As residents of East Palestine, Ohio, demand answers two weeks after a Norfolk Southern freight train derailed in their town, toxic chemicals burst into flames, causing a lingering sense of worry and distress over the event. At Wednesday's community meeting, which called together a gymnasium full of the town of 5,000, people were seeking transparency and reassurance that their long-term health won't be impacted.

To safeguard themselves and any similar disasters in the future, government officials have identified two key needs for the East Palestine situation. Railroads like Norfolk Southern must provide an immediate statement that reveals all contents on a derailed train, so that emergency responders, health officials and citizens know the extent of the hazard. This is of utmost importance, as media reports indicate that the rail contained not just vinyl chloride, but also three cancer-causing chemicals.

Secondly, authorities must conduct comprehensive monitoring to confirm that water

Residents in East Palestine, Ohio experienced significant distress and damage following the derailment and chemical burn of a Norfolk Southern train last week. Local residents, Emily Wright, spoke to The Columbus Dispatch about her experience, opinion and cry for help to President Biden, and Ohio Governor Mike DeWine. In response, on Thursday Governor DeWine publicly announced to have requested assistance and support from the U.S Dept of Health, Human Services, Health Emergency Response Team, and the Center for Disease Control (CDC).

Additionally, the West Virginia University (WVU) has taken extra measures to ensure that the air and water in the area is not contaminated. They conducted tests and published a statement to inform those living closest to the train derailment site, specifically the customers of Clarksburg Water Board and Tri County Water Association, that their water is not affected by the situation. The public is encouraged to contact the Clarks

Over 100 children illegally employed by a US slaughterhouse cleaning firm have been discovered, according to the US Department of Labor. Packers Sanitation Services Inc (PSSI) employed at least 102 children, ranging from 13 to 17 years old, to work overnight shifts at 13 meat processing facilities in 8 states. The minors were exposed to dangerous chemicals and employed to clean high-risk equipment such as razor-sharp saws, head splitters and other power machinery. At least three minors were reported to have been injured from the hazardous working conditions, including chemical burns.

The DOL assessed the company a total of $1.5 million in civil money penalties for violating the Fair Labor Standards Act. This is the maximum penalty allowed under Federal Law, with $15,138 for each child employed in violation. When the Department of Labor arrived with warrants, the company attempted to cover up

On Friday afternoon, Nashville police reported that Kyle Jacobs – a music artist and husband to Kellie Pickler – had died of an apparent suicide. He was 49 at the time of his death.

Pickler reported that she awoke a short time earlier, did not see her husband, and began looking for him. After she and her personal assistant failed to open the door to Jacobs' upstairs bedroom/office, the assistant telephoned 911, where officers subsequently discovered Jacobs' body. The death is being investigated as an apparent suicide.

Kyle Jacobs and Pickler had married in 2011, and he was known for co-writing several Lee Brice hits. His musical career began in 2000 when he moved from Minnesota to Nashville, and he went on to write songs for Pickler, George Strait, Kelly Clarkson, and others. In 2015, the couple went on to star in the hit CMT reality series “I

Residents near the East Palestine, Ohio train derailment, chemical leak, and subsequent chemical burn are struggling to return to their normal lives as the clean up continues. Emily Wright, of nearby Columbiana and development director at River Valley Organizing, wrote a guest opinion column on Dispatch.com asking Governor Mike DeWine to request federal help from the Biden Administration to assist the area. After the column was released Thursday, DeWine Tweeted he had spoke with the White House early that morning and requested assistance from the Department of Health and Human Services, Health and Emergency Response Team, and Centers for Disease Control for direct support.

Several videos have emerged reflective of heightened health and environmental concerns. The videos show shimmering chemical contamination on Leslie Run Creek and other nearby creeks. An expert from the University of Akron believes the material is likely vinyl chloride, a heavier-than-water chemical.

Around 3

Last week's Norkolk Southern train derailment near East Palestine, Ohio caused major disruption to the area, releasing toxic chemicals which have so far caused much pain and suffering to local residents. In response, Ohio's Governor Mike DeWine spoke with the White House to request federal help, and the Biden administration responded in kind.

They have deployed a team of medical personnel and toxicologists to assess and evaluate individuals who have been exposed or potentially exposed to the chemicals. The Department of Health and Human Services and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have also offered to provide public health testing and assessments to the affected area. This comes on the heels of the $1000 relief checks for affected families, which were handed out on Thursday.

Emily Wright, a resident of nearby Columbiana, described the horror of the situation near East Palestine in a guest column on Dispatch.com. She had called upon Gov. DeWine to use his discretion

The Cold War era rivalry between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. over the missile gap is being reignited in a different form. U.S. President Joe Biden is calling for global regulations in the new battlefront known as near space: a high-altitude unregulated zone between 11 and 62 miles above the Earth's surface. In this space, China has already demonstrated advancement over the U.S. with the development of hypersonic missiles, space planes, and surveillance balloons.

Two YouTubers, Josh Pieters and Archie Manners, attempted to use humor as a form of protest against China's advancements by flying a mock spy balloon above the Chinese embassy in London. Despite the embassy's protections, armed counterterrorism officers showed up and the balloon was quickly removed from the premises.

Many U.S

Victor Osimhen-led Napoli will look to further open their lead in the Serie A table when they travel to Mapei Stadium - Citta del Tricolore to take on Davide Frattesi and Sassuolo. Napoli, who currently sits at the top of the Serie A table with 59 points, will have their work cut out for them against a Sassuolo side desperately in need of points. While Napoli come into the match as strong favourites to come out on top, Sassuolo will be keen to keep up their streak of four points since the start of February courtesy of a win over Atalanta and a draw with Udinese 2-2.

Matheus Henrique was the lone goal scorer for Sassuolo in the draw, with a total of 5 goals in 22 appearances this season. For Napoli the much touted

Residents of East Palestine, Ohio, are still facing the consequences of a hazardous train derailment that spanned nearly three weeks. Following the incident, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced findings on the air, water, and overall safety of the community on Friday.

From air testing of more than 500 homes, Governor DeWine reported that no contaminants from the derailment were found. He noted that volatile organic compounds - chemicals generally present in paint, flooring carpet, and other items - were elevated in some homes but nothing of concern was detected. An additional 20 air quality monitors are spread throughout the community for monitoring.

Regarding the safety of the water, Governor DeWine made it clear the city water is safe for consumption, and those with private wells should abstain from drinking their water until it has been tested and cleared. The Ohio River, which was tested for chemicals from the incident,

It's Presidents' Day on Monday, Feb. 20, 2023 and many markets and banks will observe the holiday with closures. Thankfully, the 2021 holiday is a three day weekend giving us all a chance to prepare and reflect on our nation's history and leadership.

The stock market, including the Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) will be closed for the day. This marks the third stock market holiday of 2023 and is the only one dedicated in honor of those who have held the office of president of the U.S.

Bond traders will also get the day off, with the bond market closed on Monday, Feb. 20, for Presidents' Day. Additionally, all banks will be closed, a reminder that it's one of 11 bank holidays in 2023.

The holiday also comes just in time in case you need to catch up on any tax preparation - investors can check out

Last week's extremely dangerous train derailment and chemical burn in East Palestine, Ohio has created a hazardous environment for residents in the area. Emily Wright, a resident of nearby Columbiana and the development director at River Valley Organizing, wrote an opinion column in The Columbus Dispatch on February 14th pleading with Ohio Governor Mike DeWine to seek federal aid from the Biden administration to help those affected by the disaster.

In response to the call for help, Governor DeWine tweeted on Thursday morning that he had spoken to the White House and requested assistance from the United States Department of Health and Human Services, the Health and Emergency Response Team, and the Centers for Disease Control in order to provide direct support to the East Palestine area. As of now, the hazardous area is still not safe or livable, so federal aid will be crucial in helping damaged property and allowing people to have a safe place to stay.

The train

Cristiano Ronaldo has already made a mark since his mid-season move to Saudi Pro League side, Al-Nassr, courtesy of his five-goal haul in his previous two games. On Friday, during their clash against Al-Taawoun, the 37-year-old produced a stunning assist, showcasing his creativity and quick thinking.

Ronaldo received the ball inside his half before playing a perfectly weighted through ball to teammate Abdulrahman Ghareeb who finished calmly to give Al-Nassr the 17th minute lead. He undid all his good work later when he missed a sitter from four yards that could have sustained their lead.

Not letting his miss affect his play, Ronaldo showed his true class in the dying minutes of the game, setting up Abdullah Madu for the match-winning goal later on in the 2-1 victory.

On the night of the 2020 US presidential elections, Fox News was the first cable news network to call the state of Arizona in favor of Joe Biden, leading to a flood of angry phone calls and texts from supporters of Donald Trump. Behind the scenes, recently released court documents show that top Fox News figures – including Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, and Rupert Murdoch- expressed trepidation over the network’s calls, fearing they could spell doom for the outlet.

The documents, included in a 200 page motion for summary judgement in Dominion Voting System’s defamation lawsuit against Fox News, reveal Carlson texted his producer that those “f**kers are destroying our credibility” and could easily “destroy us if we play it wrong.” Similarly, Hannity recognized Dominion’s central role in the false fraud narrative of the election and lamented that Trumpworld had managed to

West Virginia is facing a unique situation following the recent Norfolk Southern train derailment that left a local river polluted with dangerous chemicals. Residents of the riverside have been left feeling anxious and even frightened due to the lack of clarity around the risk to their drinking water and overall health. Consequently, WVU and local governing bodies have taken action to ease the public's fears.

The West Fork River, the primary source of the Clarksburg Water Board, has been identified as unaffected by the contamination in the Ohio River. WVU has also activated their Emergency Response Team in order to provide direct support and health-related assistance to those impacted. Furthermore, Governor Mike Dewine contacted the White House requesting assistance from the United States Department of Health and Human Services, the Health and Emergency Response Team, and the CDC.

Emily Wright, a resident of nearby Columbiana and Development Director of River Valley Organizing,

On Thursday, U.S. EPA Admistrator Michael Regan visited East Palestine, Ohio to assure the town's residents of their safety after a train derailment released toxins into the air and water. Regan began his remarks by thanking local first responders for their work in the aftermath of the crash.

"We hear you. We see you," Reagan said. "We will get to the bottom of this. All families need to know that they are safe, and all families deserve access to clean air and safe drinking water." The EPA has tested 500 homes and all air monitoring has revealed no quality issues. However, ongoing surface and groundwater testing is still being conducted by the Ohio EPA.

Regan also made sure to visit Kristina Ferguson's house, personally witnessing an air quality test. Individual water wells continue to be tested, and bottled water will be provided to well owners until

After the F-22 fighter jet shot down the suspected Chinese spy balloon, U.S. Navy divers completed an operation to recover pieces of it off the coast of South Carolina. Sending the debris to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s laboratory in Quantico, Va., for further analysis could reveal more about what the balloon had been able to capture. President Biden addressed the incident, marking it as a “violation of our sovereignty” and affirming the results of the analysis will strengthen the capability. While he did not intend to start a Cold War, the discovery of the balloon has set off a wave of speculation about the Chinese surveillance program, both in the Trump and Biden administrations.

Reports show that a few intelligence officers under Trump were aware of several Chinese balloons crossing into U.S. airspace, but the analysis of the salvaged material marks the first time the incident got noticed. It also led

Fox News stars and executives, including President Jay Wallace, have privately denounced the false narrative that the 2020 election was stolen, according to recently released court documents. Texas-based Dominion Voting Systems is suing Fox News for defamation, alleging the news network pushed "a disinformation campaign" that it had manipulated the election results.

The Thursday court filing included 200-page testimony from figures in the Fox corporate hierarchy, including owner Rupert Murdoch, as well as Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, and Laura Ingraham. Among the revelations was an exchange between Carlson and Ingraham over how Trump attorney Sidney Powell, was peddling untruths. The two labeled her a "nut" and no one wanted to work with her. Murdoch even referred to Dobbs in a comment as "reckless".

Other declassified messages showed Fox executives contemplating a joint TV denouncement of Trump's claims, with Murdoch arguing that it "would

President Joe Biden spoke to the nation on Thursday regarding the recent shootdowns of flying objects in U.S. and Canadian airspace. After a suspected Chinese sky balloon was detected in North American airspace beginning January 28, and then taken down in South Carolina on February 4, three additional airborne objects were shot down days later.

The military responded through the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), which utilizes a network of satellites, ground-based radar, airborne radar and fighters to monitor and protect Canadian and U.S. airspace.

On Thursday, Biden assured Americans that the objects were "most likely tied to private companies, recreation or research institutions," and were not connected to a Chinese spy program. A White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre added that China's decision to levy sanctions against U.S. defense contractors was just an attempt to deflect and spin the incident.

The U.S. and Canadian governments partnered

President Joe Biden made an announcement on Thursday expressing that the three unmanned aerial objects, shot down by the U.S. military over the weekend, are "most likely tied to private companies, recreation or research institutions," and were not connected to the Chinese surveillance balloon taken down on Feb. 4. This announcement comes after mounting pressure from both Democrats and Republicans in Congress to explain the spy balloon incident.

At a White House press briefing, Biden said the intelligence communities current assessment that the objects had no malicious intentions and that “nothing right now suggests they were related to China’s spy balloon program or that they were surveillance vehicles from any other country.” Additionally, Biden noted that the U.S. had seen no "sudden increase in the number of objects in the sky."

In a move to better address aerial objects, Biden has ordered his team create "

On Thursday, President Joe Biden delivered a brief statement concerning the U.S. shoot down of a Chinese surveillance balloon, then quickly shuffled away without taking questions. This move left the White House open to criticism from both sides of the aisle, as it left the public with few answers or tangible assurance. The balloon, believed to be part of a Chinese espionage initiative, was shot down by U.S. forces two weeks ago.

Since then, fallout has been building from six continents. Countries from Taiwan to Romania are re-evaluating their own sightings of unidentified aerial objects, both with each other and with their current allies. China has chosen to stay silent for the time being, though many suspect that President Xi Jinping does not want this dispute to further damage already-strained U.S.-China relations.

When asked by NBC News if he had plans to speak with

Fox News executives and stars demonstrated a private disdain for Donald Trump’s false election fraud claims, despite continuing to air the conspiracy theories on their network. New messages included in a legal filing showed Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, and Laura Ingraham all mocking the lie that the election was stolen.

Rupert Murdoch, the chairman of Fox Corporation, didn’t believe the lies either and proposed that Carlson, Hannity, and Ingraham appear together to declare Joe Biden as the rightful winner of the election. He stated that it would “go a long way to stop the Trump myth that the election stolen.”

The drastic contrast between the company’s privately expressed attitudes and publicly aired messages provides immense insight into the chaos that initially ensued after President Trump’s election loss and viewers’ reactions to Fox News’s decision to accurately call the contest for Biden.

Domin

As the 2020 Election came to an end and results were being painstakingly verified, an intense battle between one of the nation's most infamous networks, Fox News, and election technology company Dominion Voting System, was just beginning. On Thursday, a court filing revealed damning messages between Fox News executives and stars in which they privately ridiculed and dismissed the former President Trump’s claims of election fraud.

The messages, between Fox News talent such as Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, and Laura Ingraham, showed them slamming former Trump lawyer Sidney Powell. Carlson and Ingraham agreed that Powell was “lying” and “a complete nut” while Rupert Murdoch, the chairman of Fox Corporation, and many more expressed their disbelief of Trump’s election lies. Murdoch even proposed an idea to have Carlson, Hannity, and Ingraham appear on air together in prime time to

Researchers from the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration have uncovered alarming findings related to the melting of Antarctica's vast Thwaites Glacier. Named the Doomsday Glacier for its potential to cause a three-meter (9.8-foot) rise in global sea levels if it were to collapse, researchers were able to analyze its behavior with the help of an underwater robot vehicle (ROV) named Icefin. The two papers published in Nature journal on February 15 show that warmer water is penetrating into crevasses and other openings known as terraces, causing melting of over 30 meters (98 feet) per year.

Britney Schmidt, an associate professor of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Cornell University and lead author of one of the published papers states “Warm water is getting into the weakest parts of the glacier and making it worse. That is the kind of thing we should all be very

The Georgia probe into former President Donald Trump's alleged attempt to interfere with the 2020 election results has been far reaching. In January 2021, Trump reportedly called on Georgia's Secretary of State to "find" over 11,000 votes that he needed to win the Peach State. Since then, the investigation has grown to include Trump's associates and 'fake elector' scheme, claims of election worker harassment, and individuals seeking access to voting machines.

This past week, an insight into the special grand jury's findings was made public, revealing the the jurors had concerns that some of the 75 witnesses - including Trump's attorney Rudy Giuliani, Senator Lindsey Graham, and Governor Brian Kemp - may have lied during their testimonies. However, the special grand jury is not authorized to bring charges, leaving that up to District Attorney Fani Willis, who may pursue a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (R

The Los Angeles Clippers visit the Phoenix Suns in what could have been a preview of the Western Conference Finals before the All-Star break on Tuesday night. The Suns made a big splash with the trade deadline acquisition of superstar Kevin Durant, but he is not expected to see action until after the break. Despite missing their big acquisition, the Suns still had some momentum with a 2-1 record since the deadline.

The Clippers, however, provided a stiffer test. Kawhi Leonard was fully healthy for the first time since his championship-winning run with the Raptors in 2019 and it made a huge difference on the court. In Leonard's last 16 games, the Clippers had gone 11-5 and boasted the 5th best offensive ranking. During this stretch, Leonard was playing 36.5 minutes per game and averaging 28.3 points and shooting a remarkable 52.9% from the field and 49.