Latest news with #MattLewis
BBC News
30-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
West Midlands bus passengers face hike in fares after review
Bus fares are to increase by 8.6% as a result of rising costs faced by bus operators, Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) 15 June, a day ticket will rise by 40p to £5.20; a four-week fare will go up from £64 to £70, and the monthly direct debit fare is to change from £59 to £ fare rise follows an independent review, instigated by bus operators, which recommended the increase and which TfWM was required to introduce. The public body said its monthly and annual bus passes would remain among the lowest in this month, West Midlands mayor Richard Parker signed an order to bring the region's bus network back under public control for the first time in nearly 40 years. TfWM said the West Midlands Combined Authority, which it is part of, had agreed to continue the £50m a year funding to "support struggling operators and prevent further reductions in bus services".Matt Lewis, TfWM commercial director – bus and operations, stated it was a "difficult time for people and money is tight". Long-term investment The public body had worked hard with "our bus operators to keep these increases to an absolute minimum" and keep its services on the road, he a franchise system, the TfWM and regional leaders will take control of routes and timetables and set fares, as well as make long-term investments in services. Private operators will bid to run services on behalf of TfWM, and this will be introduced in phases from 2027, with the rollout completed during 3,600 people who took part in a consultation, including organisations, 75% who expressed a preference backed bringing services under public control, the combined authority has one-off costs of setting up the new operation and designing the network were expected to be £22.5m over three years, it had stated. Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Big garages, smart home tech part of homebuilder's next Pierce County project
New homes are coming to an area between Spanaway and Frederickson from a regional builder that's built other small neighborhoods in Pierce County. Clover Creek Court is the latest planned development from Pacific Lifestyle Homes in the area of 3023 Military Road E., at the intersection of Waller Road East at the edge of Frederickson. The cul-de-sac community will feature nine new homes, between 1,805 and 2,527 square feet, with lots ranging from 5,915 to 9,960 square feet. Floor plans will include single-level ramblers as well as homes offering 3- and 4-car garages. The homes will include custom-built designer cabinets, slab countertops, stainless-steel appliances, primary shower and soaking tub, 9- to 12-foot ceilings on the first floor and smart home technology (programmable lights, climate control, locks and Amazon Echo device), as well as landscaping. Prices will start at the mid-$600,000's. The development is in the Franklin Pierce School District. 'These home sites are larger than other builders are offering, also we are excited to offer more of our single-level living home designs. They are very popular with our customers,' Matt Lewis, Puget Sound president of Pacific Lifestyle Homes, said in a statement. Pacific Lifestyle has a design studio next to its Tacoma office, 4802 Tacoma Blvd., where home buyers can work with a designer to select their house's interior finishes. Pacific Lifestyle Homes launched in 1996 and has built thousands of homes in the greater Portland/Vancouver area. In 2013, the Vancouver, Washington-based company entered the Puget Sound market. It has built more than 700 homes across King, Pierce, Thurston and Kitsap counties. The company includes both the Pacific Lifestyle Homes and Garrette Custom Homes brands. Pacific Lifestyle's other projects in the area include Summer Lane in University Place, Aster Point in Edgewood, Acorn Park near Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Austin Court, south of Fort Steilacoom Park and McCormick Trails near Port Orchard. For more information, call 877-500-5675. Previous reporting from The News Tribune contributed to this report.
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Donate to San Angelo Gives Day NOW!
SAN ANGELO, Texas (Concho Valley Homepage) — May 6 is San Angelo Gives Day, and these local organizations need your help. DONATE HERE Matt Lewis the San Angelo Area Foundation CEO and he talks with KLST about what San Angelo Gives is. Lewis said this is the 11th year they are doing this event. Lewis said that they have received more donations at this time this year than last year. During the quick interview, Lewis was hoping for a historic giving day. 'Get out and support your favorite charities today,' said Lewis. Donations are open until midnight tonight. Rainbow Room The Rainbow Room is an emergency resource room available to caseworkers 24/7 for Child Protective Services and foster children of any age in need. The Rainbow Room provides all the essentials such as hygiene items, diapers, formula, blankets, pack and plays for safe sleep, toys for comfort, clothing and much more. Blackshear Heights Family Blackshear Heights Family is a non-profit organization that aims to help struggling families in need. On their website it says we believe that togetherness is key to any community's success. This non-profit does everything from giving baskets of hope, spending time in the elderly homes giving them entertainment and their Men of Faith sports program. San Angeli Family Network The San Angelo Family Network is an organization that is designed to increase kinship caregivers' capacity to provide safe, stable and nurturing homes for children. Thier services address the needs of kinship families, working towards the positive permanency for the child, ensuring families receive support and to help increase the quality of parenting that kinship caregivers provide. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to
Telegraph
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
China's huge new unmanned submarine lies in wait for HMS Prince of Wales
China appears to have developed an enormous robotic submarine. If so, China's rivals – Taiwan and the United States, among others – need to figure out what the sub is for. And fast. This year, Britain's Royal Navy will also be thinking hard about it, as its Carrier Strike Group has just set out on a voyage to the Indo-Pacific. One possible mission might be among the most alarming. Large unmanned underwater vehicles are uniquely suited for covert minelaying: seeding shallow water with munitions that can break the keel of all but the largest warships. In early February, China-watcher MT Anderson spotted in satellite imagery what appeared to be an approximately 150-foot submarine with cruciform fins and a very short sail. It could be a crewless design – a development of an even larger experimental UUV that appeared in China in 2018. With just that satellite imagery to analyse, it's impossible to say for sure whether the new sub is unmanned and what it's for. But consider: among the many possible scenarios is a Chinese blockade of Taiwan. Last year, the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington DC concluded that a blockade by the People's Liberation Army is actually the likeliest Chinese strategy for coercing Taiwan. 'This scenario aligns most closely with PLA doctrinal writings,' CSIS pointed out. Underwater minefields, carefully positioned to strangle trade to and from Taiwan, could thread an important strategic needle: weakening Taiwan without provoking US intervention, CSIS pointed out. 'Mines serve to deter vessels from attempting to run the blockade, and they offer a more passive means for the PLA to threaten noncompliant ships,' CSIS explained. 'Without mines, China's forces will need to play a more active role in stopping entry into Taiwan and may therefore be put in more situations in which commanders have to make decisions about exactly how to engage.' An announced military exercise would provide cover for the minelaying. 'During the exercises, PLA submarines covertly lay sea mines at the entrances of Taiwan's major ports,' the think-tank posited. 'The mines are timed to activate later to coincide with the start of blockade operations.' The problem, of course, is how to emplace those mines without the Taiwanese military noticing. The waters around Taiwan are shallow. And Taiwanese and allied intelligence carefully track the comings and goings of the PLA Navy's manned submarines. 'Covert minelaying can be difficult,' according to CSIS. Unmanned submarines, which could spend weeks or even months slowly trawling the China Seas, may stand a better chance of evading detection. Note that the US Navy plans to assign its own large UUV, the 84-foot Orca, to minelaying duties. Deploying the $50-million robotic subs to lay mines not only answers a fleet requirement, Orca program manager Capt. Matt Lewis told The War Zone, it also avoids asking too much of an immature technology. Dropping a mine from the UUV is 'probably most akin to opening a door and having a payload drop out of it, slide out of it, fall out of it,' Lewis said. If the Chinese UUV is also immature – and there's no reason to believe it isn't – it too could perform minelaying missions not just to meet an urgent requirement, but also to make good use of a new technology that's not yet capable of more complex tasks. In that case, it's worth asking: what might the Chinese UUV do next? 'My perception of doing work like this is, we're at the initial stages … similar to aviation back in the early 20th century,' Lewis said of the Orca. 'I think we're at the early stages of figuring all that out. So, tremendous opportunity with Orca to go learn and expand what we can do and provide other new capabilities for the Navy.'
