Janie Har

Latest in Operations
Today in Manufacturing Podcast
Sponsored
Today in Manufacturing Podcast
January 31, 2023
This image provided by Catalina María Gomez Caycedo shows Aleena Rupani, from left, Catalina María Gomez Caycedo, Henry Crabtree, and Michael Watkins in Crabtree's London flat. The close friends met through their work at a software company with workers scattered around the globe. A recent Gallup survey says just 2 in 10 adult U.S. employees say they have a best friend at work.
Gallup: Just 2 in 10 U.S. Employees Have Work `Best Friend'
February 7, 2023
Robot Welding In An Auto Factory
5 Trends & Technologies Improving Metal Fabrication
February 3, 2023
Imts2022 In Chicago
Nidec Acquires Italian Machine Tool Manufacturer
February 3, 2023
Related Stories
I Stock 1350582023
Operations
How to 'Bridge' Your Way to Social Security
I Stock 533008105
Operations
By the Numbers: Tech Industry Job Cuts
Aerial view of the northern border state of Sonora where state electric utility CFE is building the largest solar plant in all of Latin America, in Puerto Penasco, Sonora state, Mexico Thursday, Feb. 2, 2023.
Operations
1st Phase of Mexican Solar Project to Be Operating in April
Security Breach Podcast
Sponsored
Security Breach Podcast
More from Janie Har
Industrial Media Unboxing Video
Sponsored
Industrial Media Unboxing Video
IEN Unboxed is a new show in which our editors unbox new tools on the market and discuss their features.
January 31, 2023
California Blackouts Pg&e Ap
Safety
PG&E Begins New Mass Power Shutoff
One Napa County reporting station hasn’t seen a measurable drop of rain since mid-September — the first time that’s happened since 1905.
November 20, 2019
In this Oct. 10, 2019, file photo, Salvador Espinosa sweeps in the kitchen of a Mary's Pizza Shack restaurant during a Pacific Gas and Electric Co. power shutdown in Santa Rosa, Calif. The California Senate will investigate a California utility's process for cutting off power to more than 2 million people to prevent wildfires. In a memo to the Senate Democratic Caucus on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2019, Senate President Pro Tempore Toni Atkins asked the Senate Energy, Utilities, and Communications Committee to 'begin investigating and reviewing options to address the serious deficiencies' with PG&E's current process of shutting off power to prevent wildfires.
Regulation
PG&E Execs to Face Regulatory Board
CEO Bill Johnson said the utility understood the magnitude of the hardships the outages caused for customers and pledged to improve.
October 18, 2019
James Cooke is shown buying water bottles along with propane tanks and batteries at a ACE Hardware store as he prepares for a possible power shutdown in Los Gatos, CA on Tuesday, Oct. 8.
Safety
Planned Power Outages Begin in California
PG&E announced that it was shutting off power to 800,000 customers in 34 northern, central and coastal California counties.
October 9, 2019
San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera announces that he's cracking down on the sale of e-cigarettes that he says aggressively target youth, at a City Hall news conference Tuesday, March 19, 2019. Legislation to be introduced would ban the sale of e-cigarettes anywhere in the city and county of San Francisco until the FDA has reviewed the product for sale.
Regulation
San Francisco Floats Ban on e-Cigs
San Francisco was the first city in the United States to approve an outright ban on the sale of flavored tobacco and flavored vaping liquids.
March 20, 2019
San Francisco firefighters battle a fire on Geary Boulevard in San Francisco. A gas explosion in a San Francisco neighborhood shot flames high into the air Wednesday and was burning several buildings as utility crews scrambled to shut off the flow of gas.
Safety
Gas Explosion Shoots Fire, Burning Buildings
The fire was started by non-PG&E crews working on fiber-optic wires.
February 7, 2019
Police tape blocks off Fremont Street outside the closed Salesforce Transit Center Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2018, in San Francisco. A second beam in San Francisco's celebrated new $2 billion transit terminal shows signs of cracking, an official said Wednesday, a day after a crack in a nearby support beam shut down the building that opened just last month. The first crack found by workers installing roof tiles Tuesday spans a beam holding up a park over the three-block-long facility and runs over a downtown street, Salesforce Transit Center executive director Mark Zabaneh said.
Safety
Engineers Search for Cause in Cracked Beam
It shut down a brand new $2 billion transit center in San Francisco.
September 27, 2018
This July 17, 2018 photo shows wrapped plastic straws at a bubble tea cafe in San Francisco. Eco-conscious San Francisco joins the city of Seattle in banning plastic straws, along with tiny coffee stirrers and cup pluggers, as part of an effort to reduce plastic waste. It also makes single-use food and drink side items available upon request and phases out the use of fluorinated wrappers and to-go containers.
Regulation
Next to Ban Plastic Straws
The idea is to cut down on handing out items that customers may not need.
July 24, 2018
A sign on the chimney of a home warns looters Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2017, after it was destroyed by wildfires in Glen Ellen, Calif. California fire officials have reported significant progress on containing wildfires that have ravaged parts of Northern California.
Operations
Wildfires Cause $1B in Damage
The fires ravaged 7,000 buildings.
October 20, 2017
The remains of burned bottles of wine are seen at the Signorello Estate winery Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2017, in Napa, Calif. Worried California vintners surveyed the damage to their vineyards and wineries Tuesday after wildfires swept through several counties whose famous names have become synonymous with fine food and drink.
Operations
CA Wine Makers Assess Fire's Damage
At least five wineries belonging to local trade group members have had "complete losses" in facilities, with nine more sustaining damage.
October 11, 2017
In this Monday, June 26, 2017, photo, Sophie Li, of Cupertino, Calif., offers to dance with a K5 robot made by Knightscope, Inc., at Westfield Valley Fair shopping center in San Jose, Calif. In the technology hotbed that stretches from San Francisco to San Jose, people can eat a pizza made largely by a robot, have hotel toiletries delivered by a robot, drink a frothy cappuccino made by a robot and shop at a mall with robot security. Now, one prominent San Francisco official is calling for a tax on companies that automate jobs once held by people.
Automation
Robot Tax May Battle Automation
The question of whether — or how quickly — workers will be displaced by automation ignites fierce debate.
September 5, 2017
In this aerial photo taken Monday, May 22, 2017 provided by John Madonna showing a massive landslide along California's coastal Highway 1 that has buried the road under a 40-foot layer of rock and dirt. A swath of the hillside gave way in an area called Mud Creek on Saturday, May 20, covering about one-third of a mile, half a kilometer, of road and changing the Big Sur coastline.
Safety
Landslide Part of $1 Billion in Damage
It's still moving, so engineers haven't been able to assess the damage.
May 24, 2017
Philadelphia Soda Tax Ap 580a1d1ace4f7
Regulation
Sanders to Soda Tax Opponents: Don't Use My Name
Sanders said the version of the tax he opposed in Philadelphia was three times higher than those being considered in the Bay Area, and that he has not taken a position on this California ballot item.
October 21, 2016
The former Oakland Army Base pier with the Port of Oakland in the background in Oakland, Calif. The promise of good, blue-collar jobs in a depressed area is running headlong into environmental sensitivities as officials in Northern California consider a plan to build a marine terminal that would serve as a gateway for Utah-mined coal heading to Asia. The terminal is in West Oakland, a historically black neighborhood that's among the poorest and most polluted in the region.
Regulation
Oakland City Council Bans Coal
The vote prohibits the transport, handling and storage of coal and petroleum coke at bulk material facilities or terminals in Oakland, part of a California area that is a hotbed of environmentalist activism.
June 28, 2016
In this Feb. 5, 2016, file photo, the former Oakland Army Base pier at left and the Port of Oakland at lower right in Oakland, Calif. The promise of good, blue-collar jobs in a depressed area is running headlong into environmental sensitivities as officials in Northern California consider a plan to build a marine terminal that would serve as a gateway for Utah-mined coal heading to Asia. The terminal is in West Oakland, a historically black neighborhood that's among the poorest and most polluted in the region.
Safety
Coal Plan Pits Jobs Against Environment
Detractors highlight the environmental dangers of bringing millions of tons of coal through the area while supporters tout the economic benefits.
June 27, 2016