Hartford HealthCare has named Adam C. Steinberg, DO, MBA, FACOG, FACS, as President of the newly formed Greater Manchester Region, a role that will focus on strengthening care, access and services for patients across the Manchester and Vernon area and surrounding communities.
Dr. Steinberg brings nearly 20 years of experience as a physician leader at Hartford Hospital, where he most recently served as Vice President of Medical Affairs. In that role, he helped guide clinical teams, supported quality and safety initiatives and worked closely with physicians and caregivers to improve patient care.
For the ninth consecutive year, Hartford Hospital earned an “A” Hospital Safety Grade for Fall 2025 from the Leapfrog Group, a national nonprofit watchdog. Hartford Hospital also was named a Leapfrog “Top Teaching Hospital” for the fifth consecutive year. It is one of only 73 hospitals nationwide to earn the honor in 2025.
“I am grateful for the opportunity to lead this new region and support the care teams who serve these communities,” Dr. Steinberg said. “Hartford HealthCare is known for strong patient care, safety and community partnerships. We are excited to build on that foundation to better meet the needs of patients here.”
As President of the Greater Manchester Region, Dr. Steinberg will help lead efforts to support caregivers, strengthen quality and safety and guide investments in services, technology and facilities. His leadership will play an important role as Hartford HealthCare works to expand access to care and meet the evolving needs of patients and families in the region.
Dr. Steinberg is a board-certified specialist with extensive clinical and operational experience. He is widely respected for his collaborative leadership style and commitment to patient-centered care. During his tenure at Hartford Hospital, he played a key role in advancing quality and safety initiatives and supporting care teams through complex challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic.
The excitement around artificial intelligence led to a record year for certain types of fundraising.
Silicon Valley’s AI companies secured record funding in 2025, even as investors advised startups to shore up as much capital as possible before a potential AI bust.
The largest private U.S. companies raised a record $150 billion in 2025, overshadowing the previous high of $92 billion raised in 2021, according to a report by the Financial Times, citing private market data provider PitchBook.
Private investors allocated the majority of the capital to the biggest AI companies, such as OpenAI and Anthropic. The companies need an unprecedented amount of money to launch as they scramble to build the expensive infrastructure and hire the thought leaders that AI requires.
Companies are creating cash cushions — also known as fortress balance sheets — to protect themselves from a possible downturn.
Much of the funding was flowing to the largest companies in the largest deals. The top four deals accounted for more than 30% of the total deal value.
In 2025, OpenAI raised $40 billion, the largest private round in history, Anthropic raised $13 billion, Elon Musk’s xAI raised $10 billion and Meta acquired data labeling startup Scale AI for nearly $15 billion.
The concentration of capital could be bad for the industry, Kyle Stanford, a PitchBook analyst covering the venture capital industry, wrote in a report.
“Market value concentration indicates an increase in long-term systemic risk to venture capital, as that value has proven difficult to realize, even while private market values keep growing and revenue multiples reach unsustainable levels,” he said in the report.
Companies including SpaceX, OpenAI and Anthropic could list their shares as early as 2026.
Several other AI companies surpassed the $2-billion funding mark over the year, including Jeff Bezos’ Project Prometheus and Databricks.
The AI hype has taken over the public market as well. Nine of the top 10 most valuable companies in the world are tech companies riding the AI wave. Companies including Nvidia, Microsoft and Alphabet are worth more than $3 trillion each now.
The productivity gains from AI automating tasks have started affecting early career jobs, and sparked political pushback against automation. Yet, the 2026 promise rests on the wider adoption of “AI agents” — systems that can understand user intent and autonomously do tasks such as shopping, planning holidays and executing complex decisions — becoming a larger part of the economy.
To will that future into reality, Big Tech companies are projected to invest more than $500 billion in 2026 to build AI infrastructure, including networks and data centers.
“The risks then become not in the potential loss of capital should these companies fail, but in the market-wide losses if underlying technologies can’t live up to the hype and generate meaningful impact on the economy,” Stanford of PitchBook wrote.
The Pettit National Ice Center has made Milwaukee a destination for the Olympic speedskating world. Now, the first indoor speedskating oval built in the U.S. is going solar.
The arena contains enough ice to fill more than five National Hockey League rinks. Like most ice centers, it requires a significant amount of energy to keep its skating surface frozen and dry.
The solar project will cut the 200,000-square-foot facility’s energy use by at least 20 percent and power the building during summer months.
News with a little more humanity
WPR’s “Wisconsin Today” newsletter keeps you connected to the state you love without feeling overwhelmed. No paywall. No agenda. No corporate filter.
It’s funded by a large donation gifted to the nonprofit by the climate-focused VoLo Foundation.
Paul Golomski is the Pettit Ice Center’s general manager. He believes the project will help the facility use energy more responsibly.
“There’s only five (indoor speedskating ovals) in North America, and there’s only 40 operating in the entire world,” Golomski said. “So I think it’s a really smart thing for us to invest in and to ensure that we’re being responsible stewards of our energy consumption.”
He says over a 20-year period, the system will have the impact of reducing the center’s CO2 emissions by 12,778 tons. That’s equal to 191,000 trees planted, or 29,053,530 miles driven by cars.
Milwaukee-based renewable energy company Arch Solar is leading the project — a 690 kilowatt system consisting of 1,200 bifacial solar panels. This allows each panel to absorb sunlight from its front and back sides, producing more energy.
Andrew Holmstrom is the business development supervisor at Arch Solar. He said the panels will generate enough energy to power a string of Christmas lights from Milwaukee to North Carolina.
“It’s going to be a clean, green rooftop power plant,” Holmstrom said.
Holmstrom previously lived across the highway from the ice center.
“I’ve been able to skate on the ice there, run inside there, and so to be able to be a part of this project and kind of leave our fingerprint on the building, it means so much,” Holmstrom said.
Arch Solar has been on the roof since late November. They hope to have it ready by early April.
The Pettit National Ice Center is an official training site for U.S. Speedskating. It opened in 1992. The facility will host the U.S. Olympic Team Trials Long Track competition Jan. 2-5.
A major tungsten deposit near the Yukon-N.W.T. border has been attracting plenty of money and attention in Canada and the United States, but getting the critical mineral to market from its remote Mactung site will be no easy feat.
The Mactung property is considered to be among the world’s largest high-grade deposits of tungsten.
It’s attracted attention — and money — from both the American and Canadian governments. It also lies in a hard to access area on the Yukon-N.W.T. border.
The deposit lies at the end of the North Canol road, an artery completed by the American army in 1943 as part of the Second World War–era Canol Project, which supported development of the Norman Wells oilfield in the Northwest Territories and construction of a military oil pipeline.
Today, it’s a narrow, rough gravel track that’s best tackled with a four-wheel drive. It stretches about 250 kilometres from Ross River, Yukon, to the N.W.T. border.
Fireweed Metals bought the Mactung property from the N.W.T. government in 2022. The company’s latest geotechnical assessment from 2023 (Mineral Resource Estimate or MRE) describes it as “the world’s largest, high-grade tungsten deposit … with sufficient mineral resources to potentially supply North America’s expected tungsten demand for decades.”
A year ago, the U.S. Department of Defense and the Canadian governments announced up to $35 million in combined funding for initial planning.
Fireweed CEO Ian Gibbs says the money is being used for preliminary feasibility studies on upgrading the North Canol road from Ross River to MacMillan Pass and to explore the feasibility of building a power line from Ross River to MacMillan Pass.
Gibbs says it’s quite unusual for governments to simply give money to mining companies.
“I can say it’s the first time in my career, it’s the first time I’ve ever been with a company that’s received government funding, to be honest with you. And I think that speaks to the critical nature of the assets that we have in Mac Pass but in particular the tungsten assets.”
Project in early stages
Gibbs says it’s very early days in the planning.
He concedes that even if the road were upgraded and a power line installed, getting ore across the Pelly River at Ross River would still present a challenge.
“I think it’s safe to say that the cable barge at Ross River is definitely on its last legs … a bridge over the Pelly in the Ross River area would be an advantage to any kind of mineral development. It would be ideal if there were a bridge.”
Gibbs says the company has had “discussions” with the Yukon government about a bridge across the Pelly River, but he says that decision lies firmly with the Ross River Dena Council and the Yukon government.
The Mactung project is right on the border between the Northwest Territories and the Yukon. Fireweed Metals, the company that bought the property, is conducting feasibility studies on upgrading the North Canol road from Ross to MacMillan Pass and building a power line from Ross River to MacMillan Pass. (Fireweed Metals)
He says nothing will happen in the area without the consent and participation of the affected First Nations. The North Canol road cuts through the heart of Ross River Dena Council traditional territory, and the project also lies on the traditional territory of the First Nation of Nacho Nyäk Dun.
He says Fireweed Metals is eager to work with the First Nations, in particular the Ross River Dena Council.
“There’s no question. Without the nations seeing an appropriate sharing of benefits and enhancing their capacity, you’re very challenged to get a mining project (going). We would like to take these projects forward but we have to do it with a long term relationship built on trust and make sure that there’s opportunities for benefits to be shared,” he said.
Gibbs admits that environmental issues left behind from other Yukon mines is a challenge for his company, but he says the Mactung deposit is different.
“Given it’s such a high grade, it will likely be a very small footprint. So it’s gonna be two-thousand tonnes per day … not a 20-thousand tonne [operation]. It will likely be underground, not open pit. It won’t have a heap leach, it will likely have dry stacked tailings so we’re very aware of these past issues.”
In a statement to CBC last year after the funding for the mine was announced, the First Nation of Nacho Nyäk Dun said it had moral and environmental concerns about tungsten mining. Tungsten is used in weapons manufacturing.
Gibbs says a common misconception is that tungsten is used only in the manufacture of weapons.
“It’s used in the manufacture of semiconductors, it’s used in aerospace, it’s used in tungsten carbide — so the hardest thing known, next to a diamond — used extensively in manufacturing and construction, oil and gas … approximately 10 per cent of tungsten goes into defense applications.”
U.S. eager to see tungsten production in North America
Gibbs says it’s not surprising that the United States is casting a covetous keen eye on Mactung.
He says right now China, Russia and North Korea dominate tungsten production and control the world’s markets of the critical mineral, something the Americans want to change.
“They clearly are looking to see primary production of tungsten in North America because as it stands right now there is zero … they are looking to make sure the North American supply chain has what is required, including tungsten.”
Gibbs says North American production of tungsten ceased in 2015 when the Cantung mine in southwest N.W.T. closed.
“If you speak with people who know tungsten I think it’s almost universally accepted that Mactung is a globally strategic asset given both the resource size and the resource grade.”
Ted Laking, the Yukon’s newly appointed minister of energy, mines and resources, says the territory’s mining industry is getting a lot of attention.
“Right now what I see from the federal government and lots of people around the world is a lot of interest in the Yukon and I think that’s an exciting thing.”
Laking says it’s early in his tenure and he hasn’t yet spoken with his federal counterparts or, in the case of the Mactung project, the Ross River Dena Council.
As for possibly upgrading the North Canol or building a power line to MacMillan Pass, Laking says decisions of that size would need federal backing.
“The federal government holds the purse strings on large infrastructure projects.” But he says developing “critical minerals and upgrading infrastructure in the territory to support the economy are going to be big priorities” for the new Yukon government.
As for any talk of a bridge across the Pelly River, Laking says the Yukon will wait to see the results of the feasibility studies.
“When it comes to the construction of things like a bridge on a public road, absolutely that would have to be a decision for the government of Yukon and the affected First Nation. But at this point there’s no plans for a bridge.”
For now, Gibbs says Fireweed will continue its initial studies, but he doesn’t expect production at Mactung to happen for years, at least not before 2030.
“You can’t just snap your fingers and make a mine. You need to go through the various steps and make sure you get all the various rights holders and stakeholders lined up. It needs to be done responsibly. And that’s what we’re committed to.”
The auto-enrolment pension is a landmark reform which will help people to secure their future with dignity and financial independence, a Fine Gael TD has said.
Chair of the Oireachtas Social Protection Committee, Deputy John Paul O’Shea said, “Too many workers around Ireland are facing retirement solely reliant on the State pension. Auto-enrolment changes that by ensuring most workers will automatically start saving for retirement.”
The system automatically includes workers earning over €20,000, aged between 23 and 60, as well as those who are not already part of a pension scheme.
For every €3 an employee contributes, their employer will add another €3 while the state will top it up by €1.
“This means that €7 will be invested for every €3 saved, and creates a powerful mechanism to grow retirement funds,” he said.
Deputy O’Shea emphasised the system is about securing your future, “It ensures that hard work today translates to financial security tomorrow. Fine Gael has always believed in empowering people to plan ahead and this reform is a practical step towards ensuring every worker has the means to retire with confidence.”
Families can plan for the future knowing that retirement savings are being built consistently, while employers share responsibility in supporting their staff’s financial wellbeing.
Deputy O’Shea concluded by describing auto-enrolment as a transformational policy which will benefit generations to come:
“I encourage all eligible employees to embrace this opportunity and take pride in knowing their retirement will be supported by a system which is designed to protect them.”
The value of Bitcoin, which is often seen as a barometer of the entire industry, surged from about $93,500 (£69,500) a coin at the start of 2025 to a high of nearly $124,500 before falling below $90,000 by the end of the year.
Investors who bought when the value was lower and sold when it was higher are in line to pay taxes, but authorities have historically struggled to collect it, says Dawn Register, a tax dispute resolution partner at accountancy firm BDO.
“HMRC has been concerned for some time about high levels of non-compliance among crypto investors,” she says.
The new rules coming in will make it much harder for the crypto rich to hide any untaxed gains, giving the tax authorities much more information about crypto users and their transactions.
Cryptocurrency exchanges, which act like banks for the industry allowing people to exchange standard currency for virtual coins, must now ensure they automatically share up to date and accurate accounts of all their users’ earnings.
Romaine LeGallou heard the Supreme Court of Canada was turning 150 and needed a wardrobe update. And after that, everything seemed to happen so quickly.
She expressed interest. She got a call to make a pitch. Her company was chosen.
Then the real work began.
“It was such pressure for the team. It happened four weeks before I gave birth for the first time!” LeGallou said, laughing.
LeGallou is the CEO of Les Rabat-Joies, a small shop in Saguenay, Que., that makes bespoke court attire for lawyers and judges.
When it comes to designing attire for Canada’s highest court, there is a protocol you have to follow.
But the company was determined to spruce things up.
LeGallou and her staff put in countless hours to make the most of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
And all of that work seems to have brought this small but mighty team even closer together.
Myriam Herrera, technical lead at Les Rabat-Joies, left, and Romane LeGallou, CEO, right, travelled to Ottawa for discussions and fittings in the lead-up to the creation of the Supreme Court’s new attire. (Submitted by Romane LeGallou)
Doing the court justice
There are strict rules in Canada on how lawyers and judges must dress, depending on the court. Robes are always black, tabs always white.
Les Rabat-Joies finds ways to personalize legal garb that respects tradition.
Clients can choose from dozens of models for tabs, with everything from lace or crocheted collars, to rainbow-stitched tabs and pearls. Standard robes can be lined with prints featuring anything, from St. Bernards to playing cards, Vespa scooters, feathers or zebra stripes.
In other words, a made-to-order robe is business on the outside, but party on the inside.
In French, the word “rabat-joie” means kill-joy. But “rabat” in French also refers to what are known in English as tabs or bands: those two white strips of fabric lawyers and judges wear at their collars in court.
Stéphanie Gobeil, the assistant director of Les Rabat-Joies, says the company’s name plays on that notion, bringing something unexpected, maybe even fun, to the courthouse.
Stéphanie Gobeil, assistant director of Les Rabat-Joies, wants clients to come to the company for legal attire that pops — within measure. (Susan Campbell/CBC)
“We want our clients to know that if they come to us, they’re going to have a court wardrobe that rocks, that’s different from what they’ll find anywhere else,” Gobeil said.
For a long time, jurists in Canada have bought their legal attire from large companies that dressed both lawyers and judges and the clergy.
‘Perfection, nothing less’
During the spring and summer, the Rabat-Joies team devoted itself to creating signature attire for each of the nine justices.
Myriam Herrera is Les Rabat-Joies’ technical lead.
She started working as a dressmaker in her native Nicaragua when she was 14 and worked for years in fashion design. She joined the company in 2024, six years after arriving in Saguenay.
And at the shop, there are two employees whom the business recruited from Nicaragua and Colombia on temporary work permits.
The Cormier symbol, embroidered into the fabric of the justices’ robes and stamped on the buttons, features a stylized ‘S’ and ‘C’. (Submitted by Les Rabat-Joies)
Herrera says the team’s goal is the same for all their custom-made orders.
“We all bring our input to what we design here and make adjustments so everyone leaves with the product they wanted,’’ Herrera said.
LeGallou and Herrera travelled to Ottawa last year to meet with the justices, take their measurements and talk about their own visions for their new robes.
They sourced black silk from Korea. The Cormier emblem, symbol of the Supreme Court of Canada, was embroidered 2,500 times into the fabric. Buttons with the emblem were designed and produced in the region.
Each robe required 40 hours of work.
“Perfection, nothing less,” is how LeGallou describes her team’s commitment to this historic change for the court.
Nine-month-old Abraham, son of Les Rabat-Joies CEO Romane LeGallou, in his custom-made replica of the new Supreme Court robe. (Submitted by Romane LeGallou)
Canada’s 10th — and tiniest — Supreme Court judge
Last September, Herrera and LeGallou returned to Ottawa to deliver the finished robes.
They were a hit.
The ceremonial robes were unveiled publicly at the opening of the Supreme Court season on Oct. 6, in Ottawa.
In prepared remarks, Chief Justice Richard Wagner said the new robes preserved the dignity and the authority of the judicial role.
“They have a modern and simple design that echoes our commitment to openness and accessibility in a way that is distinctly Canadian,” he said.
LeGallou says the move by the Supreme Court to modernize serves as a tacit approval for courts elsewhere in Canada and the people who work there to change things up a bit.
A display of some of the models of tab on offer at Les Rabat-Joies’ shop located in Saguenay’s Chicoutimi borough. (Susan Campbell/CBC)
Around the time the designs were unveiled, Herrera was celebrating her birthday.
LeGallou opened a bottle of champagne and they toasted how far Herrera had come since arriving in Canada.
“It was a day full of emotion,” LeGallou said. “And she is so proud, not just of this realization, but she’s married, she has her three children here. I’m so happy to be part of this great story.”
Herrera had a surprise in store for LeGallou when the two were preparing to deliver the robes to Ottawa. There was a tiny replica of the justices’ attire, tailor-made for LeGallou’s nine month-old son Abraham.
“It was a gift to mark this historic project,” LeGallou said. “I can’t express how touched I was by this gesture.”
The above photo shows the lining of a custom-made robe for one of the shop’s clients, a woman who idolizes U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, whose collars were her trademark. (Susan Campbell/CBC)
The fight to keep the team together
Les Rabat-Joies’ work on the Supreme Court‘s wardrobe has drawn attention and business appears to have picked up.
The challenge, moving forward, is to make sure the team stays together.
Herrera is fully settled in Quebec. But the same can’t be said for the two staff members on temporary work permits.
CEO LeGallou says she wants them to get the chance to do what Herrera did: set down roots in Saguenay and stay.
Changes to immigration rules have put the future of two of the Rabat-Joies’ temporary foreign workers in question. (Susan Campbell/CBC)
But changes to federal and provincial immigration rules have put those workers in a precarious position. Dressmaking is no longer considered a “rare” occupation under Ottawa’s job classifications, which once gave foreign workers a more direct path to permanent residency.
And Quebec’s raising of the bar for French-language proficiency has made it harder for workers to stay.
LeGallou has been in discussions with authorities through her lawyers for months, fighting for a solution that would allow her employees to remain in Canada. She says she’s worried about her business, but she is even more worried about the people to whom she made a promise.
“When I hired them, I was sure I could keep them,” LeGallou said. “Not just for two years.”
The legal battle to keep her team intact is all the more important since the unveiling of the Supreme Court robes, according to the CEO.
“Every week I see more and more orders from new cities, new provinces,” LeGallou said. “The vision is to keep working from Saguenay but to ship our creations across Canada.”
Pakistan’s oil marketing sector is at risk of forced exits and disorderly consolidation if its ongoing fragmentation is not addressed, according to a new report by Mountain Ventures, a Dubai-based advisory service.
The Pakistan OMCs Review 2025 highlights the dominance of a few large players in the sector, noting that 60% of the market share is held by just three players, 95% by the top ten, and 98.5% by the top twenty. The remaining OMCs struggle with small scale and often rely on discounting to remain competitive, which erodes margins and hampers investment in critical areas such as compliance and infrastructure.
“Consolidation will happen regardless. The only question is whether it occurs early and orderly, or later through financial stress, exits, and market disruption,” the report stated.
The report warns that the sector is showing similar signs of weakness to the US airline industry, which faced collapsed margins, bankruptcies, and forced mergers.
Despite solid volume growth in 2025, with gasoline, gasoil, and hi-octane sales increasing by around 10% YoY, the sector’s financial health is under strain. The report pointed out that regulated pricing, persistent discounting, and rising capital requirements are factors contributing to a tightening outlook. In addition, uncertainty surrounding the Infrastructure Development Cess and sales tax recoverability have heightened the working capital requirements of OMCs.
The report also identified owned storage capacity and retail network quality as key operational constraints on the sector’s growth. As gasoline storage capacity becomes increasingly limited, network optimization is now a priority over simply expanding the number of outlets.
The growing presence of global brands such as Aramco, Gunvor, and Wafi Energy is expected to shift market dynamics. These international companies are likely to raise consumer expectations around service quality, operational standards, and product integrity, particularly with their consistent retail formats and strong branding.
Looking forward, the report emphasized that consolidation, rationalization, and capital discipline would be essential in shaping the future of the sector. The growth trajectory of Pakistan’s oil marketing industry will increasingly depend on factors like scale, financial resilience, and execution capability, rather than just demand growth.
Department of Aviation Custodial Worker II Jeanine Wing received the “Unsung Heroes” award from PHL’s Employee Recognition Program. This award serves to recognize and honor employees who play crucial behind-the-scenes roles. Their dedication and commitment are integral to the overall success of the airport.
As a Custodial Worker II, Wing plays a vital role in enhancing the overall visitor experience by ensuring that the restrooms throughout the airport are consistently clean and well-maintained. She’s been at PHL for over three years and works the 2 – 10 p.m. shift. Coworkers describe Wing as being bubbly and friendly.
“I love my job,” said Wing. “I love coming into work. I like helping people. If a passenger does not speak English, I try to assist them as best as I can and guide them to someone who can help them.”
In her nomination of Wing, Department of Aviation Chief Commercial Officer Kate Sullivan shared, “While I was visiting the Terminal C Information Counter, I observed custodial worker Jeanine Wing escorting a very anxious passenger to the desk because his boarding pass did not list the gate assignment. The passenger was extremely nervous about flying, and boarding time was approaching. The volunteer at the desk identified the gate and provided directions to Terminal E. The guest was now even more anxious, realizing that he was not in the right terminal. When they both started to walk away, I heard Jeanine say, ‘Don’t worry, I will walk you to your gate.’ Jeanine supported the passenger throughout the entire experience, getting him to the information desk and personally taking ownership by making sure he got to where he needed to be. All while being very empathetic, attentive, and pleasant.”
At PHL, Wing loves being exposed to people from different cultures and appreciates people’s unique personalities.
The aviation industry fascinates Wing, who loves watching aircraft activity in Terminal F. “It’s just a great experience to look outside and see the planes fly in, I feel so lucky,” she said. “I love seeing how hard employees work at the airport. I love how committed they are to their jobs. It’s refreshing to see.”
Wing believes in maintaining a workplace of compassion. She recalls assisting a passenger with formula and diapers for her baby as one of her most memorable moments at the airport.
“I thank Kate for nominating me for this Employee Recognition award,” said Wing. “I also thank Custodial Work Supervisor I Moda Ndiaye for his kindness and leadership.”
The PHL Employee Recognition Program was established by the airport’s Guest Experience (GX) Department. Honorees are nominated by their peers and selected by the GX Council Steering Committee’s Stakeholder Engagement Committee. For more information the program and to nominate an employee, click here.
