Scott Sonner

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Colorado Rep. Brianna Titone before a signing ceremony for the state's 'right to repair' law, Denver, April 25, 2023.
Colorado the 1st State to Pass Farmers' 'Right to Repair'
April 26, 2023
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3M to Lay Off 6,000 Workers
April 25, 2023
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Airbus Helicopters Debuts First American-Made Military Versions of the H125
April 25, 2023
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People Are Getting Laid Off
April 25, 2023
Related Stories
A mural is displayed on the wall outside the Lordstown Motors plant, June 22, 2021 in Lordstown, Ohio.
Operations
Lordstown Warns It May Fail as Foxconn Gets Jumpy
In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, a worker measures the size of an equipment at Harbin Turbine Company Limited of Harbin Electric Corporation in Harbin in northeastern China's Heilongjiang Province on Friday, April 28, 2023.
Operations
China's Manufacturing Contracts
An employee works at a battery energy storage facility in Saginaw, Texas, April 25, 2023, that is owned and operated by Eolian L.P.
Operations
PGE Announces Major Clean Energy Storage Project in Portland
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More from Scott Sonner
Today in Manufacturing Podcast
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Today in Manufacturing Podcast
Today in Manufacturing has a new podcast brought to you by the editors of Industrial Media. In each episode, we discuss the five biggest stories in manufacturing, and the implications they have on the industry moving forward.
April 28, 2023
Exploration drilling continues for Permitting Lithium Nevada Corp.'s Thacker Pass Project on the site between Orovada and Kings Valley, in Humboldt County, Nev., shown beyond a driller's shovels in the distance, Sept. 13, 2018.
Regulation
Court Denies Emergency Bid to Stop Nevada Lithium Mine
Opponents say the government illegally approved it in a rush to produce raw materials for electric vehicle batteries.
March 2, 2023
In this photo provided by the Center for Biological Diversity, is a laydown area for drilling operations within Tiehm's buckwheat critical habitat in Esmeralda County, Nev., Dec. 26, 2022.
Regulation
Lithium Miner Cited for Violating Endangered Flower Habitat
Five days after the U.S. Energy Department announced a $700 million conditional loan to the company, federal land managers cited it for trespassing.
January 20, 2023
This photo provided by the Center for Biological Diversity taken in June 2019, in the Silver Peak Range of western Nevada about halfway between Reno and Las Vegas shows Tiehm's buckwheat growing in the high desert where a lithium mine is planned.
Regulation
Feds Launching Review of Mine at Site of Endangered Flower
Federal land managers are reviewing new plans the developer says will allow the mine and flower to co-exist.
December 22, 2022
In this photo provided by the Center for Biological Diversity, Tiehm's buckwheat grows in the high desert in the Silver Peak Range of western Nevada about halfway between Reno and Las Vegas, in June 2019, where a lithium mine is planned.
Regulation
Nevada Flower Listed as Endangered at Lithium Mine Site
It's the only place the flower is known to exist.
December 15, 2022
A pair of work pants, possibly made by or for Levi Strauss, from the S.S. Central America are seen in a warehouse in Sparks, Nev., on May 4, 2022.
Product Development
Pricey Work Pants from 1857 Go for $114,000, Raise Levi's Questions
There's disagreement about whether they have any ties to the father of modern-day blue jeans, Levi Strauss.
December 14, 2022
In this photo provided by the Center for Biological Diversity is a bleached sandhill skipper in the meadows at Baltazor Hot Spring in Humboldt County, Nevada, taken on Sept 13, 2021. Conservationists who are already suing to block a geothermal power plant where an endangered toad lives in western Nevada are now seeking U.S. protection for the rare butterfly at another geothermal project the developer plans near the Oregon line.
Regulation
Protection Sought for Rare Butterflies at Geothermal Plant Site
First it was an endangered toad, now it's a butterfly.
August 17, 2022
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed designating the high-desert range halfway between Reno and Las Vegas as critical habitat for the Tiehm's buckwheat. It is also the site of a proposed lithium mine by the Australian-based Ioneer USA Corp.
Regulation
U.S. Backs Rare Flower Habitat Amid Nevada Lithium Mine Fight
The mine would help produce lithium batteries for electric vehicles.
February 4, 2022
In this Oct. 13, 2018, file photo, a sign marks the entrance to the Tesla Gigafactory in Sparks, Nev. A Russian citizen has pleaded guilty to offering a Tesla employee $1 million to get malware into the electric car company's plant in Nevada and enable a ransomware attack. Attorneys representing Egor Igorevich Kriuchkov did not immediately respond Friday, March 19, 2021, to messages about his Thursday plea in U.S. District Court in Reno.
Operations
Russian Pleads Guilty to Tesla Ransomware Plot
He offered a Tesla employee $1 million to cripple the electric car company’s massive electric battery plant in Nevada.
March 19, 2021
In this June 11, 2020 file photo Wynn Whitmeyer of the Idaho Falls Fire Department uses a drip can to ignite cheat grass and tumbleweeds during a controlled burn east of Idaho Falls, Idaho. Environmentalists have filed a notice of intent to sue the U.S government to block plans to build up to 11,000 miles (17,700 kilometers) of fuel breaks they claim would violate the Endangered Species Act in a misguided effort to slow the advance of wildfires in six Western states.
Regulation
Group Moves to Sue US Gov't Over Fuel Break Plan
Fuel breaks involve clearing stretches of vegetation to slow the progress of fires.
January 14, 2021
Exterior view of the Tesla factory in Fremont, California.
Software
Russian Pleads Not Guilty in Foiled Tesla Ransomware Plot
He's accused of offering a Tesla employee $1 million to enable a ransomware attack at the company's plant.
September 25, 2020
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Operations
Big Nevada Gold Mine Expansion On Hold
Environmentalists say the expansion could prove catastrophic to wildlife, cultural resources and nearby high-desert springs.
August 10, 2020
This photo provided by the Center for Biological Diversity shows Tiehm's buckwheat blooming at Rhyolite Ridge in the Silver Peak Range of Western Nevada, on June 1, 2019.
Supply Chain
Rare Wildflower Could Jeopardize Lithium Mine
It is one of the most promising deposits of lithium in the world.
August 6, 2020
This June 1, 2019, file photo provided by the Center for Biological Diversity, shows the rare desert wildflower Tiehm's buckwheat in the Silver Peak Range about 120 miles southeast of Reno, Nev. An Australian mining company says its pursuit of a huge lithium deposit in Nevada is critical to accelerating the manufacture of electric vehicles and reducing greenhouse gases. Opponents argue the mine can't be built without causing the extinction of the only native population of the rare desert wildflower known to exist in the world.
Product Development
Electric Cars vs. Flowers
Who's greener?
March 9, 2020
In this April 9, 2015, file photo, people walk into the south portal of Yucca Mountain during a congressional tour of the proposed radioactive waste dump near Mercury, Nev., 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Nevada is branding federal shipments of weapons-grade plutonium to the state a year ago as a 'secret ... smuggling operation,' and urging a U.S. District Court judge in Reno to reject a bid to dismiss a lawsuit because the Energy Department has already promised no more material will be brought to the state. A court filing Monday, Dec. 16, 2019, seeks oral arguments in a yearlong legal battle over the state's bid for a court order to remove the highly radioactive material from a vast secure government reservation north of Las Vegas.
Operations
US Accused of 'Secret Plutonium Smuggling'
The Energy Department insists the issue is moot.
December 18, 2019