France. According to La Tribune, the decision was primarily driven by the Royal Armed Forces' (FAR) dissatisfaction with the French manufacturer's after-sales service, criticized for its slow response to persistent technical issues. However, the situation appears more nuanced. During a hearing at the French National Assembly on February 12, Alexandre Dupuy, director of «Systems» activities at KNDS France, provided context for Morocco's decision. He explained that the delivery of the Moroccan CAESArs coincided with the company's efforts to meet urgent demands from Ukraine. Dupuy noted that the reported reliability problems, particularly with the hydraulic systems, stemmed from subcontractors rather than KNDS France itself. Resolving these issues was delayed due to the company's strained production capacity amid the Ukrainian conflict. Despite these challenges, Dupuy argued that technical difficulties were not the primary factor in Morocco's decision. Instead, he pointed to a more comprehensive offer from Elbit Systems, which included dual capabilities: an artillery system integrated with a multiple rocket launcher — a feature KNDS France could not match. Beyond the technical considerations, the move highlights Morocco's growing military cooperation with Israel. Alongside the ATMOS 2000, Rabat has also acquired the PULS rocket launcher system from Elbit Systems. The Israeli firm has successfully carved out a niche in the Moroccan defense market by providing tailored solutions to the FAR's needs, displacing KNDS France, as it previously did in Denmark.
