SEYMOUR, Wis.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 12, 2025--
Seymour Community School District students will board new buses this upcoming 2025/2026 school year. At a ribbon-cutting ceremony today, the district unveiled a fleet of 20 Blue Bird Vision Propane school buses, contracted through Kobussen Buses, that will run entirely on clean-operating propane autogas.
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“We are thrilled to introduce these new propane-powered buses to our district for the first time,” said Kellie Bohn, district administrator of Seymour Community School District. “This type of alternatively fueled bus reflects our commitment to providing safe, reliable and environmentally friendly transportation for our students while also being mindful of our community’s future.”
Each of the new 2025 Blue Bird Vision Propane 77-passenger school buses comes equipped with a 7.3L V8 Ford engine and ROUSH CleanTech propane fuel system. Ford’s 335-horsepower 7.3L engine is compact, powerful and easy to maintain. This bus retains equivalent horsepower, torque, and warranty coverage as its gas and diesel counterparts.
“Blue Bird is proud to see Seymour Community School District, through its partnership with Kobussen Buses, transition to ultra-low emission propane buses,” said Steve Whaley, alternative fuels manager for Blue Bird Corporation. “These vehicles deliver exceptional performance while significantly reducing emissions, creating a healthier environment for students and the community.”
Purchased from Blue Bird’s authorized dealer, Wisconsin Bus Sales, the buses will be fueled at a recently installed propane station located at Kobussen’s Seymour facility. Country Visions Cooperative will serve as the fuel provider for the first five years. For the 2025-26 school year, Kobussen has a locked-in rate of $1.20 per gallon of propane.
“Today’s event marked our commitment to Seymour Community School District as well as other Wisconsin school districts to provide reliable and safe school bus transportation that also reduces harmful emissions from our air,” said Dan Kobussen, owner of Kobussen Bus.
Near-zero emission propane vehicles reduce smog-producing emissions, eliminate particulate matter and lower nitrogen oxides by 95% compared with diesel.
“Propane autogas is a proven solution for school districts looking to lower their carbon footprint without compromising on performance or reliability,” said Todd Mouw, executive vice president of ROUSH CleanTech. “We’re excited to see Seymour Community School District, spearheaded by Kobussen Bus, lead the way in adopting this cleaner, cost-effective technology in Wisconsin.”
Blue Bird is the only U.S.-owned and operated school bus manufacturer in the United States. The company remains the proven clean transportation leader with more than 22,000 propane school buses operating in over 1,100 districts across North America.
About Blue Bird Corporation
Blue Bird (NASDAQ: BLBD) is recognized as a technology leader and innovator of school buses since its founding in 1927. Our dedicated team members design, engineer and manufacture school buses with a singular focus on safety, reliability, and durability. School buses carry the most precious cargo in the world – 25 million children twice a day – making them the most trusted mode of student transportation. The company is the proven leader in low- and zero-emission school buses with more than 25,000 propane, natural gas, and electric powered buses sold. Blue Bird is transforming the student transportation industry through cleaner energy solutions. For more information on Blue Bird's complete product and service portfolio, visit www.blue-bird.com.
About Kobussen Buses Ltd.
Kobussen Buses Ltd. is an 87-year-old Wisconsin based school bus contractor and a leader and innovator in the school bus industry. We are dedicated to safe eco-efficient school transportation. Kobussen operates over 800 buses for 33 school districts. More than 200 of our buses are propane powered. Visit kobussen.com for more information.
About ROUSH CleanTech
ROUSH CleanTech, an industry leader of advanced clean transportation solutions, is a division of the global engineering company Roush Enterprises. ROUSH CleanTech develops propane autogas technology for medium-duty Ford commercial vehicles and school buses. With more than 50,000 vehicles on the road, the Livonia, Michigan-based company delivers economical, emissions-reducing options for fleets across North America. Learn more at ROUSHcleantech.com or by calling 800.59.ROUSH.
About Seymour Community School District
Seymour Community School District in Seymour, Wisconsin, has an enrollment of 1,928 students. The school serves students from Seymour, Black Creek, Oneida and surrounding areas. The new propane buses fit in its motto of Empowering Students… Embracing Partnerships… Ensuring Success. Visit Seymour.k12.wi.us or more information.
During the upcoming school year, Seymour Community School District students will board Blue Bird Vision Propane school buses, contracted through Kobussen Buses, that will run entirely on clean-operating propane autogas. Each of the new 2025 Blue Bird Vision Propane 77-passenger school buses comes equipped with a 7.3L V8 Ford engine and ROUSH CleanTech propane fuel system.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado discussed her country's future with President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday, even though he has dismissed her credibility to take over after an audacious U.S. military raid captured then-President Nicolás Maduro.
Trump has raised doubts about his stated commitment to backing democratic rule in Venezuela and signaled his willingness to work with acting President Delcy Rodríguez, who was Maduro’s No. 2. Along with others in the deposed leader’s inner circle, Rodríguez remains in charge of day-to-day government operations and was set to deliver her first state of the union speech Thursday.
In endorsing Rodríguez so far, Trump has sidelined Machado, who has long been a face of resistance in Venezuela. She also had sought to cultivate relationships with Trump and key administration voices like Secretary of State Marco Rubio among the American right wing in a gamble to ally herself with the U.S. government.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump had been looking forward to the lunchtime meeting with Machado and called her “a remarkable and brave voice” for the people of Venezuela. But Leavitt also said Trump's opinion of Machado had not changed, calling it "a realistic assessment."
Trump has said it would be difficult for Machado to lead because she “doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country.” Her party is widely believed to have won 2024 elections rejected by Maduro.
Leavitt went on to say that Trump supported new Venezuelan elections “when the time is right” but did not say when he thought that might be.
Leavitt said Machado sought the face-to-face meeting without setting expectations for what would occur. Machado previously offered to share with Trump the Nobel Peace Prize she won last year, an honor he has coveted.
“I don’t think he needs to hear anything from Ms. Machado," the press secretary said, other than to have a ”frank and positive discussion about what’s taking place in Venezuela.”
Machado spent about two and a half hours at the White House but left without answering questions on whether she'd offered to give her Nobel prize to Trump, saying only “gracias."
After her White House stop, Machado plans to have a meeting at the Senate. Her Washington visit began after U.S. forces in the Caribbean Sea seized another sanctioned oil tanker that the Trump administration says had ties to Venezuela.
It is part of a broader U.S. effort to take control of the South American country’s oil after U.S. forces seized Maduro and his wife at a heavily guarded compound in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas and brought them to New York to stand trial on drug trafficking charges.
Leavitt said Venezuela's interim authorities have been fully cooperating with the Trump administration and that Rodríguez's government said it planned to release more prisoners detained under Maduro. Among those released were five Americans this week.
Rodríguez has adopted a less strident position toward Trump then she did immediately after Maduro's ouster, suggesting that she can make the Republican administration's “America First” policies toward the Western Hemisphere, work for Venezuela — at least for now.
Trump said Wednesday that he had a “great conversation” with Rodríguez, their first since Maduro was ousted.
“We had a call, a long call. We discussed a lot of things,” Trump said during an Oval Office bill signing. “And I think we’re getting along very well with Venezuela.”
Even before indicating the willingness to work with Venezuela's interim government, Trump was quick to snub Machado. Just hours after Maduro's capture, Trump said of Machado that “it would be very tough for her to be the leader.”
Machado has steered a careful course to avoid offending Trump, notably after winning the peace prize. She has since thanked Trump, though her offer to share the honor with him was rejected by the Nobel Institute.
Machado’s whereabouts have been largely unknown since she went into hiding early last year after being briefly detained in Caracas. She briefly reappeared in Oslo, Norway, in December after her daughter received the Nobel Peace Prize on her behalf.
The industrial engineer and daughter of a steel magnate began challenging the ruling party in 2004, when the nongovernmental organization she co-founded, Súmate, promoted a referendum to recall then-President Hugo Chávez. The initiative failed, and Machado and other Súmate executives were charged with conspiracy.
A year later, she drew the anger of Chávez and his allies again for traveling to Washington to meet President George W. Bush. A photo showing her shaking hands with Bush in the Oval Office lives in the collective memory. Chávez considered Bush an adversary.
Almost two decades later, she marshaled millions of Venezuelans to reject Chávez’s successor, Maduro, for another term in the 2024 election. But ruling party-loyal electoral authorities declared him the winner despite ample credible evidence to the contrary. Ensuing anti-government protests ended in a brutal crackdown by state security forces.
Garcia Cano reported from Caracas, Venezuela, and Janetsky from Mexico City. AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado gestures to supporters on Pennsylvania Avenue as she leaves the White House after meeting with President Donald Trump Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado waves to supporters on Pennsylvania Avenue as she leaves the White House after meeting with President Donald Trump Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado smiles on Pennsylvania Avenue as she leaves the White House after meeting with President Donald Trump Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado waves to supporters on Pennsylvania Avenue as she leaves the White House after meeting with President Donald Trump Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
FILE - U.S. President George Bush, right, meets with Maria Corina Machado, executive director of Sumate, a non-governmental organization that defends Venezuelan citizens' political rights, in the Oval Office of the White House, Washington, May 31, 2005. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)
FILE - Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado gestures to supporters during a protest against President Nicolas Maduro the day before his inauguration for a third term, in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, file)
