Latest news with #MichaelSimpson
Fox News
20 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Fox News
House Republicans approve renaming the Kennedy Center Opera House after Melania Trump
House Republicans are proposing to rename the Kennedy Center's Opera House after first lady Melania Trump. On Tuesday, House Republicans on the Appropriations Committee approved an amendment in a 33-25 vote on an annual spending bill that would rename the opera house at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts the "First Lady Melania Trump Opera House." Trump serves as the honorary chairman of the board of trustees at the Kennedy Center. "This is an excellent way to recognize her support and commitment to promoting the arts," said Rep. Michael Simpson-R-Id. Fox News Digital has reached out to The Kennedy Center and the White House. The move came months after President Trump appointed himself as chairman of the Kennedy Center and fired multiple board members. At the time, he said that he and then-chair David Rubenstein "do not share [the same] Vision for a Golden Age in Arts and Culture," according to the announcement on Truth Social. "Just last year, the Kennedy Center featured Drag Shows specifically targeting our youth — THIS WILL STOP," Trump wrote in the post. The opera house in the Kennedy Center is the second-largest theater in the center, with 2,347 seats. "Over the years, the Opera House has welcomed dozens of the world's great dance and opera companies and has hosted some of the most important artistic events of the last quarter-century," the center's website states. The opera house also serves as the site for the annual Kennedy Center Honors, the nation's highest award for lifetime achievement in the arts.
The Irish Sun
2 days ago
- Automotive
- The Irish Sun
Struggling car maker gets huge new upgrade at UK plant after confirming hundreds of jobs would be axed
A STRUGGLING car maker has been handed a massive new upgrade at a UK plant after it confirmed hundreds of jobs would be lost. Nissan's plant in Advertisement 2 Nissan's plant in Sunderland has now gone live with its new electric truck charging station Credit: Getty At the end of last month, the firm announced the job cuts after it reported The facility, which cost £1.4million, is the first private, shared charging station of its kind in the UK. It is expected to cut carbon emissions by around 1,500 tonnes a year. Michael Simpson, vice president of supply chain management at Nissan AMIEO, said: "It is fantastic for our plant to be leading the charge to an electrified supply chain with this project. Advertisement Read More on Motors "We welcome the support we've received from our partners to bring the charging station to life and we're proud of what we have achieved. "The charging station looks brilliant and is a big step forward in Nissan's EV360 vision, which brings together electric vehicles, zero carbon energy and battery manufacturing." The station is capable of supporting 60 UK eHGV deliveries to the plant every day and marks just the beginning of the plant's move towards electrifying its supply chain. Mr Simpson added: 'We're exploring further opportunities to allow other hauliers to use the charging station as well as looking at other opportunities to maximise its full potential.' Advertisement Most read in Motors The charging station can support a fleet of 25 trucks, with a charging capacity of up to 360kW. The trucks will pick up parts from Nissan's UK supply base, going as far afield as Derby and also delivering finished vehicles to and from the Tyne port. New Nissan Leaf tested - it's bigger, better and goes further That will mean more than 2.4million kilometres will be travelled every years, completely electrified and saving 1,500 tonnes of CO2 each year. The project is part of the Electric Freightway consortium, which involves Nissan, GRIDSERVE, Fergusons, Yusen, and BCA, and is aimed at accelerating the adoption of eHGVs and high-power charging infrastructure, Advertisement UK government minister for the future of roads Lilian Greenwood said: "We're working closely with the road freight sector to slash transport emissions, and our £200million zero emission HGV programme is helping businesses across the country to power the electrification of their fleets. "It's great to see Nissan taking advantage of our scheme which is supporting high paid jobs and putting money in the pockets of working people – all part of delivering our Plan for Change." The charging station forms a key part of Nissan's wider EV36Zero plan, which aims to integrate electric vehicle production, renewable energy, and battery manufacturing. Daniel Kunkel, CEO of GRIDSERVE, said: "The decarbonisation of transport logistics is much stronger and reaches far wider when done in partnership. Advertisement "This is why, as leaders of the Electric Freightway consortium, we are so pleased to support this UK first with Nissan and their haulage partners. "Depot charging is critical for the electrification of HGVs, going hand in hand with future public infrastructure developments. "As a first shared usage site, this location is leading the way in sustainable freight logistics." The news comes after the car manufacturer announced around 250 jobs from its Sunderland factory would be axed. Advertisement The It comes just weeks after the The job losses will hit non-manufacturing positions. Nissan has announced the cuts amid a Advertisement The attempts to save the brand were ramped up after Earlier this year the firm announced 20,000 job losses, seven factory closures and a pause on all post-2026 new car development. The closures of 2 The Japanese firm has warned it will axe around 250 jobs from its Sunderland plant Credit: Alamy Advertisement
Scottish Sun
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Scottish Sun
Struggling car maker gets huge new upgrade at UK plant after confirming hundreds of jobs would be axed
The move is said to save 1,500 tonnes of CO2 each year. ELECTRIC SHOCK Struggling car maker gets huge new upgrade at UK plant after confirming hundreds of jobs would be axed A STRUGGLING car maker has been handed a massive new upgrade at a UK plant after it confirmed hundreds of jobs would be lost. Nissan's plant in Sunderland has now gone live with its new electric truck charging station. 2 Nissan's plant in Sunderland has now gone live with its new electric truck charging station Credit: Getty At the end of last month, the firm announced the job cuts after it reported £4 billion losses in the last financial year. The facility, which cost £1.4million, is the first private, shared charging station of its kind in the UK. It is expected to cut carbon emissions by around 1,500 tonnes a year. Michael Simpson, vice president of supply chain management at Nissan AMIEO, said: "It is fantastic for our plant to be leading the charge to an electrified supply chain with this project. "We welcome the support we've received from our partners to bring the charging station to life and we're proud of what we have achieved. "The charging station looks brilliant and is a big step forward in Nissan's EV360 vision, which brings together electric vehicles, zero carbon energy and battery manufacturing." The station is capable of supporting 60 UK eHGV deliveries to the plant every day and marks just the beginning of the plant's move towards electrifying its supply chain. Mr Simpson added: 'We're exploring further opportunities to allow other hauliers to use the charging station as well as looking at other opportunities to maximise its full potential.' The charging station can support a fleet of 25 trucks, with a charging capacity of up to 360kW. The trucks will pick up parts from Nissan's UK supply base, going as far afield as Derby and also delivering finished vehicles to and from the Tyne port. New Nissan Leaf tested - it's bigger, better and goes further That will mean more than 2.4million kilometres will be travelled every years, completely electrified and saving 1,500 tonnes of CO2 each year. The project is part of the Electric Freightway consortium, which involves Nissan, GRIDSERVE, Fergusons, Yusen, and BCA, and is aimed at accelerating the adoption of eHGVs and high-power charging infrastructure, The Northern Echo reports. UK government minister for the future of roads Lilian Greenwood said: "We're working closely with the road freight sector to slash transport emissions, and our £200million zero emission HGV programme is helping businesses across the country to power the electrification of their fleets. "It's great to see Nissan taking advantage of our scheme which is supporting high paid jobs and putting money in the pockets of working people – all part of delivering our Plan for Change." The charging station forms a key part of Nissan's wider EV36Zero plan, which aims to integrate electric vehicle production, renewable energy, and battery manufacturing. Daniel Kunkel, CEO of GRIDSERVE, said: "The decarbonisation of transport logistics is much stronger and reaches far wider when done in partnership. "This is why, as leaders of the Electric Freightway consortium, we are so pleased to support this UK first with Nissan and their haulage partners. "Depot charging is critical for the electrification of HGVs, going hand in hand with future public infrastructure developments. "As a first shared usage site, this location is leading the way in sustainable freight logistics." The news comes after the car manufacturer announced around 250 jobs from its Sunderland factory would be axed. The jobs will be cut under a "voluntary leave scheme" letting employees choose to leave their roles with support from the company. It comes just weeks after the Japanese firm announced the new Nissan Leaf would be made at the Sunderland site. The job losses will hit non-manufacturing positions. Nissan has announced the cuts amid a desperate bid to balance the books and support a global effort to become a more "resilient business." The attempts to save the brand were ramped up after merger talks with Honda fell through. Earlier this year the firm announced 20,000 job losses, seven factory closures and a pause on all post-2026 new car development. The closures of seven of its factories would see the brand limited to just 10 sites.
RNZ News
3 days ago
- General
- RNZ News
Couple's church restoration gets historic places nod
Michael Simpson working on the exterior of the Kakanui Church in Otago, which has now been granted a Category 1 heritage listing. Photo: Supplied/ Michael Simpson & Anna Miles A Waitaki couple's six-year passion project to restore a landmark building has paid off, with the former Kakanui Church granted a top-tier heritage listing. The 155-year old Gothic-style building in Otago was one of two surviving Presbyterian timber churches in New Zealand designed by prominent Scottish architect Robert Arthur Lawson. Heritage New Zealand this month recognised it as a Category 1 historic place with "special or outstanding historical or cultural significance." Michael Simpson said it had descended into "pretty bad shape" by the time he and his wife Anna Miles bought it in 2019. "The parish church had battled for a few years because they had too many buildings and not enough money to do it up ... there was just a lot of deferred maintenance and like a lot of old buildings, it was hard to keep up with," he said. "We thought, well, we can give it a crack. As sad as it looks ... I like doing up old wooden buildings. It didn't look too scary to me. It scared off a lot of other people. It probably should have really." A Christmas carols event held in the Kakanui Church last year. Photo: Supplied/ Michael Simpson & Anna Miles Simpson said they had worked to restore it "with no time frame", starting with repairing rotten wood in the sub-floor, and restoring the windows. They gave the inside a fresh coat of paint, and more recently the couple turned their focus to the exterior, where they were stripping, refitting and painting the weatherboards. "We're loving how it's starting to look," Simpson said. Photo: Supplied/ Michael Simpson & Anna Miles The couple were also renovating two outbuildings - the Workers' Hut and Sunday School. Simpson said locals had taken a keen interest in the project. "The community was so happy that we were trying to save it. It's been amazing. We never sort of expected that," he said. "We have the doors open when we're down there and anyone that wants to come in and have a look ... can do that. It's just been really nice to share it." A fresh coat of paint on one side of the Kakanui Church, during the restoration. Photo: Supplied/ Michael Simpson & Anna Miles Once the building was weather-tight and stable, Simpson said they had hosted a wedding, market days and gigs in the church. They hoped to keep using it as a community hub. "It's just such a thrill having life in the building and seeing people enjoy it," Simpson said. Heritage New Zealand heritage assessment advisor Alison Breese described the church as having "outstanding aesthetic, architectural and historic significance." "It's been a pleasure seeing the love and hard mahi the owners have put into it," she said. Simpson said the restoration wasn't yet complete, but he and Miles were thrilled to have the building formally acknowledged and protected. "All we wanted to do, with our airy fairy plans, was restore the building as well as [possibly] to give it a life after us. This justifies that feeling, and just adds another sort of string to the bow, recognising it's worth saving," he said. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
The Age
13-06-2025
- Business
- The Age
Property veteran buys $66.5m freezer warehouse; Thredbo owner to sell $300m block; Pearl Bondi gets approval
EVT, run by long-standing chairman and major shareholder, the rich lister Alan Rydge, is selling the property to focus on its hotel division which includes brands such as QT and Rydges, and Thredbo ski resort. The latest annual report has the property portfolio worth about $2.3 billion. Loading It comes with a stage 2 development approval for a 43-level, 28,283-square-metre mixed-use tower including residential, hotel, cinema, and retail space. The high-rise levels of the tower will include 98 luxury apartments, totalling 12,671 square metres. In addition, an 11,068-square-metre five-star lifestyle hotel will occupy the low to mid-rise section of the tower, featuring 285 premium rooms with bar, restaurant and conference facilities. The retail part of the development will include tenancies with street frontage along George Street of 405 sq m, and 333 sq m along Albion Lane. The existing Event Cinemas complex currently operates sixteen screens across the 525 and 505 George Street properties. The full complex will remain operational until 525 George's redevelopment starts, after which fewer screens will operate. CBRE's Michael Simpson, Ben Wicks and Tom Gibson are managing the sale. New airport The hotel sector is anticipating a jump in demand following the completion of the construction of the Western Sydney's International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport terminal in Badgerys Creek. Accommodation Australia chief executive James Goodwin said it was encouraging to see the momentum building for the new airport. 'We know each and every international flight will go a long way to help fill more hotel rooms and create more secure jobs in the accommodation sector, not only in Sydney, but right across the country – and that's good news for the entire sector,' Goodwin said. The new airport is on track to open for domestic, international and air cargo services in late 2026. Bondi build Central Elements has expanded its presence in the eastern suburbs with approval being gained for a $150 million development of luxury apartments. Located at 20-22 Sandridge Street and 21 Wilga Street, the Pearl Bondi complex will overlook the beach. It was designed by architects MHNDU and the interiors by Madeleine Blanchfield. Building is expected to start later this year on the amalgamated 2050-square-metre site. There will be seven three-bedroom residences – two houses and five house-size apartments on the oceanfront. Parramatta lease Space within the recently refurbished Parramatta Town Hall is up for lease. Completed in 1883, the Victorian Free Classical architectural style building was built to serve as the town hall and municipal chamber for the Borough of Parramatta. The space within 7 Parramatta Square, known as the Jubilee Hall, has an internal footprint of 122 sq m, with outdoor licensed seating of 57 sq m fronting the adjacent laneway and neighbouring the recently opened Ippudo Ramen restaurant. Colliers' Janelle Coorey and Liz Chuck have the listing.
