Rochester, N.H. – October 13, 2026 -- Laars Heating Systems will host members of the Women in Manufacturing (WiM) Northern New England chapter at its Rochester facility on Oct. 15 for a two-hour networking event and guided plant tour.

Female engineer to lead tour through Laars production floor and laboratory

A female Laars engineer will guide attendees through the company's manufacturing operations and laboratory. Visitors will see how heating equipment is developed and produced, and will learn about career paths available in manufacturing.

Laurie Bridges, human resources manager at Laars, said the event is meant to show attendees the breadth of work in manufacturing and to help women in the industry build connections that last beyond the visit.

United States – October 13, 2026 -- CrowdStrike's Counter Adversary Operations team and the FBI disrupted several U.S.-based laptop farms run by the DPRK-nexus adversary FAMOUS CHOLLIMA in late September 2026. The farms let North Korean operatives pose as remote workers at American companies while hiding their location and identity.

CrowdStrike says dozens of victim organizations were identified across the disrupted clusters. They span aerospace, energy, financial services, healthcare, cybersecurity, defense engineering, government technology and consumer technology. The company describes the targeting as sector-agnostic: any employer offering remote work is a revenue opportunity.

Drums, Pa. – October 13, 2026 -- Best Cigar Prices (BCP), an online premium cigar retailer, has appointed John Greeby as Vice President of Merchandising, effective October 2026. He brings 15 years of merchandising, promotions and business leadership experience from the nation's largest business-to-consumer cigar company.

Greeby spent nearly 11 years in leadership roles at the largest U.S. B2C cigar company

In those roles, Greeby managed teams and business units. His stated expertise covers merchandising strategy, vendor negotiations, inventory management, sales growth and margin optimization.

His earlier project work included website user experience improvements, product assortment and placement, brand development and change management. He also worked on new project development and on ERP and CMS system integrations.

Newington, N.H. – October 13, 2026 -- SIG SAUER has introduced the XRAY9-CUAS, a counter-unmanned aircraft systems (CUAS) electro-optic that tracks and engages drones at up to 300 yards, at the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) trade show.

The optic mounts to a counter-UAS weapon system and uses electro-optical technologies similar to the targeting system in SIG SAUER's remote-controlled weapon station. A soldier can point and shoot while the optic compensates for a range of factors, according to the company.

XRAY9-CUAS calculates drone distance, speed and vector with a proprietary SWIR laser rangefinder

The system pairs the SWIR laser rangefinder with onboard slew-rate sensors. Together they compute a drone's distance, speed and vector, then generate a custom disturbed reticle with dynamic targeting solutions.

Phoenix – October 13, 2026 -- Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona Health Choice (AZ Blue Health Choice) brought more than 200 tribal leaders, healthcare professionals, educators and partners to Flagstaff for the 13th Annual Tribal Summit, as the insurer serves members from 17 tribal nations.

Summit focuses on maternal, behavioral and workforce issues

The event, themed "Unity in Action: Bridging Systems, Strengthening Communities," centered on collaboration and shared learning to improve health outcomes across Arizona's tribal nations. Discussions covered maternal and child health, behavioral health, Indigenous health equity, workforce development and culturally responsive approaches to care.

Attendees shared best practices, explored emerging challenges and identified opportunities to strengthen support. The summit has served as a forum for tribal health leaders and organizations for more than a decade.

Olympia – October 13, 2026 -- Fungi Perfecti, LLC has published the first complete genome of the endangered Agarikon fungus, a 28.76-megabase nuclear assembly estimated to be 99.4% complete, in the peer-reviewed journal G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics.

The study, led by mycologist Paul Stamets and company scientists, is titled "Genomic characterization of the endangered medicinal polypore agarikon (Laricifomes officinalis syn. Fomitopsis officinalis)." Until now, Agarikon lacked a comprehensive genomic reference for genetic investigation.

Researchers annotate 8,717 predicted genes in the Agarikon nuclear genome

Fungi Perfecti researchers assembled and annotated both the nuclear and mitochondrial genomes. Of the 8,717 predicted genes, 8,604 are protein-coding.

The team also identified 287 genes across 27 candidate biosynthetic gene clusters, including genes associated with pathways that produce specialized metabolites.

Evansville – October 13, 2026 -- Heart to Heart Hospice's Evansville, Indiana office has received the 2026 Hospice CAHPS Honors Elite designation, the highest recognition level in the Hospice CAHPS Honors program.

Evansville office joins a limited group of top-rated US hospice providers

The distinction places the office among a select group of hospice providers nationwide that have demonstrated outstanding performance and a sustained commitment to care experiences for patients and families.

Elite tier requires beating national benchmarks across multiple care measures

Hospice CAHPS Honors Elite goes beyond high family satisfaction scores. It recognizes agencies that also exceed national performance benchmarks across multiple measures of care. The program is regarded as one of the industry's most respected gauges of hospice quality and patient experience.

Seattle – October 13, 2026 -- CenTrio is advancing engineering design for a 25-megawatt electric boiler at its Western Avenue plant, a project that could cut emissions by more than 60%, or about 42,000 tons a year, at maximum utilization.

The boiler will deliver roughly 85,000 pounds of steam per hour to buildings on CenTrio's Seattle district energy system. It is the first phase of the plant's decarbonization plan.

Construction is planned for 2027, with operations about two years later

CenTrio has engaged Affiliated Engineers (AEI) to complete the engineering design. It is working with Seattle City Light to secure the power the boiler requires. Construction will begin after engineering, permitting, utility coordination and final approvals are complete. The boiler is expected to be operational roughly two years after construction starts.

Houston – – October 13, 2026 -- Nightpeak Energy has closed financing on and brought online its 150 MW, two-hour Bocanova 2 battery storage project in Southeast Texas, doubling the Bocanova site to 300 MW as data centers and other large loads drive electricity demand growth on the ERCOT grid.

Bocanova 2 reached commercial operation on September 17

The project is the second phase of Nightpeak's battery development in Brazoria County, near the Houston metropolitan area. The first 150 MW phase, Bocanova 1, began commercial operation in August 2025. The site is located in what the company describes as one of the country's fastest-growing electricity load centers.

Tesla Megapack 2 XL systems anchor the 150 MW build

Bocanova 2 uses Tesla's Megapack 2 XL battery storage systems. It operates under a long-term offtake agreement with an investment-grade counterparty, which the source does not name.

Toronto – October 13, 2026 -- Jaguar Uranium Corp. (NYSE American: JAGU) has published a maiden independent Mineral Resource Estimate for its Laguna Salada project in Chubut Province, Argentina, totalling 4.2 million lbs of Indicated and 10.1 million lbs of Inferred U3O8, alongside 31.1 million lbs of Indicated and 57.3 million lbs of Inferred V2O5.

The estimate, effective October 5, 2026, complies with SEC Regulation S-K 1300 and NI 43-101. It was prepared by Caracle Creek Chile SpA and Atticus Geoscience Consulting Ltd. No Measured resources have been classified.

Indicated and Inferred tonnage grades 119 ppm and 170 ppm U3O8 Eq

The Indicated category covers 21.1 Mt at 119 ppm U3O8 equivalent. The Inferred category covers 34.0 Mt at 170 ppm U3O8 equivalent. The footprint spans about 4.3% of the 210,284 ha project, which comprises 28 mining concessions in central Patagonia.