Latest news with #SCAN
CTV News
14-07-2025
- CTV News
Drug house in Mill Woods shut down after decade of disturbances
Alberta Sheriffs have closed down a house in Mill Woods after 10 years of complaints from neighbours about drug and criminal activity there. After 10 years of complaints from neighbours over drug and criminal activity, a house in Mill Woods has been closed by provincial sheriffs. The Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods (SCAN) unit of the Alberta Sheriffs received a court order to close the southeast Edmonton property at 6707 32 Ave. for 90 days. All people living in the home, including the property owner, were required to leave it under the order starting Thursday. The house has been boarded up and fenced off, and has had its locks changed. The moves to close down the house have neighbours feeling relieved and safer after enduring disturbances and property damage over the years. Pauline Wilson, who lives two doors down from the house, said people coming and going from the house would make a lot of noise, describing 'yelling and screaming over there.' She said once she and her neighbours petitioned the sheriffs and the City of Edmonton, officials moved quickly to shut it down in a month's time, Wilson said. Drug house Alberta Sheriffs have closed down a house in Mill Woods after 10 years of complaints from neighbours about drug and criminal activity there. (Miriam Valdes-Carletti/CTV News Edmonton) 'It's about time they started cracking down on these places,' she told CTV News Edmonton on Sunday. 'They're not good for a neighbourhood. They're not good for children. It makes the whole neighbourhood safer, and I'm really glad they're gone.' Pyol Awac, who lives across the street from the problem house for seven years, said he and his family dealt with damage to their vehicle by people associated with the house. They had to park their vehicle behind the house to avoid further damage, but now, his wife feels comfortable enough to park it in front of their house again. 'I'm safe now, better than before,' he told CTV News Edmonton. Since 2009, SCAN has investigated the property six times, twice resulting in orders temporarily closing the house and evicting people living there. Police had visited the property more than 250 times since the start of 2015. There were two fatal drug overdoses at the house in 2022. People who lodged complaints with police reported suspicious people, assaults, drug possession and drug trafficking at the property. SCAN told CTV News Edmonton the owner of the property now plans to sell it. Karen Teng, the city councillor who represents the area, said efforts by the neighbours to report the activity at the house was key in helping the city and police take action to deal with it. 'Based on what I'm hearing and what I'm understanding, it takes some time, neighbours reporting, all those things matter,' Teng told CTV News Edmonton last week. 'This is why we have dedicated policies, dedicated resources. This is why we're taking a multi-disciplinary approach to this ... some of these properties are fairly complex. You may not run into one issue – gang violence, for example – you may run into homelessness and housing issues or squatting, so it does take a concerted effort.' Since it began in 2008, the SCAN unit has investigated more than 10,000 properties and has issued more than 130 community safety orders. With files from CTV News Edmonton's Sean McClune
CTV News
10-07-2025
- CTV News
Sheriffs shut down drug house that police visited 250 times in the last decade
A problem property at 6707 32 Ave in Edmonton, which has been a source of drug and criminal activity for over a decade, was shut down by Alberta Sheriffs on July 10, 2025. (Google Images) Alberta Sheriffs have closed down a problem property in southeast Edmonton that has been a source of drug and criminal activity for a decade. A statement from the Government of Alberta issued Thursday afternoon said the Sheriffs' Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods (SCAN) unit obtained a court order against the homeowners of 6707 32 Ave. The property will be closed for 90 days starting Thursday at noon. All individuals – including the property owner – are ordered to vacate the premises. The house will be boarded up, fenced and all the locks will be changed. SCAN has investigated the property six times since 2009. The operation has seen two previous community safety orders that saw the home temporarily evicted and shuttered. Since January 2015, Edmonton police have visited the home more than 250 times. The house has been a hub for illegal drug trafficking and abuse, as well as two fatal overdoses. Neighbours reported suspicious people coming and going from the home, assaults, drug possession and drug trafficking. Community safety order conditions will remain in effect until Oct. 8.
Business Wire
10-07-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
EQTY Lab Pioneers Verifiable Compute on NVIDIA Blackwell Architecture
PARIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- RAISE Summit 2025 – EQTY LAB announces a significant milestone on its Verifiable Compute journey: deployment on NVIDIA Blackwell platform. This collaboration represents a transformative step forward in securing sovereign AI while maintaining the performance demands of agentic systems. Customers will benefit from uncompromised performance, reduced operational costs, and the ability to accelerate innovation while maintaining strict data privacy and sovereign AI governance. EQTY Lab is among the first organizations to develop on NVIDIA Confidential Compute on Blackwell's secure enclaves, leveraging the industry's first-ever TEE-I/O capable GPU to establish a verifiable root of trust for agentic AI workflows. Share EQTY Lab's Verifiable Compute features are optimized to run on NVIDIA Blackwell and unlock dramatic improvements in the quality and specialization of aligned agentic workflows by allowing agents to leverage hardware that is optimized for long-context reasoning and acting (ReAct). With NVIDIA Blackwell accelerated computing, users can now power millions of agents with advanced models and ensure they understand and follow specific policies. Combined with NVIDIA NeMo microservices, users gain real-time verification and enforcement of new safety and observability tools that help enterprises govern emergent agent behaviour with low overhead. The result is a fundamental evolution of sovereign guarantees that meet the new security challenges posed by agentic systems. 'We're proud to share that EQTY Lab is among the first organizations to develop on NVIDIA Confidential Compute on Blackwell's secure enclaves, leveraging the industry's first-ever TEE-I/O capable GPU to establish a verifiable root of trust for agentic AI workflows,' explained Jonathan Dotan, Founder, EQTY Lab. 'Blackwell accelerates and deepens trust for agentic systems to be responsible and autonomous.' Access to NVIDIA Blackwell computing was made available by SCAN, a UK-based managed service provider specialising in GPU workloads. As a specialist GPU cloud provider, SCAN has its own sovereign cloud that was used for EQTY Lab's development. 'As the first infrastructure provider to deploy EQTY Lab's Verifiable Compute on NVIDIA Blackwell, SCAN is setting new standards for secure, high-performance AI deployments. Our customers can now leverage hardware-enforced security to create binding enforcement for their key protocols,' said Elan Raja, CEO of SCAN. Accenture's Brussels AI lab for Public Sector in EMEA and UK will be testing and deploying Verifiable Compute on NVIDIA Blackwell to establish cryptographic proof of governance and policy compliance within its agentic AI solution for public sector and defense, creating a new standard for sovereign AI deployment that ensures all data and agentic workflows are aligned to mission-critical policies and then registered on Hedera's cryptographic protocols. 'With multi-agent architectures increasingly handling sensitive workflows across organizational boundaries, sovereignty isn't just about data or computational residency; it's about pre-certifying and registering before deployment that autonomous AI agents operate within defined legal, ethical, and geographical parameters,' said Bryan Rich, Global AI Lead for Public Sector and Health, Accenture. Bringing Verifiability to Sovereign AI and the Public Sector Enterprises face a critical challenge: leveraging cutting-edge AI capabilities, such as multi-agent workflows, while maintaining compliance with emerging regulatory requirements. Sovereign AI ensures organizations maintain complete control over their AI systems, a critical consideration as we move toward agentic AI that makes autonomous decisions and interacts with other AI systems. Public sector organizations looking to deploy agentic AI systems must prove they meet the highest level of governance and accountability that only Verifiable Compute can provide. This solution will be enabled with Accenture's modular multi-agent systems for sovereign AI in the public sector and will seek real-time compliance and auditability backed by cryptographic certainty. EQTY Labs' Verifiable Compute, paired with the breakthrough performance of NVIDIA Blackwell, enables organizations to deploy AI with unprecedented security and safety guarantees for: Regulatory Compliance: Meet stringent data protection and standards requirements in regulated industries IP Protection: Secure valuable AI models and proprietary data from unauthorized access Verifiable Results: Cryptographically verify AI operations and outputs Performance Without Compromise: Achieve security without sacrificing computational efficiency To learn more about how your organization can leverage Verifiable Compute on NVIDIA Blackwell, visit: and About EQTY Lab EQTY Lab pioneers solutions that reinvent trust in AI. Our AI Integrity Suite applies cryptography to ensure that the governance of AI agents is verifiable, explainable, and accountable to all stakeholders. With applications in the public sector, life sciences, and finance, EQTY Lab is at the forefront of enabling AI innovation. To learn more about Verifiable Compute, go to and About SCAN SCAN are an Elite NVIDIA Partner and NVIDIA-certified Managed Service Provider with a comprehensive product and service ecosystem wholly focused on AI. From DGX Spark and custom GPU workstations for AI model development, through to NVIDIA DGX SuperPOD and Managed Hybrid Cloud platforms, SCAN's innovative infrastructure solutions are complemented by a team of data scientists and platform engineers to help organisations truly embed AI into their working practices. Learn more at
Zawya
27-06-2025
- General
- Zawya
Unchecked accumulation of marine debris threatening Nigeria's maritime competitiveness — Stakeholders
Stakeholders in the maritime sector on Thursday called for a strengthened national policy framework to tackle marine debris, warning that unchecked accumulation is threatening Nigeria's maritime competitiveness and endangering the future of its waterways. The stakeholders, who made this call in Lagos during the 2025 annual summit of the Shipping Correspondents Association of Nigeria (SCAN), stated that marine debris impairs navigational safety, disrupts port operations, and pollutes coastlines—undermining tourism, coastal livelihoods, and community health, among other concerns. Speaking at the summit, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Abubakar Dantsoho, said marine debris threatens biodiversity, including fish, marine mammals, and seabirds, often leading to entanglement and ingestion. Dantsoho, who was represented by Capt. Femi Oyewole, Principal Manager, Marine, NPA, noted that as custodians of Nigeria's seaports, the NPA is deeply committed to advancing national and global efforts to combat marine litter and preserve the integrity of the marine ecosystem. He emphasized that the dangers are no longer distant possibilities, but present and escalating, hence the need for urgent action. According to him, 'The NPA has taken several proactive measures to confront the menace head-on. It operates and regulates port reception facilities at all major ports in Nigeria, ensuring full compliance with the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL 73/78), particularly Annex V, which addresses garbage disposal from ships calling at the Authority's four pilotage districts: Lagos, Delta, Bonny/Port Harcourt, and Calabar.' 'These facilities provide secure, environmentally sound reception and handling of waste from vessels calling at Nigerian ports. They are equipped to receive a wide range of ship-generated waste, including plastics, food waste, domestic garbage, oily rags, and hazardous residues, as well as daily sludges and bilges. By doing so, we eliminate the incentive for illegal disposal into the marine environment and ensure all waste is treated, recycled, or disposed of in accordance with national and international environmental standards.' He added that the NPA also regularly undertakes dedicated marine litter and seaweed cleanup exercises within and around port channels, berths, and quay aprons. 'By removing plastics, packaging materials, vegetation waste, and other solid litter, we are able to protect marine life, reduce blockages in port drainage systems, and ensure the smooth operation of vessels in port environments and navigational channels,' he stated. ALSO READ: Tinubu International Conference Centre fully booked until 2027 — Wike Also speaking, the Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Shippers' Council (NSC), Dr. Pius Akutah, applauded SCAN for choosing such a critical topic and emphasized the need to prioritize the clearance of water channels to ensure the free movement of vessels on inland waterways. Akutah, who was represented by the NSC Deputy Director of Monitoring and Enforcement, Adeshina Sarumi, stated that having water channels littered with debris or shipwrecks poses a significant challenge to Nigeria's water transportation system. He urged the media to verify reports and present them accurately, with facts and figures, in order to aid the effective operation of relevant agencies. In his address, the Managing Director of the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), Mr. Bola Oyebamiji, called on stakeholders to show greater commitment to tackling marine debris and stressed the need for increased public awareness, especially among residents of coastal communities. Oyebamiji, who was represented by an Assistant General Manager at NIWA, Mrs. Aisha Eri, noted that marine waste is a global issue, not just a Nigerian one. He stated that a marine litter action plan is already in place, involving shared responsibilities among all stakeholders. He emphasized that while NIWA and other agencies are making efforts, residents of coastal areas must also desist from polluting the waterways. The Guest Speaker and President of the Nigerian Association of Master Mariners, Captain Tajudeen Alao, expressed concern that some strategic areas, which should serve as tourist centers, have been overtaken by debris. He warned that the unchecked accumulation of marine debris continues to threaten Nigeria's competitiveness in the maritime sector. Represented by the Second Vice President of the Association, Captain Olugunwa Jide, Alao called for the establishment of a legislative framework backed by the National Assembly and proposed a fine of ₦5 million for illegal waste disposal. Speaking on the theme of the event, 'Marine Debris: The Danger Ahead,' SCAN President Moses Ebosele emphasized the urgent need to address the crisis of marine debris and its threat to the maritime industry, marine ecosystems, and coastal communities. He said the summit aimed to facilitate national dialogue, share knowledge, and build collaborative strategies to combat marine debris and other forms of marine pollution. 'The growing prevalence of marine debris is not just an environmental issue; it is a socioeconomic threat that can undermine the very foundations of our maritime industry and coastal communities,' Ebosele said.
Yahoo
26-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Wegmans testing smart carts at select NY stores: Here's where
Wegmans is testing new smart-cart technology. Pilot programs have begun at Wegmans stores at 6600 Pittsford Palmyra Road, Perinton; 3195 Monroe Ave., Pittsford; and 675 Alberta Drive, Amherst, Erie County, the company said in a statement. A fourth pilot will launch later this month at the store at 6789 East Genesee St. in DeWitt, near Syracuse. Wegmans will be testing smart carts from two different providers, it said. The Perinton and Pittsford Wegmans appear to be using the same provider. Carts available to customers at those stores have touchscreens that allow users to scan items as they go. 'We are limiting the program to these stores as we gather customer feedback to drive improvements,' the statement continued. 'Our goal is to determine if Smart Cart Technology is a fit for the unique shopping assortment offered in our stores and if it meets the shopping needs of our customers.' This isn't the first time Wegmans has tested the technology. Last fall, the company tried out smart carts at three stores, including Perinton and Pittsford. In 2023, it tested an artificial intelligence-powered device at two of its New York stores, including Pittsford. The gadget resembled a tablet with handles and clipped to the top of a regular shopping cart. Using a system of cameras and sensors, it identified items placed in carts and detected items being removed. In 2022, after two and a half years, Wegmans pulled the plug on its popular SCAN app, which enabled customers to scan groceries using their smartphones, bag them as they shopped and pay for them using a single code at self-checkouts. Too many people were walking off with unscanned items, the company said, resulting in unacceptable losses. Reporter Marcia Greenwood covers general assignments and has an interest in retail news. Send story tips to mgreenwo@ Follow her on X @MarciaGreenwood. This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Wegmans testing smart carts at select NY stores: Here's where
