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CTV News
4 days ago
- Business
- CTV News
New Pilot Program offers Electrical Training for High School Students
Workshop at United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America. The access to learning a skilled trade for high school students is expanding in the Windsor-Essex region. A press conference was held Thursday at United Brotherhood of Carpenters & Joiners of America (Local 494), Old Castle, Ontario. The Greater Essex County District School Board's (GECDSB) enhanced construction program (ECP) will include the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW). 052925 - Windsor apprenticeship Press conference held at United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America. (Gary Archibald/CTV News Windsor) This new pilot program offers hands-on electrical training for pupils in a co-op format. Grade 11 students who are accepted to the IBEW program can earn credits toward their high school diploma next year while gaining valuable experience in the electrical trades. The enhanced construction program includes trades such as general carpenter and drywall, acoustic and lathing applicator. Since the 2020-2021 school years, 148 students have enrolled in ECP and 53 have received offers of employment from the union following the completion of their co-op program. Graduates are currently progressing through their apprenticeship pathway. Angelica Landgraff is an ECP co-op student and attends Walkerville High School in Windsor. 'This trade, I feel like it applies to any skill that you could have,' said Landgraff. 'If you are more academically minded - there's a lot of math involved. If you're a more hands on, it's definitely hands on as well. And if you are more creative, you have to find creative ways to fix problems,' said Landgraff. 052925 - Windsor apprenticeship High school co-op students at the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America. (Gary Archibald/CTV News Windsor) Gavin Kritzer, a 17-year-old student, is in the IBEW co-op program and already has employment lined up once he graduates from Erie Migration District Secondary School in Kingsville, Ontario. 'I was with Tucker Electric and then ended up working there last summer and got asked to go back,' said Kritzer. 'So, I applied for the same co-op, got in again - and I've been working with them ever since. I applied for the union March of this year and ended up getting in. So, I got my employment lined up for after high school.' Prospective co-op students for trades programs in the community should apply early – space in the pilot program is limited.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Survivor 50' Cast Photos: All The Castaways Confirmed For CBS Competition
Survivor 50 is set to welcome back legendary players from the CBS competition, and host Jeff Probst recently revealed most of the cast. The cast of Survivor's landmark 50th season will feature 24 players competing for the title of Sole Survivor and the $1 million prize. More from Deadline As 'After Midnight' Ends, 'Comics Unleashed With Byron Allen' Returns To CBS Late-Night Slot IBEW Touts "Landmark" New Tentative Agreement With CBS 2025 Premiere Dates For New & Returning Series On Broadcast, Cable & Streaming Notable players returning for Survivor include The White Lotus creator Mike White, first featured in Season 37: David Vs. Goliath. Other castaways include Season 1's Jenna Lewis-Dougherty, Season 2's Colby Donaldson, and competing for the fifth time, Cirie Fields. RELATED: Following her win on the inaugural season of Peacock's The Traitors, Fields is back for more Survivor after being featured in Seasons 12: Panama-exile Island, 16: Micronesia – Fans Vs. Favorites, 20: Heroes Vs. Villains, 34: Game Changers. RELATED: Survivor 50 is dubbed 'In the Hands of the Fans,' with viewers having an impact on the game like never before. Earlier this year, fans voted on key elements of the game, including 'Idols or No Idols,' 'Final Four Fire Making: Keep It or Lose It' and 'Live Finale and Reunion Show in L.A. – or Keep the Winner Reveal and Aftershow in the Jungles of Fiji.' The players won't know what the fans voted for until the competition starts. RELATED: Only 22 names were revealed for Survivor 50, with the two remaining players coming from Survivor 49, which will air this fall on CBS. Survivor 50 will premiere in Spring 2026. Scroll through the photo gallery below to meet the cast of . Best of Deadline 'The Morning Show' Season 4: Everything We Know So Far 2025 TV Series Renewals: Photo Gallery 2025 TV Cancellations: Photo Gallery
CBS News
07-05-2025
- Climate
- CBS News
After severe Pittsburgh storms, Duquesne Light sets up base camp for crews
It has been a week since severe storms swept through Western Pennsylvania, leaving more than half a million homes without power. More than 325,000 homes with Duquesne Light were without power, more than half of its customer base. Duquesne Light responded to what was referred to as an unprecedented event with the largest emergency response crew it has ever sent out. More than 600 contractors were called in from 19 different states, three times the total amount from the previous record. "A storm of this magnitude, we've never seen it before," said Joshua Copeland, Duquesne Light's general manager of troubleshooting and training. "Since I've been here, this was by far the largest storm we've had. It's almost double the size, so we were prepared for a large storm, but not quite one this magnitude. It was pretty surprising to us." But Josh Ewing, business manager for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers No. 29, says this kind of response is something its workers are trained for. "Each job is different," Ewing said. "Weather conditions change. Some guys are working in the rain, the extreme heat, the extreme cold. That's what these guys train for. That's why they go through a rigorous apprenticeship, and that's what gives them the pride in doing what they do." To accommodate the large workforce of line workers coming in, Duquesne Light has set up a base camp on its Woods Run campus on the North Side. Part of those arrangements are single-occupancy trailers with beds and storage for line workers to sleep and store equipment and belongings. There are also bathroom stalls and shower units for bathing. They are normally used for disaster relief, but they were used in this situation due to their availability in the area. "Due to the magnitude of this storm, there were hotels that were out of power," said Copeland. "We couldn't get individual hotels for the amount of people we had coming on, so we had this emergency preparedness that we were able to get this on-site and get these individuals a place to stay safely." "You've got to remember these guys are in a tough situation," Ewing said. "They're away from their families. Some of them drove hundreds of miles to be here to help this community. So the company does a great job of trying to give them proper lodging, proper places to bathe, food, drinks, whatever they need." Perhaps making things more complicated was the arrival of more storms in the following days, threatening Duquesne Light's self-imposed date of May 6 to restore power to those who lost it a week before. "We're trying to get all the customers restored by the end of today, but we're also running into the second event, and even the third event," Copeland said Tuesday. "We had another with a storm last night that took another couple thousand people out." Officials say, despite the complications, they are still committed to restoring power to all Duquesne Light customers, and helping take care of all the little things will make it easier for the line workers to stay focused on that goal. But they're also asking customers to be patient with the work that remains. "No one likes to be out of power," said Ewing. "That's a given. But most customers understand that these workers didn't ask for this. They didn't cause this. Our workers are just trying to get the lights on as quickly and safely as they can." "We understand the frustration," said Copeland. "We're not putting that aside. We're taking it very seriously. With a storm of this magnitude, we have all of our available resources on it. We have outside resources on it, and our goal is to not just restore power to you, but to restore power safely and get you back to the normal."
CBC
06-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
Cyber breach reverberates at Nova Scotia Power more than a week later
Nova Scotia Power is remaining tight-lipped about the details of a cyber breach that has forced the company to pause billing and led to the shutdown of its online customer portal, and hasn't said what other systems within the utility have been disrupted. It's been more than a week since the utility, which provides electricity to more than half a million residential, commercial and industrial customers in Nova Scotia, said it first detected, on April 25, unauthorized access into parts of its network and servers. The company has noted major billing and customer service issues, and warned the personal information of some customers has been taken, but it won't confirm whether systems such as payroll have been impacted, although a spokesperson said all employees continue to be paid. "This is very much an active investigation," spokesperson Kathryn O'Neill said in an email. "We cannot speculate or share unverified information while the investigation is ongoing in collaboration with external cybersecurity experts." The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1928, the union that represents about 1,000 Nova Scotia Power employees, said in a social media post it is aware of the possibility of issues with overtime pay. Business manager Jim Sponagle told CBC News the union is asking employees to be patient as the company works through the breach. Ransomware attack? Julien Richard, the vice-president of information security for Lastwall, a Fredericton-based cybersecurity firm not involved in the Nova Scotia Power case, said with few details released by the utility, it is tough to know what happened. There are a number of scenarios, he said. In some cases, countries hostile to the West try to infiltrate critical infrastructure such as energy companies, both to observe their inner workings without being detected and to gain the ability to shut down networks if they later choose. But given the disruption facing the business side of Nova Scotia Power, and not the electrical grid network, Richard said it's more likely the company has been hit by a ransomware attack or some other kind of incursion motivated by financial gain. Ransomware typically prevents a person or a company from accessing computer files and systems, with criminals then demanding a ransom before they will return access. Nova Scotia Power has refused to say whether it believes it is the victim of a ransomware attack. Richard said those behind the breach may be solely responsible for the disruptions at Nova Scotia Power, but there's also the possibility IT administrators decided to shut down some systems to "contain the blast radius of this attack." 'Worst moments of their careers' The utility has made clear the cyber breach has not disrupted electricity generation, transmission or distribution facilities, or harmed the company's ability to deliver power to customers. Richard said power companies typically keep their business networks separate from those that run their grids, and in Nova Scotia Power's case, it's "definitely a win" that those behind the breach were apparently not able to jump from one to the other. One of the reasons so little information has been released is the company might not know yet exactly what happened, he said, and digital forensics can take a "long time." It's also likely those behind the attack are still lurking in the system. "It's important to say that we need to be patient with the folk that work there," he said. "They're probably going through the worst moments of their careers. "I can guarantee you that some of them are probably sleeping there under their desks and working." Rebecca Brown, a spokesperson for the province's utility regulator, the Nova Scotia Energy Board, said in an email there's not yet a formal proceeding opened, "but that will come." Such a proceeding could review the cause of the incident and Nova Scotia Power's response, the impact on the utility and ratepayers, including on customer data, compliance with reliability standards, and recommendations. Seniors could be targeted Claudiu Popa, the CEO of cybersecurity company Datarisk Canada, said the cyber breach appears to be "fairly serious," and is potentially an extortion attempt. Generally, he said, the ransomware "makes itself known" once the information criminals are after has been stolen. The language Nova Scotia Power has used — that "unusual activity" was detected — suggests that's the case. He said the theft of financial information can often be "rectified rapidly" by banks so long as customers report it quickly. More difficult to fix is identity fraud. Both Popa and Richard warned that customers should be wary if they receive calls or emails purporting to be from Nova Scotia Power. Popa said seniors in particular are targeted because criminals perceive them to have more disposable income and assets. Information Morning.
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Maine union workers call on Congress to protect federal clean energy tax credit
Democratic Rep. Kilton Webb of Durham joined other union workers at the State House on April 23, 2025 to call on Congress to protect the federal tax credits for energy development that have kept him and others living and working in Maine. (Photo by AnnMarie Hilton/ Maine Morning Star) When IBEW Local 567 member Kilton Webb started his career as an electrician in 2018, his first job was on a solar field in Kennebunk. The two years that Webb, who now represents Durham in the House of Representatives, spent traveling from town to town building dozens of solar farms as renewable energy projects proliferated allowed him to pay off debt, purchase a home and advance to a journeyman electrician. That's why the Democrat joined other union workers at the State House Wednesday morning to call on Congress to protect the federal tax credits for energy development that have kept him and others living and working in Maine. Congressional Republicans are currently negotiating a federal spending plan that is expected to include significant cuts to pay for an extension of the 2017 tax cuts as well as bolstering funding for border security and defense. 'These clean energy tax credits — which have been in force now for more than two years — they are working,' said Francis Eanes, executive director of the Maine Labor Climate Council. 'They are doing exactly what they are intended to do: lowering Mainers' energy bills, investing in good-paying jobs right here at home and powering Maine with independent, homegrown energy. Win. Win. Win.' Part of the Inflation Reduction Act, the Investment and Production tax credits allow business and tax-exempt entities to deduct part of the cost of developing renewable energy systems from their federal taxes. They include labor requirements for the projects such as paying workers prevailing wages and hiring apprentices for a certain number of hours. Among Maine's congressional delegation, Democratic Reps. Jared Golden and Chellie Pingree, as well as independent Sen. Angus King, voted in favor of the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022. However, Republican Sen. Susan Collins voted against it. The tax credits are a 'huge lever for driving clean energy and growing the pipeline of skilled tradespeople we so badly need,' Eanes said. Hayley Lawrence, who lives in Augusta, said it would be a 'mistake' to take away the tax credits that have helped create jobs for people like her. Prior to graduating from an apprenticeship program, Lawrence was living in her car. Just days after completing her program, she was able to get work on solar projects that allowed her to rent an apartment. While some energy development projects are only eligible for one of the credits, multiple solar and wind technologies, as well as municipal solid waste, geothermal, and tidal projects are eligible for both. The tax credits can offset development costs by up to 30%, which provides a 'meaningful savings' that can be passed on to the utility and ultimately, ratepayers, Eanes explained. If those credits disappear for projects that are counting on them, developers may have to renegotiate contracts or pass cost increases onto ratepayers. Eanes and other labor leaders feared that Maine could be disproportionately hurt if the tax credits end because the rural state has significant untapped capacity for new projects that could utilize the benefit to develop homegrown energy and good jobs. There are 145 utility-scale projects either operating or in development across Maine that could be eligible for federal energy tax credits, according to information provided by the Maine Labor Climate Council. This includes the Lincoln Battery Storage Project, Northern Maine Renewables Program, County Line Wind Farm and more. Together, those projects support more than 9,100 jobs, $8.8 billion in investment and nearly 5,000 megawatts of power generation or storage, the council said. But, Eanes said, 'they are depending on the certainty from Washington D.C. to keep these clean energy tax credits going.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
