Latest news with #Prentice
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Shining skill
Jun. 9—MOSES LAKE — This isn't exactly the Columbia Basin Technical Skills Center's first trip to the nationals. "For 11 years straight we have placed at state competition, and eight of those years we've qualified for nationals," said Terri Pixlee, who teaches video game programming at CBTECH. "We've been all over the country. We've been to Chicago, Utah, Georgia twice, Florida (and) Maryland and this will be our second time in California." Pixlee's students Alex Meyer, Hailey Harper and Ethan Huntley competed in April at the Future Business Leaders of America game programming competition in Bellevue, she said. One team of three students took second place and will go on to nationals in Anaheim, California. Another team of two, Neri Hernandez and Jaden Salazar, placed seventh, not high enough to be assured of a berth but enough to be alternates in case some other Washington team doesn't show. So far, that doesn't seem likely, Pixlee said. "It doesn't happen very often, but it does happen," she said. In addition, Felix Neutzhorn and Zander Leasher from the CBTECH Fire Sciences and Roan Prentice from the Automotive program qualified for nationals at the SkillsUSA state competitions in Spokane in March. They'll go to the national competition in Atlanta, Georgia in July. Prentice took first place at the state competition, said instructor Lonny Steinmetz. He and teammate David Couture also won first place at the Top Tech Challenge in Yakima. CBTECH was the first school to take first at the Top Tech Challenge twice in a row, Steinmetz added. Prentice came away from the competitions with more than just bragging rights, Steinmetz said. "He won about $56,000 in scholarships along with some tools," he said. For the video game competition, the students divide themselves into teams of three, usually including an artist, a programmer and a level designer, Pixlee said. At least one of those students also needs some serious presentation chops, she said. "It's like 'Shark Tank,'" she said. "They have to present their game and sell it as if they're selling it to one of the gaming houses, so it's really kind of important they have a speaker as well." The video game creators will be in Anaheim June 29-July 2, Pixlee said. They can't afford a side trip to Disneyland, she said, but there are other things they can occupy their off-time with. "There's plenty of attractions they want to see," she said. "Venice Beach, they want to, you know, things like that that don't cost much. We'll find a little arcade." The students going to Atlanta will be there June 23-27, said Fire Sciences teacher Lynn Dodd. "It's huge for these kids," Dodd said. "The student we took last year had barely ever been out of town. It's one of their first times getting to stay in a hotel, getting to go to these fancy restaurants, and then we were taking them on their first flights across the United States. And it's like, this is cool that these kids get this opportunity to compete with the best students of the state. That we get to be a part of that is pretty awesome."
Scotsman
04-06-2025
- Business
- Scotsman
The place in Scotland where 94 per cent of people travel by ScotRail
The train operator says even just talking about improvements boosts passenger numbers Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... I used to think most people in Scotland rarely travelled by train, wedded to the convenience of their cars despite decades of government attempts to persuade them otherwise. But while it is true that the overall proportion of all journeys by rail remains tiny - just 2 per cent compared to half by car - I was taken aback by its popularity in some areas of the country when I saw a ScotRail presentation on Friday. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad As someone who travels to Glasgow a lot, it's good to see that the peak-time fares are to be abolished | Jane Barlow/PA It turns out that folk in East Renfrewshire are Scotland's most enthusiastic rail travellers, nearly one third of whom take a train at least once a week. Even more surprising to my mind is that only 6 per cent of people there never travel by train. That's about double the Scottish average for train use, and about two thirds less than the no rail travel rate, of 17 and 16 per cent respectively. By contrast, in areas with fewer stations and less frequent trains, the picture is very different, with just one in 50 Perth and Kinross residents taking the train at least once a week while nearly one third never do. As ScotRail's strategy and planning director Scott Prentice, who presented the figures to the Scottish Association for Public Transport's annual meeting in Glasgow, observed: 'There's a myth out there we need to convert people to use rail. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'No, we don't - they're using us, they're just not using us often enough. So it's about frequency of use - that's how we grow our business.' Mr Prentice pointed to some of the fastest growing areas, including Fife, where he said reliability improvements and the reopening of the Levenmouth line had helped increase passenger numbers by more than half to 3.5 million over the last year. Numbers travelling on the Glasgow to Ayr, Ardrossan and Largs lines were up by one third to 7.1 million, assisted by some 135,000 travelling to the Open golf in Troon last July In fact, Mr Prentice said ScotRail only had to start talking about improvements for patronage to increase, which he said had 'put rail at the front of people's minds'. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad As for the fastest growing stations, some have soared past pre-pandemic highs, even if ScotRail overall has still to achieve that. These include Kennishead, on the south side of Glasgow, whose numbers were up one third on a decade ago to 90,000 even before its total more than doubled again in 2024-25 to 185,000. That's been put down to passengers temporarily switching from the nearby East Kilbride line during its closure for electrification, as well as new housing. The fastest growing was on another adjacent line, at Williamwood in East Renfrewshire, where passengers more than doubled for the same reasons to top 400,000 last year, although they were previously below pre-Covid levels. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Other rising stars are on the secondary Edinburgh-Glasgow route via Shotts, thanks to new and more frequent trains, with Curriehill handling nearly 200,000 passengers in 2024-25 - more than three times as many as ten years ago. Livingston South and Kirknewton on the line also saw big growth. But all that doesn't get away from the fact the network is hugely expensive to run, requiring £800 million a year of government funding.
Scotsman
04-06-2025
- Business
- Scotsman
The place in Scotland where 94 per cent of people travel by ScotRail
The train operator says even just talking about improvements boosts passenger numbers Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... I used to think most people in Scotland rarely travelled by train, wedded to the convenience of their cars despite decades of government attempts to persuade them otherwise. But while it is true that the overall proportion of all journeys by rail remains tiny - just 2 per cent compared to half by car - I was taken aback by its popularity in some areas of the country when I saw a ScotRail presentation on Friday. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad As someone who travels to Glasgow a lot, it's good to see that the peak-time fares are to be abolished | Jane Barlow/PA It turns out that folk in East Renfrewshire are Scotland's most enthusiastic rail travellers, nearly one third of whom take a train at least once a week. Even more surprising to my mind is that only 6 per cent of people there never travel by train. That's about double the Scottish average for train use, and about two thirds less than the no rail travel rate, of 17 and 16 per cent respectively. By contrast, in areas with fewer stations and less frequent trains, the picture is very different, with just one in 50 Perth and Kinross residents taking the train at least once a week while nearly one third never do. As ScotRail's strategy and planning director Scott Prentice, who presented the figures to the Scottish Association for Public Transport's annual meeting in Glasgow, observed: 'There's a myth out there we need to convert people to use rail. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'No, we don't - they're using us, they're just not using us often enough. So it's about frequency of use - that's how we grow our business.' Mr Prentice pointed to some of the fastest growing areas, including Fife, where he said reliability improvements and the reopening of the Levenmouth line had helped increase passenger numbers by more than half to 3.5 million over the last year. Numbers travelling on the Glasgow to Ayr, Ardrossan and Largs lines were up by one third to 7.1 million, assisted by some 135,000 travelling to the Open golf in Troon last July In fact, Mr Prentice said ScotRail only had to start talking about improvements for patronage to increase, which he said had 'put rail at the front of people's minds'. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad As for the fastest growing stations, some have soared past pre-pandemic highs, even if ScotRail overall has still to achieve that. These include Kennishead, on the south side of Glasgow, whose numbers were up one third on a decade ago to 90,000 even before its total more than doubled again in 2024-25 to 185,000. That's been put down to passengers temporarily switching from the nearby East Kilbride line during its closure for electrification, as well as new housing. The fastest growing was on another adjacent line, at Williamwood in East Renfrewshire, where passengers more than doubled for the same reasons to top 400,000 last year, although they were previously below pre-Covid levels. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Other rising stars are on the secondary Edinburgh-Glasgow route via Shotts, thanks to new and more frequent trains, with Curriehill handling nearly 200,000 passengers in 2024-25 - more than three times as many as ten years ago. Livingston South and Kirknewton on the line also saw big growth. But all that doesn't get away from the fact the network is hugely expensive to run, requiring £800 million a year of government funding.
Herald Sun
27-05-2025
- Business
- Herald Sun
BRK rides high in Oklahoma
Brookside Energy completes Bruins Well stimulation safely, on time and within budget Preparations are now underway for flow-back and testing at Brookside's ninth well in Oklahoma's SWISH Play acreage The Australian junior expects initial production and sales from Bruins this quarter as planned Special Report: Brookside Energy has successfully completed stimulation operations at its Bruins Well as it prepares for flow-back, testing, and initial production and sales. Brookside Energy (ASX:BRK) is continuing it run of success in Oklahoma's prolific Anadarko Basin with the Bruins Well stimulation operations finished safely, on time and within budget. Preparations are now underway for flow-back, and testing and first sales are on track for this quarter from Brookside's ninth well in the SWISH Play acreage. The company says the high-intensity fracture stimulation of the Woodford Formation, located in the southern half of SCOOP (South Central Oklahoma Oil Province), was executed with 42 stages, all of which were successfully completed. Significant step in SWISH Managing director, David Prentice said: 'We're very pleased to have safely and efficiently completed stimulation operations on the Bruins Well, on time and on budget. 'Bruins represents another important step in the development of our SWISH Play acreage. With flow-back now imminent and first sales on track for this quarter, we look forward to this well contributing to cash flow and further validating the quality of our acreage.' 'I'm immensely proud of the team for the care and diligence they continue to demonstrate in delivering these projects safely, on schedule and within budget.' Prentice added that Bruins represented a key step in unlocking the full potential of Brookside's Bruins Drilling Spacing Unit (DSU), and the company is focused on achieving optimal production and cash flow from the well in the near term. Highly encouraging for Brookside is that real-time monitoring during the operations confirmed that each stage effectively stimulated the reservoir, with pressures, sand and fluid volumes aligning with the company's pre-completion design. The plugs which served as check valves to provide zonal isolation during the high-intensity multi-stage stimulation of the well have been successfully drilled out and production tubing has been installed. Well placed in market The latest news from Bruins confirms Brookside's reputation as a smart operator in the American oil and gas sector. The company has low operating costs of only ~$9 per barrel of oil equivalent (BOE), a strong cash position and plus 2P net reserves at 12.35 million barrels of oil (MMBO), giving the resilience to withstand the current choppy conditions in the market. Prentice has said that even if Brookside stopped drilling after Bruins and prices stayed low for the next five years, the company would still generate more cash flow than its current cap during that time. 'Best of all, our oil and gas reserves would still be in place ready to develop when prices rebound,' he said. This article was developed in collaboration with Brookside Energy, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing. This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions. Originally published as Brookside Energy rides high in Oklahoma
The Herald Scotland
23-04-2025
- The Herald Scotland
Stonehaven derailment fatal accident inquiry 'could last nine weeks'
A criminal prosecution saw Network Rail fined £6.7 million in 2023 after it admitted health and safety failings over the crash, which happened on a day of torrential rainfall. At a preliminary hearing held virtually from Aberdeen Sheriff Court on Wednesday, Alex Prentice KC, representing the Crown, said it would be a 'large and complex' fatal accident inquiry (FAI). During a previous preliminary hearing in January, the lawyer suggested the FAI could last around 12 weeks but on Wednesday he said it could take less time. READ MORE: Probe into Stonehaven train derailment could last 12 weeks Fatal Accident Inquiry to be held following Stonehaven train derailment Victims and relatives speak out after Network Rail guilty over Stonehaven crash He said: 'It is very difficult to at this stage identify the duration of the hearing, but we think about eight to nine weeks.' Mr Prentice said that at a previous hearing, Sheriff Principal Derek Pyle made it clear the views of bereaved relatives and the passengers were important when deciding how the FAI should be held, be it virtually or in person. He said there appears to be no strong united view on the matter. The lawyer told the hearing: 'I suggest it might be better that further thought is given to that so that a final decision can be made at the next hearing. 'From the Crown's point of view I think a hybrid model might be the best, with some evidence taken remotely and some evidence taken in person and statements and other matters would be referred to.' Participants in the inquiry include the RMT and Aslef unions, ScotRail, the Office of Rail and Road, the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB), Network Rail Infrastructure, British Transport Police and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service. The inquiry heard on Wednesday that the Scottish Ambulance Service will also participate. A date for the FAI has not yet been fixed, however Sheriff Lesley Johnston on Wednesday asked participants to provide dates of their availability for the inquiry over the next 18 months to help with planning. A further preliminary hearing will take place on June 23. Unlike criminal proceedings, FAIs are inquisitorial in nature, and are used to establish facts rather than apportion blame. The purpose of an FAI includes determining the cause of death, the circumstances in which the death occurred, and establishing what reasonable precautions could have been taken to minimise the risk of future deaths in similar circumstances. At the High Court in Aberdeen in September 2023, Network Rail admitted a series of failings that resulted in the deaths, pleading guilty to a charge covering the period from May 1 2011 to August 12 2020. This included failing to inform the driver that it was unsafe to drive the train at 75mph, or caution him to reduce his speed amid bad weather on the day of the derailment, which also left six people injured. An RAIB report published in March 2022 found errors in the construction of a drainage system installed by Carillion meant it was unable to cope with heavy rain which fell in the area on the morning of the crash. Carillion went into compulsory liquidation in January 2018. The RAIB report made 20 recommendations to improve railway safety, many of which were directed at Network Rail. Network Rail previously said it is determined to build on the 'significant changes' it has made since the incident, which have 'helped us to manage the risk of severe weather to the network', and it has invested millions to improve the resilience of the railway.
