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When a major South Korean memory firm invests over $11 billion in a fab, that raises a couple of eyebrows. But when it comes within a major $100+ billion capital expenditure (CapEx) package, it certainly warrants some attention.

Semiconductor business in general and memory business in particular are very cyclical in their nature. Just a year ago almost all chips were in short supply and prices of commodities like memory or display drivers were high, but now that sales of PCs are declining, memory prices are declining too. But several years down the road demand for PCs and other client devices will rise once again, and so will demand for memory. Which is why SK Hynix is already preparing for this with its Fab M15X expansion plan.

SK Hynix’s Fab M15X will be a two-story building occupying 60,000 m² of land and will be located adjacent to existing Fab M15 in the Cheongju Technopolis industrial complex. The fab will produce 3D NAND (which means more chemical vapor deposition and etching tools in the cleanroom) and/or DRAM (which is more lithography-intensive, so more DUV and EUV equipment in the cleanroom) memory chips, depending on demand by the time it comes online sometimes in 2025. Since at present it is unclear/undecided what the fab will produce, the company cannot disclose planned production capacity of the upcoming manufacturing facility.

At a planned size roughly equal to combined space of SK Hynix’s existing Fab M11 and Fab M12, the company’s Fab M15X expansion looks more like an entirely new fab built adjacent to existing Fab M15 than an expansion project of the existing fab. Yet since the two manufacturing facilities share infrastructure and various facilities, the maker prefers to call it Fab M15X. 

“Looking back on the past 10 years, SK hynix could grow into a global company as it boldly carried out investment during crisis,” said Park Jung-ho, vice chairman and co-chief executive of SK Hynix. “As we look to prepare for the next 10 years now, I believe starting the M15X will be a first step to lay foundation for a solid future growth.”

Source: SK Hynix

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) – It’s been a rainy Labor Day and with grounds still saturated from the stormy weekend, you’ve probably noticed some flooding on the streets.

But, in between pops of rain is when Birmingham Public Works Crews hit the streets to clean out backed up inlets. They’re doing this to try to prevent local flooding, but with so much rain, there’s only so much they can do.

Director of Public Works Josh Yates said they check inlets on a weekly basis and they go through routine maintenance. He said they find a lot of garbage and debris inside the inlets, which can cause big back up when it rains.

Right now, he also has crews specifically checking inlets in the city’s hot spot areas that are known to flood to make sure they are clear. Yates said they will keep up this routine, but sometimes flooding happens even when the inlets are open.

“Our crews are limited to what they can do once inlets are under water,” Yates said. “They can hardly find them, much less try and clean them out. A lot of the time, the inlets are flooding due to capacity. It’s not due to anything blocking the line, it’s just that full of capacity.”

Yates said they are also expecting around eight new limb loader and picker trucks. He said those will help with limb and brush pick up after wind and rain storms.

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Jacki Fellows, owner of Studio J Florals in Cranston, places into a vase a selection of her hand-crafted Sola-wood flower arrangements on display at the Westerly Farmers Market on Wednesday afternoon, Aug. 31, 2022. Sola-wood, also known as Balsa-wood, creates an artificially hand-crafted product, which, unlike real flowers, is always in season, never needs water, and continues to look great throughout the years. | Jackie Turner, Special to Sun

Jacki Fellows, owner of Studio J Florals in Cranston, places into a vase a selection of her hand-crafted Sola-wood flower arrangements on display at the Westerly Farmers Market on Wednesday afternoon, Aug. 31, 2022. Sola-wood, also known as Balsa-wood, creates an artificially hand-crafted product, which, unlike real flowers, is always in season, never needs water, and continues to look great throughout the years. | Jackie Turner, Special to Sun

House Democratic leaders are working on a tentative plan to take up a temporary spending bill the week of Sept. 12 that would extend current government funding levels through Dec. 16, sources familiar with the discussions said.

That end date is the House’s adjournment target for the 117th Congress, and it could still shift in talks with Senate leaders, who are currently planning to be in session a few extra days, through Dec. 21. Either way, it signals a seriousness about getting an omnibus appropriations package for the upcoming fiscal year done before the new Congress is seated, when control of one or both chambers could shift.

It’s not yet clear what add-ons would be attached to the stopgap funding measure, which is needed because lawmakers haven’t sent any of the dozen fiscal 2023 appropriations bills to President Joe Biden’s desk.

Anything that can’t get 60 votes in the evenly divided Senate will need to be dropped or risk being unable to pass a continuing resolution by Oct. 1, which would lead to a partial government shutdown just weeks before the midterm elections. Both chambers are scheduled to be in session for most of the last three weeks of September, with a brief break for the Rosh Hashana holiday, giving lawmakers some time to work out any differences.

In the past, passage of stopgap spending measures has often come down to the wire. This year, lawmakers are in a hurry to get back to their districts and states to campaign given the stakes of the November election.

FAYETTEVILLE — Cincinnati coach Luke Fickell was eager to make up for a mistake made.

On Tuesday, looking back at the Bearcats’ matchup against No. 1 Alabama in the College Football Playoff semifinal last December, Fickell admitted that he did not do an adequate job preparing his team for the atmosphere they would walk into in Dallas.

Cincinnati fell 27-6 to the Crimson Tide and totaled only 218 yards of offense.

In the last couple of weeks, his players have gained an understanding of the environment that awaits them Saturday in Reynolds Razorback Stadium. A large and lively crowd is expected for Arkansas’ first ranked-versus-ranked matchup to open a season since 1980.

“We started probably last week really kind of talking about the environment, talking about the atmosphere, making sure we’re aware of what it’s going to be like,” Fickell said. “I can’t exactly tell them, because I’ve never been there.

“I’ve heard and talked to a lot of other people. But it’s one of those things that’s hard to prepare for.”

Fickell is of the belief that the two teams, which place a priority on toughness and physicality across the board but especially in the trenches, are in for a tough and nasty game.

He anticipates the energy in the stadium to match the hard-hitting nature of the play on the field.

“I think they pride themselves in things like that. We pride ourselves in things like that,” Fickell said. “In Week 1 you’re always trying to figure out who you exactly are, and I think it’s going to be like that. We’ve prepared ourselves for that. That’s what the expectation is.

“If something would change, then obviously you’ve got to adapt and adjust. But if there’s anything I think we’ve got a pretty good idea of, I would imagine it’s going to be the type of physical game that it’s going to be.”

Fickell added that he is attempting to strike a balance in practices this week between plugging in music and crowd noise and ensuring quality reps for a younger team. With so much to prepare for in terms of schematics ahead of a game, the atmosphere can become almost secondary, he said.

But the Bearcats are covering their bases there, too.

“What the environment and atmosphere comes down to is your emotions,” Fickell said. “But it’s not like you’re going to trigger those kinds of motions in a practice based on the environment.”

Fickell’s teams have won eight consecutive road games, including at Indiana and No. 9 Notre Dame last season. Cincinnati is 5-0 in season openers under Fickell and 6-9 against ranked opponents.

“That’s one of those steps for me, even when I came here,” Fickell said, “is wanting these guys to experience the environments like we’re going to play in on Saturday, but also the environments of what a college campus feels like when there’s a buzz, what a community feels like when there’s a buzz.

“I’d remind them again: to much is given, much more is expected.”

Some really big pumpkins are being prepared for entry into this year’s Topsfield Fair Giant Pumpkin Competition. One local gourd grower has quite the track record — despite his age. “Right now, it’s estimated at 1,020 pounds,” said Henry Swenson. At just 20, Swenson has a passion for pumpkins.”During my days off, I’m out here usually 10 hours a day,” Swenson said of the pumpkin patch. Growing up in Topsfield, attending the annual fall fair was part of his childhood.Early on he knew he wanted in on the giant pumpkin growing competition.“I went into the arena, into the weigh off, and I saw how big the pumpkins were and I immediately knew I wanted to grow one,” he said. His current gourd is growing 10 pounds a day. It’s slowed a bit from its peak of 35 pounds a day.Although disease and mother nature has worked against him this summer, he’s not deterred from toiling in the soil.“It’s been tough. It’s definitely been tough, so dry that the leaves burn a little more than what they should. It’s been tough to keep the soil moist,” he said of the summer drought.Over the years, Swenson has had a few whoppers. His 65-pound butternut squash is a Guinness World Record holder. He’s growing a second pumpkin for a Vermont competition.“You need to get the right seed, the right soil, right weather. It’s a lot of prep,” he said. Swenson said he actually likes to name his giant pumpkins, but because it’s still growing, the Topsfield one doesn’t have a name yet. He said he’ll have one when the fair opens up Sept. 30.

“Platoon” was shot in the Philippines, where the production was threatened by political revolution. The actors were a long way from home, and though Dafoe and Berenger later received dual Oscar nominations for Best Supporting Actor — and they had men answering to them like real sergeants on the “Platoon” set — they were not immune to the hardships of the jungle. John C. McGinley, who played their fellow sergeant, O’Neill, told The Guardian:

“Willem drank water from a river when there was a decomposing oxen downstream and he got medivacked, Tom dropped a knife in his f****** foot – it was just all getting terribly real. And there were snakes. Two weeks earlier, we were running around New York’s West Village having coffee, bagels and talking about ‘Hamlet.’ Now we’re in the jungle with bamboo vipers.”

One can only imagine the insurance nightmare that a movie like “Platoon” might have caused, but at least Dafoe had the medevac there and was able to get to the choppa in time, unlike his doomed character, Sergeant Elias.

“Platoon” certainly isn’t the last time we would hear stories of actors running into trouble in the jungle while shooting Vietnam War scenes. Mykelti Williamson, for instance, was also a snake magnet on the set of “Forrest Gump.” However, when the closing credits roll on “Platoon,” and the words, “Dedicated to the men who fought and died in the Vietnam War” come up — and you see each actor’s face onscreen along with his name — it’s clear that Stone, a real Vietnam veteran, had them running around in the jungle in service of an authentic vision of a band of brothers.