Latest news with #Plan
Otago Daily Times
10 hours ago
- Politics
- Otago Daily Times
Farmer to have case considered
Invercargill city councillors will next week consider whether a Tisbury poultry farmer will be compensated for the loss of income and distress caused by a nearby housing development. In May, during the public forum of the council's community wellbeing and regulatory committee McNeill's Poultry Farm owner Nigel Hewitson outlined his troubles with a new housing development near his farm. He said since September last year the vibrations and noise from the housing development had stressed the 5000 hens on his Tisbury poultry farm. The hens lost their appetite, their condition, became more aggressive towards each other and egg production dropped. Mr Hewitson said he did not know how the development had gained planning consent without him being identified as an affected party and thought the council was at fault. Council consenting and environment general manager Jonathan Shaw was asked to prepare a report. In his report tabled at Tuesday's community wellbeing and regulatory committee meeting, Mr Shaw said while Mr Hewitson believed he should have been identified as an affected party, the application did not breach the district plan and therefore he was not an affected party. While it was obvious Mr Hewitson had been affected by the development, for the purpose of the consent he was not. Mr Hewitson sought a High Court injunction against the developer to mitigate the impacts to his operation which was issued in January. In his findings High Court Justice Jonathan Eaton noted the council consents and the work was being carried out according to the consent conditions. The council was not a party to the injunction and no concerns were raised by Justice Eaton about the actions of the council, the report said. The High Court ruling imposed stricter limits on noise and vibration than those set in the District Plan and the council had no authority to monitor or enforce the injunction. Mr Shaw had reviewed the conversations Mr Hewitson had with staff and concluded record keeping could be improved. There was also a delay in Mr Shaw being updated by staff about the situation. There were now protocols in place to ensure interactions with the public are recorded and matters are brought before senior management as required. Cr Ian Pottinger said it was clear that Mr Hewitson was an affected party and asked what staff had done to help when he approached them. Mr Shaw said the district plan did not not have any provisions to deal with the issues. Mr Pottinger said section 17 of the Resource Management Act (RMA) stated there was a duty to avoid, remedy, or mitigate any adverse effect on the environment arising from an activity and asked who in this case was responsible to do this. Mr Shaw said his understanding was the applicant and the local authority was responsible. However, at the time the resource consent was approved, those effects were seen to be less than minor. Mr Hewitson attended the meeting and afterwards said he thought the system was "unjust". It seemed getting the consent conditions right on paper was more important than the real impact it had on people, he said. Legislation was there to protect people and their properties. "Where's my protection?" After the meeting, council chief executive Michael Day said the question of compensation was discussed in committee, behind closed doors.
Newsweek
2 days ago
- Business
- Newsweek
Nearly Half a Million Student Loan Repayment Plans at Risk: Report
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. The Department of Education plans to deny 460,000 federal student loan borrowers from accessing lower repayment plans, according to a Politico report citing internal department documents. The affected students had selected the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan, a Biden-era policy that generally came with the lowest monthly payments and which the Education Department functionally abolished earlier this month. Newsweek has contacted the Department of Education for comment outside regular hours. Why It Matters The amendments to the SAVE Plan and the decision to deny lower-income students access is in line with the steps taken by President Donald Trump's administration to phase out educational policies and financial support systems enacted under his predecessor. While the Education Department has said it will support students transitioning to alternative plans, experts have said this could result in hundreds of dollars being tacked onto their monthly payments. What Was the SAVE Plan? The SAVE Plan was introduced in 2023, replacing the Revised Pay As You Earn (REPAYE) Program. Intended as a more generous income-driven option, undergraduates enrolled in the plan had payments capped at 5 percent of their discretionary income, rising to 10 percent for graduate borrowers, per Politico. According to the Department of Education, there are almost 7.7 million borrowers enrolled in SAVE. Amid a string of legal disputes and a court injunction blocking elements of SAVE in June 2024, enrollees have been in legal limbo and their loans placed in general forbearance with a zero percent interest rate since then. What To Know In early July, the Education Department announced that it would recommence interest accrual on loans in the "illegal" SAVE Plan. The change is set to take effect on August 1. An Education Department spokesperson told Politico that the reason for the 460,000 applications being denied was because loan servicers were now unable to process these "as SAVE is no longer an option, as it is illegal." In the place of SAVE, the department is rolling out two alternatives as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, a budget package that Trump signed into law on July 4. These include a revised 10-year standard repayment plan and a new Repayment Assistance Plan. Education Secretary Linda McMahon testifies before the Senate Appropriations Committee's Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Subcommittee in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on June 3. Education Secretary Linda McMahon testifies before the Senate Appropriations Committee's Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Subcommittee in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on June its early July news release, the Education Department said it would "support borrowers in selecting a new, legal repayment plan that best fits their needs and helps them get on a sustainable financial path while protecting American taxpayers." The department has also begun outreach to the almost 8 million borrowers enrolled in SAVE, advising them on how to switch to a new plan. However, the new plans are "generally less generous than SAVE, requiring borrowers to pay more," according to Robert Kelchen, the head of the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. According to the Student Borrower Protection Center, the decision to resume interest payments on SAVE debts could also force borrowers to pay more than $3,500 annually, or $300 per month, in additional fees. What People Are Saying Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a news release on July 9: "Since day one of the Trump Administration, we've focused on strengthening the student loan portfolio and simplifying repayment to better serve borrowers. As part of this effort, the Department urges all borrowers in the SAVE Plan to quickly transition to a legally compliant repayment plan—such as the Income-Based Repayment Plan. Borrowers in SAVE cannot access important loan benefits and cannot make progress toward loan discharge programs authorized by Congress." Robert Kelchen, the head of the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, told Newsweek: "The Department of Education fundamentally disagrees with the SAVE Plan and wants to quickly move to the new repayment options passed in the recent budget reconciliation bill. The fate of the 460,000 borrowers currently in SAVE will likely end up in court again, and the Trump administration will likely win based on other recent Supreme Court decisions in favor of [the Education Department]." What Happens Next The department has said interest will not be added retroactively to those previously enrolled on the SAVE Plan. It has urged borrowers to visit the government's Loan Simulator to assess monthly repayment options.
Express Tribune
4 days ago
- Express Tribune
KMC launches drive against illegal constructions
The Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) has launched drive against illegal and unauthorised constructions, particularly high-rise buildings, within katchi abadis falling under its jurisdiction. According to a formal notification, issued by the office of the senior director katchi abadis, the department has raised serious concerns over the increasing number of multi-storey buildings being constructed without approved building plans from the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA). These constructions are illegal, violate existing by-laws and pose significant threats to public safety. It was clarified that the Katchi Abadis Department only regularizes possession of land as per the approved Lay-Out Plan (LOP), while the authority to approve building plans rests solely with SBCA. This action is aligned with the Sindh government's policy to ensure a uniform crackdown on illegal constructions and dangerous buildings to prevent any untoward incident. The official communication has also been forwarded to the Commissioner Karachi, chairman Provincial Disaster Management Authority, secretary to mayor, and other key stakeholders for necessary action and follow-up. Employee 'commits suicide' A 50-year-old man committed suicide by hanging himself at his residence in Old Golimar. The deceased, identified as Muhammad Afzal, was a Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) employee. The deceased's body was shifted to Civil Hospital after it was found with a rope tied around the neck. Family members revealed that the deceased was a father to a son and four daughters, and was struggling with drug addiction. They stated that he, reportedly, went to the rooftop and committed suicide by hanging himself. The family refused to lodge any police complaint, and after legal formalities, took custody of the deceased's body. Further investigations into the incident are ongoing.
Time of India
5 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
460,000 student loan borrowers to be kicked off from repayment plan? Know the big changes from August 1
Student loan borrowers to be denied repayment plan? Live Events Student loan payments to change from August 1 (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel President Donald Trump has dismantled the Department of Education and this is having significant consequences for millions of borrowers and the broader education system. The department which oversaw federal student loan programs, distributed financial aid and enforces policies meant to protect borrowers from predatory lending eliminating the Department of Education (DOE) means uncertainty into loan servicing, possibly delaying repayments, altering forgiveness programs or making it harder for students to access federal aid. The department will reject nearly a half-million applications from people seeking to make lower payments on their student loans , reports Politico citing internal report suggests that the department will reject applications of 460,000 federal student loan borrowers who selected the lowest monthly option for a payment plan based on their income. They make up about 31 percent of a 1.5 million application backlog for borrowers who are seeking Income-Driven Repayment, one of many options typically available for borrowers having difficulty paying back their loans.A spokesperson for the Education Department told Politico that the SAVE Plan — introduced during the Biden administration — offers the lowest monthly payment option, capping payments at 5% of a borrower's discretionary income for undergraduate loans and 10% for graduate loans. However, the plan has been blocked by the courts since June 2024.'Loan servicers cannot process these applications as SAVE is no longer an option, as it is illegal,' a department spokesperson wrote in a statement to August 1, the Trump administration will resume interest charges on the accounts of around 8 million borrowers, who had previously been granted an interest-free forbearance period under the Biden administration's Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan, reports Trump administration said bringing back the accrual of interest rate on loans was to "comply with a federal court injunction that has blocked implementation of the SAVE Plan, including the Department's action to put SAVE borrowers in a zero percent interest rate status."The Trump administration has deemed the SAVE plan "illegal," saying it intends to bring back "fiscal responsibility to the federal student loan portfolio." "For years, the Biden Administration used so-called 'loan forgiveness' promises to win votes, but federal courts repeatedly ruled that those actions were unlawful," McMahon said."Congress designed these programs to ensure that borrowers repay their loans, yet the Biden Administration tried to illegally force taxpayers to foot the bill instead," she put it in simple terms, it means the change will see borrowers being charged more than $27 billion in interest over the next 12 months, which will have wide repercussions on the lives of March, Trump signed an executive order calling for the dismantling of the U.S. Education Department, advancing a campaign promise to take apart an agency that's been a longtime target of conservatives. Trump has derided the Education Department as wasteful and polluted by liberal order says the education secretary will, 'to the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law, take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return authority over education to the States and local communities.'
The Hill
5 days ago
- Business
- The Hill
Washington needs to get serious about robotics
After years of treating robotics policy as a novelty or niche concern, Washington is finally beginning to wake up to reality: we cannot win the race for artificial intelligence leadership if we ignore the robotics race. Artificial intelligence is software. Robotics is hardware. The two are inextricably linked. A national AI strategy that doesn't include robotics is not a national AI strategy but a mere half-measure. And as China pours state resources into dominating both AI and robotics — with over $350 billion in planned investment made over the past decade as part of its Made in China 2025 initiative — the United States risks falling behind in the physical deployment of smart systems across our economy, from the factory floor to the battlefield. Fortunately, there are signs of a long-overdue policy shift in the nation's capital. Several major think tanks and associations, including the Special Competitive Studies Project, the Association for Advancing Automation, and the Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International, have all recently called for urgent action and attention toward robotics. This spring, the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party hosted a 'Robotics Symposium,' which marked one of the most focused congressional discussions to date on robotics competitiveness. And in May, a bipartisan group of lawmakers launched a reinvigorated Congressional Robotics Caucus, aiming to educate their colleagues and shape a comprehensive legislative agenda on robotics. These moves echo growing recognition across government that robotics is essential to our national competitiveness. Just last month, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick rightly called robotics 'the future of American manufacturing' and a critical pillar of domestic industrial revitalization. Over 50 organizations mentioned the importance of robotics in their submissions to the White House's National AI Action Plan, and many expect robotics-related recommendations to be incorporated into the Action Plan. But momentum alone isn't strategy. The U.S. needs a full-fledged national robotics strategy — one that ensures we out-innovate, out-produce, and out-compete global competitors. That means investing in next-generation robotics research and development, rebuilding our advanced manufacturing base, countering unfair trade practices, and equipping the American workforce with the skills to lead in robotics engineering, design, operations, and maintenance. An executive order is one way to do this. An executive order on robotics could meet the moment by mobilizing all relevant government agencies to prioritize robotics policies and unleash America's robotics industry. There are several meaningful actions that could help do so, including, but not limited to: The Office of Science and Technology, as the leading federal science and technology body, could organize and direct a whole-of-government strategy, establish a central robotics office in government and an interagency working group with academic and industry leaders. The Bureau of Industry and Security could investigate unfair trade practices by foreign competitors and recommend policy actions to secure the domestic robotics supply chain. Other agencies, including the National Institute of Standards and Technology, as the nation's standards setting body, could develop technical standards associated with robotics and automated technologies. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, as the nation's workplace safety governing body, could issue best practices for the deployment and usage of robotics to give industry increased confidence to buy and sell robotics. The National Science Foundation, as the nation's scientific research entity, could begin to prioritize grants and awards for applied robotics and support training and education opportunities in robotics. Congress could also take a big step this year by establishing a national commission on robotics, akin to successful commissions on key technology fields such as artificial intelligence, cyber and biotechnology, to identify specific recommendations to ensure the U.S. leads and doesn't fall behind other countries. Robotics drives productivity. It underpins national security. And it is poised to transform sectors ranging from agriculture to elder care. In short, robotics is the physical expression of American ingenuity — and it's time our policies and strategy reflected that. Washington must act with urgency. The robotics race is not just a subset of AI — it is the proving ground where AI becomes real. And it's a race we can't afford to lose.
