Latest news with #Silvester
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
How A Shop In The UK Beat The Nürburgring's Van Lap Record In A Diesel Volkswagen
None of Jalopnik's full-time staffers have kids, and yet, we're still about as pro-van as a transportation site gets. I mean, what can I say? They're just so darn practical. Maybe you don't put much stock in Nurburgring lap times, but van lap times? Now that's some Very Important News. For the last several years, the record to beat was Guy Martin's time of 9:28 in a 700-horsepower Ford Transit Super Van. Now, that record has been beaten, too, and Road & Track recently talked with Dan Silvester, the guy who recently lapped the 'Ring in 8:27. In a diesel Volkswagen van. As you can imagine, Silvester's Volkswagen Caddy is a far cry from the stock Ford Transit that Sabine Schmitz set a time of 10:12 on "Top Gear" back in 2005. Still, it isn't quite as powerful as you might assume. There's no electric powertrain yanked out of a wrecked Tesla or supercharged V8. Instead, it's just a 2.0-liter four-cylinder diesel engine that makes 356 hp and 470 pound-feet of torque. The modifications required to turn it into a Nürburgring record-holder came from Darkside Developments, a British tuning shop that specializes in diesels. As Road & Track put it: At a glance, the Volkswagen Caddy is a utilitarian work van, but Darkside Developments's expertise turned the part-VW Touran, part-VW Golf machine into a proper track car. Upgrades range from a Wavetrac limited-slip differential up front and KW Clubsport suspension all around to a 4Motion AWD conversion kit from an Audi, Porsche Cayenne brakes, and the requisite bits of interior racing kit. In other words, it's a shell of its former self, much like the Ford Transit that Martin took into battle back in 2021. Read more: These Supercars Lose Value So Quickly, They're Almost A Steal According to Silvester, part of the reason you don't see more extensive aero mods on the outside of the van has less to do with keeping it anonymous and more to do with achieving a higher top speed. As he told Road & Track: I don't know if it's just the shape of the van itself because it had plenty of power, and, if you put that power plant in a Golf, it'll probably do 160 mph. But the van just really didn't want to go much more. I think we got up to 140 mph on the back straight. We had no aero on the van at all either. We didn't put any splitter or a spoiler on it because we thought we wanted to use all the power we've got without causing too much drag, and we didn't want to ruin the profile of the van and keep it looking like a van. Despite not being able to hit the top speed they may have liked, they still smashed Guy Martin's time by a full minute. That said, it doesn't technically count as a new official lap record because it was set on a public track day, and the lap time wasn't officially confirmed. They may have used a VBox system to time the lap, so there's no reason to believe Silvester didn't lap the 'Ring as quickly as he claims, but still. You have to jump through all the necessary hoops if your want your Nurburgring van lap record to be officially official. It's also a fascinating interview, so be sure to head over to Road & Track to read the whole thing. Or just give them a click so Hearst knows you want to see more van content. Because, in a world full of SUVs, the car world deserves more van content. If you want more details on the build, you can also take a look at that here. Want more like this? Join the Jalopnik newsletter to get the latest auto news sent straight to your inbox... Read the original article on Jalopnik.
IOL News
19-05-2025
- General
- IOL News
South Africa's biodiversity: a call to protect endangered species
The endangered Fennec Fox, native to the deserts of North Africa, ranging from Western Sahara, Mauritania to the Sinai Peninsula The world recently paused to reflect on its endangered species, and South Africa confidently stands as a testament to the wonders of nature. As a guardian of some of the Earth's most remarkable flora and fauna, South Africa boasts a biodiversity that is both breathtaking and uniquely its own. From the hidden gems nestled in rocky cliffs to the vibrant canopy of tropical forests, each species plays a critical role in maintaining our vital ecosystems. However, the countdown to extinction is looming for many of these species, and as we commemorated Endangered Species Day, it is crucial to acknowledge the threats impacting our natural heritage. Factors such as habitat destruction due to mining, agricultural expansion. Reflecting on endangered species, South Africa stands as a testament to nature's wonders. The South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), alongside national and international conservation organisations and partners, has made significant strides in protecting these vulnerable species. Each plant and animal, whether thriving in a natural habitat, a protected area, or within national botanical and zoological gardens, carries a story – one of survival, exploitation, and ultimately, of hope. One of many success stories comes from the National Zoological Garden (NZG) in Pretoria, which last year celebrated the birth of a baby buffed-cheeked gibbon. This remarkable milestone marks a significant contribution to global efforts aimed at preserving this endangered species. The gibbons, Silvester and Lony, were paired through a meticulous introduction process as part of a European conservation breeding programme. Their bond blossomed over time, culminating in the joyous arrival of their offspring, encapsulating what Director of Animal Conservation at NZG, Tracy Rehse, calls 'a lifeline for a species.' Originally native to Cambodia, buffed-cheeked gibbons are classified as endangered, struggling against the dual threats of habitat destruction and poaching. Through initiatives such as the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) studbook programme, SANBI and NZG are helping ensure the longevity of this and many other species, underscoring that 15% of the species at the NZG are currently classified as threatened. Nontsikelelo Mpulo, SANBI's Director of Marketing and Communication, and Commercialisation, expressed hope as she spoke about the ongoing conservation efforts that are made possible through public support. Over 50% of SANBI's national botanical gardens are recognised internationally as conservation gardens, actively managing areas of natural vegetation, alongside their rich biodiversity. According to Mpulo, responsible citizens can play a crucial role in safeguarding South Africa's biodiversity, particularly by monitoring threatened species. 'Start by never buying wild plants or animals from illegal traders. Instead, support ethical nurseries and reputable programs that prioritise sustainability,' she advised. Public engagement remains vital for conservation efforts. Citizens can report suspicious wildlife-related activities, learn about the country's unique biodiversity through visits to botanical and zoological gardens, and contribute to local environmental non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Resources such as the Botanical Society of South Africa, WWF SA, Birdlife SA, Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT), and WESSA, offer citizens opportunities to be part of a solution aimed at preserving South Africa's rich biomes. As Mpulo poignantly reminds, 'Everything is connected. When we lose a plant, we may lose a pollinator. When we lose a pollinator, we lose food. When we lose food, we lose people. Conservation is not just about saving species; it's about saving ourselves.'
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Massive rise in number of fines issued to Bolton fly-tippers
Fines issued to fly-tippers in the borough have increased by a staggering amount over the last year. A request made under the Freedom of Information Act has revealed the total number – and value – of fines issued over the last five years. The number of people fined for fly-tipping between 2020 and 2024 was 188 – with 136 being last year alone. This means 72 per cent of people fined in the last five years were fined in 2024. The total value of the fines issued between 2020 and 2024 was £40,700 – with £32,150 coming from just 2024. This was 79 per cent of the cash from the last five years coming from last year alone. Cllr Richard Silvester, the council's executive cabinet member for climate change and the environment, said Labour has encouraged reporting incidents since taking control of the council in May 2023. He said: 'We have encouraged the public to report fly-tipping incidents and because of this, the amount of fly-tipping reports received have increased. 'We do need to know where fly-tipping is occurring so that our enforcement officers can investigate for evidence and issue a fine and so that our teams can then attend to clear.' Have a story? Get in touch at Cllr Silvester said that the new Labour government has been seeking extra investment to tackle the problem. This included an extra £300,000 for street cleaning and fly-tipping removal given to the council in their February budget. He said: 'It is our mission to clean up the borough and to clear up the mess and lack of investment which the previous Conservative administration left us with and that is what we have been doing, staying true to our local manifesto commitments.' READ MORE: Councils to get more powers to crush fly-tippers' vans in planned crackdown READ MORE: More than 7,000 Bolton fly-tipping incidents reported in 10-year high READ MORE: Call for more council action on fly-tipping in 'hazardous' Bolton area Prime Minister Keir Starmer recently announced in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the government would be cracking down on fly-tippers with new technology. He said: 'This is a message to the fly-tippers blighting our towns and villages- for too long, your actions have gone unpunished. 'That ends now. We'll use drones and new tech to identify your vehicle, then we'll crush it.'
Yahoo
19-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Split reactions from constituents during Cheyenne town hall with state representatives
CHEYENNE — Seven Cheyenne state representatives answered questions from their constituents during a town hall Wednesday night at the Laramie County Library. About half of the approximately 30 people who gathered in the room were pleased by their representatives' remarks, while the other half were less than impressed. The lawmakers fielded questions on a wide range of topics, from the importance of revisiting Wyoming's election laws to how they plan to ensure funding for mental and maternal health care. Cheyenne Republican Reps. John Eklund, Lee Filer, Rob Geringer, Ann Lucas, Steve Johnson, Daniel Singh and Jacob Wasserburger participated in the panel, which was organized by Filer. A majority of the panelists were in their first or second term as a state legislator. For the last hour or so of the scheduled three-hour event, patrons were invited to come forward and speak directly with the lawmakers. However, roughly half the audience left the room immediately after the panel portion ended. Local resident Jeff Daugherty moderated the panel and read out questions written on cards by audience members. Better Wyoming member Angela Silvester told the Wyoming Tribune Eagle after the town hall she was disappointed her question wasn't properly asked. 'I had a few questions, and one of our (volunteers) also had some questions about health care,' Silvester said. 'They kind of looped it in together.' Silvester said her question asked lawmakers why they voted for or against increasing Medicaid reimbursement rates in the supplemental budget for maternal and mental health care. Gov. Mark Gordon recommended a $2.3 million allocation to the Wyoming Department of Health to increase Medicaid reimbursement rates in his supplemental budget request to the Legislature this year. But, for the first time in recent memory, the Legislature failed to pass a supplemental budget. 'I'm a little bit disappointed (Daugherty) didn't read my question exactly,' Silvester said. Not everyone was disappointed by the panel, however. A couple of attendees told the WTE they were pleased by their representatives' comments and said it appeared the lawmakers knew what they were talking about. 'I thought it was good,' said Cheyenne resident Celeste Simmons. 'They explained why they made certain decisions and explained how the process works.' Property taxes, education, elections The 68th Wyoming Legislature passed bills related to education funding, election laws and property tax relief. A universal school choice bill and a 25% property tax cut were among the more controversial topics heavily debated during the 37-day session. One of the first questions panelists tackled was the impact of major property tax relief. Critics of the 25% property tax cut said city services and special districts will take a major hit, especially without any backfill from the state. During another Cheyenne town hall that was held a little more than three weeks ago, Lucas said Laramie County is 'wealthy,' and downplayed the effects of property tax cuts on local governments, which she claimed are 'inflation proof.' 'I'm here to tell you, Laramie County has reserves,' Lucas said during the previous town hall. 'I really don't know that there's any need to reduce fire protection when we are such a wealthy county.' Rep. Ann Lucas, R-Cheyenne (2025) Rep. Ann Lucas, R-Cheyenne However, Lucas changed her tune a bit during Wednesday's town hall. 'I live in Laramie County. I was mostly concerned with how the 25% residential property tax cut would hit us, because this is our home,' Lucas said. 'I'll be honest with you, there's a couple of fire districts that are probably going to be hurting a little bit.' She maintained that 'we'll be OK,' but added that the income cut to some fire districts 'is a big deal.' 'Will the government have to learn to spend a little less? Yes,' Lucas said. In light of the property tax cuts, panelists also addressed a question that asked how the Legislature will ensure adequate funding for its K-12 public schools, especially considering a recent Laramie County district court decision that found the state has unconstitutionally underfunded its public school system. Geringer said public school funding will be OK in the short term, but the state should 'be careful … looking into the future.' Rep. Rob Geringer, R-Cheyenne (2025) Rep. Rob Geringer, R-Cheyenne 'We're so dependent on a volatile market in the revenues that come into the state, and our schools are highly depend on that,' Geringer said. He said the state should be cautious about stripping its various savings accounts just because it believes the government is too big. The state has to be able to provide funding when revenues are down, 'and it will come.' Singh, who serves on the House Education Committee, chimed in that fossil fuels are a major source of education funding. He said the state should consider diversifying its education revenue, such as by expanding its tourism industry. Rep. Daniel Singh, R-Cheyenne (2025) Rep. Daniel Singh, R-Cheyenne 'There are other avenues that we can explore to add to the funding for our education system, including from a tourism reserve account,' Singh said. 'There are a lot of different discussions that we have going into the budget session, but that would be one way to add to the funding in our education system.' The Legislature also considered a record 45 election-related bills that were filed for the session, which made up 8% of the total legislation considered, according to Only four cases of election fraud have been reported in Wyoming since 2000, according to The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. Lawmakers were asked why they felt election integrity is so important to the state of Wyoming. Only Lucas and Johnson volunteered to answer the question. They were also the only two representatives at the panel who were primary sponsors on election bills. Rep. Steve Johnson, R-Cheyenne (2025) Rep. Steve Johnson, R-Cheyenne 'As a whole, the citizens of Wyoming are due a legal, honest election,' said Johnson, who is a member of the House Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions Committee. Lucas said it is a matter of patience getting all the election bills through, since a majority of them failed to go into law this year. But she didn't explain why Wyoming's election laws need to be revisited. Visions for the future Daugherty asked panelists one last question before they were released to speak with audience members one on one: What is your vision for the 2027-28 biennium? Eklund, who has served in the Legislature since 2011, said he'd like to see lawmakers move on from 'bloc voting.' In the recent legislative session — the first in which the Wyoming Freedom Caucus held a majority in the House of Representatives — he said it 'was about a 35-25 vote every time.' Rep. John Eklund, R-Cheyenne (2025) Rep. John Eklund, R-Cheyenne 'When I started 14 years ago, I was able to bring an idea to the Legislature and have citizen legislators who came and tried to help my bills get across the finish line,' Eklund said. 'We're just not doing that.' He said he didn't think it was constitutional, and it's already happening in Washington, D.C. Nine thousand people gave him their vote, Eklund continued. He can't represent his people if he's stuck in a bloc voting group. 'That's a vision I would have, for wanting to get out of this ridiculous, unconstitutional way we're trying to run the government,' Eklund said. 'That's how Washington, D.C. does it. We don't need to do that if we're a citizen legislature.' Other representatives offered their perspectives on the budget for the next biennium, which will be debated in February during the 2026 budget session. Lucas said the state should curb the rate of government growth in spending. Geringer said the state should take a deeper look at how to fund education and be responsible in how it makes cuts to the budget. 'We don't need to just cut for the sake of cutting, but be surgical in how we look at the budget,' he said. Filer said he wants to heavily focus on protecting the state's savings accounts, which generate revenue from collected interest. Lawmakers successfully eliminated the Budget Reserve Account in the recent session, and Filer said he was a bit concerned about this trend. Rep. Lee Filer, R-Cheyenne (2025) Rep. Lee Filer, R-Cheyenne 'We're cutting out our revenues by eliminating accounts that we have that are … making money off the investments,' Filer said. 'We want to actually look at our budget with our general fund and make sure we're spending the dollars correctly, the way we're supposed to, and not eliminating investment dollars.'
BBC News
02-03-2025
- Business
- BBC News
How a closed building reflects Nottingham's 'social changes'
Built more than 90 years ago as the headquarters of bike manufacturer Raleigh, the Howitt Building in Nottingham went on to become a business centre and community the Grade II-listed building on Lenton Boulevard is now facing an uncertain future after Nottingham City Council ordered it to close at the end of December over safety concerns about the fire authority, which said it would work with tenants and businesses to "minimise" disruption, has not yet confirmed its long-term plans for the Silvester, from Nottingham Civic Society, says the building reflects "the social changes the city has seen", adding it would be "the greatest shame if that legacy was lost". The Howitt Building was completed in 1931 to the designs of architect T Cecil Howitt, who was also responsible for the city's Council House and Home Brewery Silvester said Raleigh was "one of Nottingham's 'big three', along with Boots and Players"."The owners of the businesses wanted their buildings to reflect their importance," she explained."Raleigh was worldwide business, so it wanted offices which would project that status."But its influence wasn't just about money, it had a big social impact."It was known for employing women and Nottingham gained a reputation for being a women's city." The offices were described in the company's commemorative booklet as "probably unexcelled in architecture, business equipment and hygienic planning".One of the striking features is the ballroom, which featured a sprung floor, a stage, and dressing rooms for upper floor also housed a dining room and a reading Silvester said: "At this time companies were more family-minded, they actually provided facilities for their staff and workers."They had societies like drama and ballroom dancing and sports."My father worked there for 30 years and I remember going in and being so impressed by this big entrance hall and what the company was doing." Ian Wells, also from the Nottingham Civic Society, said: "The building has a sleek, Art Deco look."It also has these friezes of near-naked cherubs, which are a mark of Howitt's work, but it looks a little unsafe as they work on building bicycles."It is an excellent example of architecture and all the more impressive for how well it is preserved, with so many original features like panelling and stained glass windows."At its height, Raleigh employed well over 8,000 people and was producing more than one million bikes a World War Two, workers from across the Empire were invited to Britain and many came to work at Nottingham, with Raleigh again playing a central role in the sometimes difficult social to Historic England, Oswold George Powe, a leading member of Nottingham's African-Caribbean community, succeeded in changing the firm's employment policy following a bicycle boycott in is said to have then become the largest employer of African-Caribbean workers in Nottingham. When the offices were sold to the city council in the 1980s, the building hosted the Marcus Garvey Centre, named after a civil rights activist, which catered for the needs of older African and Caribbean Taylor, the chairperson of the centre, said: "The centre has been here for 35 years."Initially it was a luncheon club and we would have 40 to 50 people attending daily."A lot of people are isolated and this was somewhere where people would be missed."If someone didn't come, we would notice. It was a community link, it kept people together and it avoids that isolation." 'Critical concerns' A document, seen by the BBC earlier in February, stated the council is considering various options for the building's future, including remediation works or potentially selling authority said on Friday that "no decision regarding the long-term future of the site" had been it said a recent risk assessment highlighted "critical concerns" regarding the fire doors and compartmentalisation throughout the building, which "present a significant risk to life in the event of a fire".A "comprehensive survey which will determine the full extent of the works and costs required to address the outstanding issues" is under way, the council complete, "all viable options will be considered in consultation".
