Axios reports: Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) said Thursday that he has requested additional federal assistance — including from health agencies — over the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, that resulted in the venting and burning of carcinogenic chemicals. DeWine said he made the request after speaking with the White House Thursday morning. Earlier in the week, he said …

From the text of Minnesota Senate bill SF17: To advance critical thinking skills in history and science, a school district must provide instruction to students in grades 9 to 12 exploring the contrast between the scientific facts on how sickness, disease, pain, suffering, and death relate to the existence of complex living organisms and how sickness, disease, pain, suffering, and …

The New York Post reports: A high-ranking Russian defense official in the war against Ukraine was found dead Wednesday after falling from a 16th-floor window in an apartment building. Marina Yankina, 58, was discovered by a passerby at the entrance of a high-rise on Zamshina Street in St. Petersburg, Russian news Telegram channel Mash reported. She is believed to have …

NBC News reports: Kari Lake, a Donald Trump acolyte who has refused to accept that she lost the governor’s race in Arizona last year, campaigned on the voter fraud claims first popularized by the former president. She filed lawsuits before and after the election advancing the claims, despite having no clear evidence of election fraud. A federal judge has already …

The Orlando Sentinel reports: For the second time in less than five months, a federal judge has rejected a lawsuit seeking to block a Florida law that restricts classroom instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation. U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor on Wednesday issued a 21-page decision dismissing a revised lawsuit filed by students, parents and teachers, who argued the …

CNBC reports: A Georgia special grand jury concluded that one or more witnesses in a probe into possible election meddling by former President Donald Trump may have lied under oath, and recommended a prosecutor pursue criminal indictments in those cases. The grand jury also said in its report that it found no significant fraud in Georgia’s 2020 presidential election, which …

The Independent reports: The office of embattled Republican congressman George Santos was surrounded by a police barricade on Wednesday as local residents delivered a petition calling on him to resign. Around 25 residents visited his district office in Douglaston, Queens, and asked to speak with the congressman. The protesters were turned away by a member of his staff, who said …

Florida Politics reports: During an appearance on the Hugh Hewitt Show, U.S. Sen. Rick Scott lobbied his latest in a series of attacks on Joe Biden’s faculties and abilities to perform the duties of the presidency. “I mean, I live in Florida, there’s a lot of 80-year-olds that are very competent,” Scott said. “He’s just not one of them. I …

The Hill reports: Former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley said she sees “no reason to believe” that former President Trump would not perform well on the mental competency test that she proposed for politicians older than 75 upon launching her presidential run this week. “I think he did great the last time he did it. I have no reason to …

Northwest Missouri News reports: Daviess County authorities have charged a Hamilton woman with seven felony counts of sex crimes with a child. It is alleged that twenty-nine-year-old Anastasia Dawson engaged in illicit activity with the minor while she was the victim’s church leader. A probable cause statement issued by the Daviess County Sheriff’s Office says Dawson later paid the victim …

Well, this should spawn an entertaining reaction: This doesn’t figure to sit well with former President Donald Trump. Speaking Wednesday on Outnumbered, Fox News host Kayleigh McEnany — the famously loyal one-time press secretary to the former president — praised Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) and encouraged him to enter the 2024 race without delay. The former White House press secretary …

The Los Angeles Times reports: The California exodus has shown no sign of slowing down as the state’s population dropped by more than 500,000 people between April 2020 and July 2022, with the number of residents leaving surpassing those moving in by nearly 700,000. The population decrease was second only to New York, which lost about 15,000 more people than …

Axios reports: Twitter on Wednesday updated its advertising policies to allow cannabis ads to run on its service in states where cannabis is legal, in accordance with federal guidelines. The policy represents the biggest step forward that any major tech company has made toward allowing cannabis advertising where it’s legal in the U.S. Twitter will only accept cannabis advertisers that …

The New York Times reports: Hundreds of Ohio residents gathered in a school gym on Wednesday night to demand answers about the ongoing fallout from a derailed train carrying hazardous chemicals, transforming what had been billed as an informational meeting into a heated town hall where officials with the railroad company didn’t even show up. The mayor pleaded with the …

The Daily Beast reports: When George Santos first ran for Congress in 2020, he lost by more than 12 points. But even though he was running in a safely blue district, the “red mirage” of Election Day votes lent the false impression of a tight race, and before absentee ballot counting began the following week, Santos seized on a golden …

Yahoo News reports: Josh Duggar has been placed in solitary confinement for allegedly possessing a cell phone in prison, according to multiple reports. The disgraced 19 Kids and Counting alum, 34, was moved to the Special Housing Unit (SHU) at the Federal Correctional Institute (FCI) Seagoville in Texas, where he is currently serving a 12.5-year sentence on child pornography charges. …

Politico reports: This week has already been marred by a mass shooting at Michigan State University and an El Paso, Texas, shopping mall last night, the latest in what has been a relentless pattern this year. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) is hoping, once again, to meet the moment with legislative action beyond platitudes of “thoughts and prayers” that have become …

Mediaite reports: Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and George Santos (R-NY) have co-sponsored a bill that would prohibit publishers from providing schools with “sexually explicit material.” Flagged by LGBT Nation, the bill – H.R. 863 – was filed by freshman Rep. Cory Mills (R-FL) last week. Though text of the legislation remains to be seen, its description’s use of the …

Posted last night to Trump’s Truth Social account: The greatest thing Haley did for our Country and and the Great State of South Carolina, was accepting the position of ambassador to the United Nations so that the incredible then Lieutenant Governor, Henry McMaster, could be Governor of South Carolina, where he has done an absolutely fantastic job. That was a …

Bloomberg News reports: Mark Meadows, former President Donald Trump’s last chief of staff, has been subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, according to a person familiar with the matter. Meadows was subpoenaed as part of an investigation being led by Special Counsel Jack Smith and would become the highest-ranking official who …