Latest news with #UpperMidwest
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
RLB Expands with New Minneapolis Office and Leadership Appointment of Jesse Zunke
Enhancing Client Service and Deepening Partnerships Across the Twin Cities Region Jesse Zunke Heads RLB's Minneapolis Expansion MINNEAPOLIS, June 17, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Rider Levett Bucknall (RLB), a global construction and property consultancy, has officially opened a new office in Minneapolis, Minnesota, expanding the firm's footprint in the Upper Midwest. This move supports RLB's strategic growth in key U.S. markets and its ongoing commitment to delivering best-in-class service across a range of sectors. Leading the new office is Jesse Zunke, a seasoned industry expert with more than 15 years of experience in construction and cost consultancy. Zunke has played a key role in advancing RLB's operations across the West and Midwest, managing high-performing cost management teams and contributing to complex projects in aviation, higher education, municipal infrastructure, and sports facilities. 'We're excited to announce Jesse Zunke as the lead of our new Minneapolis office,' said Kevin Mitchell, Executive Vice President and Director of Operations for the Central Region. 'Jesse brings a wealth of experience and a strong track record of delivering value across a wide range of sectors. His leadership will be instrumental as we expand RLB's presence in the Twin Cities and continue to support our clients with the high-quality service they expect.' Zunke's leadership is grounded in collaboration, technical rigor, and a client-first mindset. He is known for guiding projects from concept to completion with a focus on efficiency, transparency, and precision. Leveraging Lean methodologies, critical path scheduling, and advanced quantification tools, Zunke helps clients navigate complex challenges and deliver consistent results. 'I am eager to build strong relationships within the Minneapolis–St. Paul community as the region continues to evolve and grow,' said Jesse Zunke. 'It's a privilege to establish RLB's presence here, and I am committed to supporting the ongoing development across public and private sectors. My focus is on delivering the expertise and service our clients expect, while fostering lasting partnerships that benefit the community.' The Minneapolis office strengthens RLB's national platform and reflects the firm's continued investment in regions where innovation, growth, and client partnerships are driving construction forward. About Rider Levett Bucknall With a network that covers the globe and a heritage spanning over two centuries, Rider Levett Bucknall is a leading independent organization in cost management and quantity surveying, project management, advisory services, and sustainability services. Rider Levett Bucknall's North American practice has offices in over 28 cities across the North America, including Austin, Boston, Calgary, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Hilo, Honolulu, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Maui, Miami, Nashville, New York, Phoenix, Portland, San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle, Toronto, Tucson, Waimea, and Washington, D.C. With more than 3,600 employees worldwide, Rider Levett Bucknall brings unparalleled value and service to its prestigious group of clients, through its robust experience and high-level expertise. The firm enjoys a professional heritage that spans over 235 years, and it continues to be a global leader in the construction industry throughout the Americas, Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Oceania. For more information, visit and for the latest company news and construction cost trends, follow the firm on LinkedIn. Contact information:Lisa BankstonHinge PR (a division of Hinge Marketing)lbankston@ A photo accompanying this announcement is available at in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Washington Post
03-06-2025
- Climate
- Washington Post
These regions have poor air quality from Canadian wildfire smoke
The air quality is reaching dangerous levels in parts of the Upper Midwest and north central U.S., where copious amounts of smoke from wildfires in Canada are wafting south across the international border. Most of Minnesota, western Wisconsin eastern Nebraska. and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan are under air quality alerts. Late this week, the smoke could descend on Chicago.
Reuters
03-06-2025
- Health
- Reuters
Canadian wildfire smoke spreads into US Midwest
DULUTH, Minnesota, June 3 (Reuters) - Smoke from wildfires burning in three Canadian provinces is spreading into the U.S. Upper Midwest, stirring memories of the severe pollution that drifted south from Canada two years ago during that country's worst fire season on record. The particulate matter pollution caused by the smoke is already drifting into Minnesota and neighboring states. It is expected to make its way to New York and other East Coast cities in coming days, posing a health risk to the tens of millions who live in those regions. "Airborne particulate matter is the most serious environmental health risk we know of," said Doug Brugge, a public health researcher at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine. "It causes cardiovascular, respiratory and neurological harm, and these plumes of smoke are at very high levels compared to what we're usually exposed to in the U.S." Scores of wildfires have swept across Canada since the start of May, forcing thousands of evacuations and disrupting crude oil production in the country. There were more than 200 active fires as of Monday, 106 of which were out of control, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre. So far, 1.9 million hectares (4.7 million acres) have burned, mostly in the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Still, the current crisis does not yet come close to rivaling 2023, when 17 million hectares burned. One of the worst spots in the U.S. for air quality on Tuesday morning as a result of the fires was Ely, Minnesota, near the Manitoba border. It registered a "hazardous" air quality index reading of 336, according to IQAir, a website that monitors air quality around the world. An air quality rating of below 50 is considered to be "good," and readings between 100 and 300 are deemed "unhealthy" to "very unhealthy," while higher than that is considered "hazardous," according to the website. In Duluth, Minnesota, the rating stood at 309 at midmorning Tuesday, while in Flin Flon, Manitoba, about 800 miles (1,300 km) to the north and in one of the areas where the Canadian wildfires are concentrated, the AQI was at 359. In IQAir's list of the world's major cities, Minneapolis ranked as second worst air quality, with a 210 reading, trailing only Kuwait City, which led the list with a 318 reading. Children, the elderly and people with chronic cardiac, respiratory and other illnesses are most vulnerable to the effects of the smoke, especially those with cardiovascular problems, according to Brugge. "The risk of hospitalization and death is low in people who are healthy and at a young age," he said, adding that there is still evidence that air pollution exposure increases blood pressure and inflammation for those people. Experts have said that particulates from wildfire smoke enter most buildings in high concentrations, although the problem is greater in older structures. The concentration of wildfire pollutants indoors is on average about half of what it is outdoors, but if a building is not well sealed, the concentration may be up to 70% of what it is outside, experts have said. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency advises that during wildfire smoke events, people avoid indoor activities that put more fine particles into the air, such as smoking cigarettes, frying or broiling food, burning candles or incense, and vacuuming without a HEPA filter. Exposure to wildfire smoke may also increase lung cancer patients' risk of dying from their disease, particularly among non-smokers, although the effect may be mitigated by certain cancer treatments, according to a large California study presented last month. Nonetheless, some farmers believe the effects of the fires are not all negative. In online forums like Facebook, some farmers have said some of their best yields ever came from years with a heavy pall of wildfire smoke from Canada. The smoke can protect vulnerable crops from scorching sunlight, they think.
BBC News
30-05-2025
- Climate
- BBC News
More hot weather forecast as Canada battles fires and smoke billows south
Canadian officials are warning of tough days ahead for fighting growing wildfires in Saskatchewan and Manitoba with hot and dry weather in the weekend forecast. The wildfires have forced thousands to evacuate in the two prairie provinces, with both this week declaring states of from the fires has triggered air quality alerts in Canada and as far as Chicago, where forecasters say the smell of smoke will be noticeable by Friday evening. There are also air quality advisories in place in parts of the US Upper Midwest, including Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. "Conditions maybe unhealthy for sensitive groups and there is a possibility that hourly levels could reach the unhealthy range for a short period of time," the state of Michigan said on Friday. The advisories in Michigan and Wisconsin are currently in place through Saturday morning. Residents in northern Minnesota have been warned smoke could reach levels "unhealthy for everyone", with the rest of the state facing air quality that could effect those in sensitive groups. That alert runs through Monday evening. There are 15 wildfires burning in Saskatchewan as of Friday, with the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC) classifying conditions in the province as extreme. Seven of those fires are not contained, according to data from the Manitoba, there is a total of 22 fires burning, according to the province's fire situation report, with four classified as out of control. Thousands of people from 16 communities had been forced to evacuate in Saskatchewan this week as a result of the fires. Similar evacuations took place in Manitoba, affecting 17,000 residents of Flin Flon, Manitoba, a community of about 5,000, have been told to leave by midday on Friday due to a large blaze threatening the town. Danielle Desjardins, a meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada based in Winnipeg, told the BBC that the forecast for both provinces does not spell relief any time soon, with hot and dry conditions expected to continue into the weekend. A cold front is expected to hit some parts of Saskatchewan, bringing with it some rain, but its current forecasted path narrowly misses the regions where the fires are burning."The bad news about this cold front is it's going to be windy," said Ms Desjardins, adding that the wind, coupled with the heat and lack of rain, are prime conditions for wildfire said Saskatchewan has been "extremely dry" since March, and is experiencing abnormally warm weather for May that has pushed temperatures to above 30C (86F). She added that anecdotally, "it's one of the worst (wildfire seasons) in recent years for Saskatchewan".How climate change worsens heatwaves, droughts, wildfires and floodsCanada experienced its worst wildfire season on record in 2023, when over 42 million acres (17.3m hectares) burned - an area larger than all of England - and more than double the previous record. Smoke from those wildfires blanketed cities south of Canada's border into the US, including New York the 2023 fires were more acutely felt in Alberta, British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Quebec. This year, it is Saskatchewan and Manitoba that are seeing the largest fires to happen naturally in many parts of the world. It is difficult to know if climate change has caused or worsened a specific wildfire because other factors are also relevant, such as changes to the way land is climate change is making the weather conditions needed for wildfires to spread more likely, the IPCC, the UN's climate body, says.
New York Times
30-05-2025
- Climate
- New York Times
Smoke From Wildfires in Canada Wafts Into the Upper Midwest
Smoke from wildfires in Canada has begun drifting across the border into the United States, raising concerns on Friday about possible health hazards in the Upper Midwest, the authorities said. Warnings about poor air quality were issued in Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota along with advisories for people in certain groups to curtail outdoor activity. In Michigan, meteorologists at the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy said on Friday that the levels of fine particulate in the air would be elevated in the state through Saturday morning. People in sensitive groups, defined as those with heart or lung disease, older adults, children, pregnant people and outdoor workers, who may be more susceptible to the smoke, were advised to take precautions, such as adjusting outdoor activity. Particulates are small specks of soot, ash and dust that are picked up by winds and flow hundreds of miles across borders and state lines. In Canada, wildfire season typically runs from March until October. In Western Canada, fire activity normally sees an uptick in May. The season got off to a grim start earlier this month when two people were killed in the province of Manitoba as a wildfire raged, forcing the evacuation of an entire town. This week in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, neighboring provinces in Canada's prairies, dozens of wildfires spread out-of-control, displacing thousands of residents. A cold front was dragging smoke from the large wildfires in Manitoba and Saskatchewan across the border into Minnesota's northern region and tribal nations. The smoke was generating a reading of red on the air quality index, a standard measurement used by states to track particulate pollution, meaning it is unhealthy for many members of the general public. Air quality in the rest of the state was expected to be orange, or unhealthy especially for sensitive groups, Minnesota's Pollution Control Agency said. 'This will be a long-duration event with multiple rounds of smoke expected,' the agency said. The highest concentration of smoke is expected through Saturday afternoon, before a second round of smoke billows in on Sunday and a third wave arrives on Monday. In Wisconsin, state officials said hazy skies and elevated levels of fine particle pollution from the wildfires were forecast to drift into the northwestern region of the state before thickening and moving south on Friday. The advisory in Wisconsin is set to expire at 6 a.m. on Saturday, the Department of Natural Resources said, but there was a chance that the impacts from the smoke could continue in other areas. It said that there was also the possibility that the alert level on the air quality index could reach orange, or unhealthy for sensitive groups, and possibly red, meaning many more would be affected.
