Tag Archives: Ohio

Report: Rail Worker Was Told To Skip Safety Inspections

The Guardian reports: In leaked audio heard by the Guardian, a manager for one of the US’s largest rail companies can be heard explaining to a former carman that they should stop tagging railcars for broken bearings. The manager says doing so delays other cargo. The disclosure comes as federal agencies investigate the derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. A wheel-bearing …

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Ohio Rabbi Gets Six Months In Underage Sex Sting

Cleveland’s Fox affiliate reports: A former local rabbi will spend 6 months in jail after he pled guilty to sex crimes. Stephen Weiss, 61, was sentenced on Monday. He faced up to 2.5 years behind bars. The longtime rabbi is accused of sending explicit messages to a police officer he thought was a 15-year-old boy. The Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office …

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Biden Orders Health Surveys In Wake Of Rail Disaster

Bloomberg News reports: President Joe Biden instructed federal agents responding to the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, to go door-to-door to conduct health surveys with impacted families, a White House official said Monday. Representatives from the Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Emergency Management Agency, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention visited approximately 350 household over the weekend, according to …

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Residents File Class Action Suit Against Rail Company

The Hill reports: A Youngstown, Ohio-based law firm has announced a class-action lawsuit against Norfolk Southern Railroad over the derailment of a train in East Palestine, using a strategy it says echoes the state’s 1990s lawsuit against tobacco companies. The firm, Johnson and Johnson, is partnering with class-action law firm Hagens Berman on behalf of all residents within 30 miles …

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NTSB: Rail Crash Caused By Overheated Wheel Bearing

Axios reports: The crew of the Norfolk Southern train that derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, attempted to stop it after receiving a “critical” alert about an overheating wheel bearing just before the crash, an investigation found. The preliminary findings from the National Transportation Safety Board’s investigation released Thursday came as residents push for answers from officials over the health dangers. …

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Rail Company Ordered To Clean OH Site, Pay All Costs

NBC News reports: The Environmental Protection Agency announced a sweeping enforcement action against Norfolk Southern on Tuesday, compelling the rail company to conduct and pay for cleanup actions associated with the Feb. 3 derailment of a train carrying toxic chemicals in East Palestine, Ohio. “The Norfolk Southern train derailment has upended the lives of East Palestine families, and EPA’s order …

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Buttigieg Unveils Package Of Rail Safety Reforms

The Associated Press reports: Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg wants the nation’s freight railroads to immediately act to improve safety while regulators try to strengthen safety rules in the wake of a fiery derailment in Ohio that forced evacuations when toxic chemicals were released and burned. Buttigieg announced a package of reforms Tuesday — two days after he warned the railroad …

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Buttigieg Warns Rail Company To Aid Ohio Town

ABC News reports: Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg sent a letter Sunday to the CEO of Norfolk Southern, warning that the freight rail company must “demonstrate unequivocal support for the people” of East Palestine, Ohio, and surrounding areas after a fiery train derailment. “Norfolk Southern must live up to its commitment to make residents whole — and must also live up …

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Ohio MAGA Rep Drinks Water From Rail Disaster Town

“Hello, folks. Here. Here I am. I’m in Palestine, in Ohio, here with the train derailment. Had great meetings with Norfolk Southern, had an opportunity to speak with the mayor, EPA officials. We talked about the issues that the people that the 4,800 residents are faced with here in East Palestine as it relates to water and or air quality. …

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Ohio Gov Seeks Federal Health Aid In Rail Disaster

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 …

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Residents Demand Answers In Wake Of Rail Disaster

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 …

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Fish And Chickens Die After Fiery Ohio Derailment

NBC News reports: For days, authorities have been telling residents of the area around East Palestine, Ohio, that it is safe to return home after a 150-car train carrying hazardous chemicals derailed Feb. 3. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources said the chemical spill resulting from the derailment had killed an estimated 3,500 small fish across 7½ miles of streams …

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Rail Company Blocked Safety Rules Before Derailment

Lever News reports: Before this weekend’s fiery Norfolk Southern train derailment prompted emergency evacuations in Ohio, the company helped kill a federal safety rule aimed at upgrading the rail industry’s Civil War-era braking systems, according to documents reviewed by The Lever. Though the company’s 150-car train in Ohio reportedly burst into 100-foot flames upon derailing — and was transporting materials …

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OH Youth Ministry Volunteer Gets Life For Child Rapes

The Ohio Times-Reporter reports: A 60-year-old man who formerly volunteered with a church youth ministry has received a life sentence with the possibility of parole after 20 years for raping and committing other sex offenses against two girls. Tuscarawas County Judge Michael J. Ernest sentenced Jeffrey A. Pringle Thursday on three counts of child rape and four counts of gross …

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Evacuated Residents Fear Toxic Gas After Derailment

The Associated Press reports: Days after crews released and burned toxic chemicals transported by a wrecked train in Ohio, residents remain concerned about the toxic substances that could be lingering in their evacuated neighborhoods. Vinyl chloride was slowly released into the air Monday from five of those cars before crews ignited it to get rid of the highly flammable, toxic …

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Ohio Rail Crews Vent Toxic Chemicals To Avert Explosion

The Wall Street Journal reports: A team of experts released a chemical from five tanker cars and ignited it Monday afternoon to prevent a potentially catastrophic explosion following a train derailment Friday along the border of Ohio and Pennsylvania. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine maintained a mandatory evacuation Monday for residents within a one-mile radius of East Palestine, an Ohio village …

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Ohio Derailment Spurs Warning Of Explosion [VIDEO]

NBC News reports: As federal investigators worked to find out why a 150-car train derailed in northeastern Ohio, the state’s governor warned late Sunday that unstable temperatures in a car transporting chemicals could lead to an explosion. The area most at risk of being affected by the Friday crash, that within a 1-mile radius of the crash in the village …

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School Cancels “Vulgar” Musical With Gay Characters

Cleveland’s Fox affiliate reports: After months of planning, a local school district abruptly canceled its musical, claiming it was “vulgar.” In a statement, the Cardinal Local Schools superintendent Jack Cunningham said, “The Cardinal Local School District has decided that its spring musical production will not be ‘The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.’ Its dialogue and song lyrics contain vulgarity …

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Ohio Pastor Found Guilty In Undercover Sex Sting

Youngstown’s CBS affiliate reports: A local pastor received his sentence Monday after being picked up in an undercover sex sting last year. Aaron Newell, 49, of Youngstown, reached a plea deal with prosecutors. According to court records, he will serve no jail time but will be on probation for two years. He was also ordered to perform community service and …

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Ohio Republican MLB Owner To Run For Senate In 2024

NBC News reports: Matt Dolan, who lost a raucous Republican Senate primary in Ohio last year, will run again in 2024, this time seeking to unseat longtime Democratic incumbent Sherrod Brown. Dolan will announce his candidacy this week, he told an Ohio GOP official in a voicemail Sunday. Brown has said he intends to seek a fourth term next year. …

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