Day: March 3, 2023

Ohio Senate Holds First Train Derailment Hearing on East Palestine Disaster

Hannah Poling

An Ohio Senate committee held its first hearing on the toxic train derailment in East Palestine. The Senate’s Special Committee on Rail Safety had a lot of questions for leaders of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA) and the Ohio Emergency Management Agency (OEMA).

On February 3rd, 50 train carriages, 10 of which were carrying hazardous materials, derailed as a result of a technical problem with a rail car axle, according to federal authorities. There was vinyl chloride in five of the vehicles. Hundreds of residents evacuated as a result of the controlled release of poisonous gasses that Norfolk Southern carried out on February 6th to stop an explosion.

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Probe Confirms Capitol Police, Feds Had Intel on January 6 Threat but Failed to Adapt Security

Just the News

The Capitol Police, FBI and eight other federal agencies gathered intelligence that extremists were planning to commit violence at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 but failed to adequately adapt security or get threat assessments to key decision-makers and frontline officers, the non-partisan investigative arm of Congress concludes in a stinging report that confirmed months of reporting by Just the News. 

“Some agencies did not fully process information or share it, preventing critical information from reaching key federal entities responsible for securing the National Capital Region against threats,” the Government Accountability Office concluded in a report this week that immediately renewed questions inside Congress about whether the riot was a preventable attack and why the leadership under then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Leader Chuck Schumer did not accept the Trump Pentagon’s offer of National Guard troops for reinforcements.

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House GOP Proposes Parents’ Rights Legislation to Allow More Say in Curriculum

Ohio Star Staff

House Republicans under the leadership of Speaker Kevin McCarthy of California are reintroducing legislation to promote parental rights in their children’s education, giving them more of a say in school curriculum, according to The Associated Press.

The Parents’ Bill of Rights Act will be the first piece of legislation McCarthy has introduced as speaker, the AP reported, and will ensure that parents are aware of their rights and that schools understand them. School systems will be required to publish the curriculum and budget spending, and must ask permission of parents before any medical examination takes place, such as mental health counseling.

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Teachers’ Union Boss Randi Weingarten’s Rant About Student Loan Forgiveness at SCOTUS Draws Fire

Susan Berry, PhD

American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Randi Weingarten, who was unhinged as she ranted and raved on the steps of the Supreme Court over the prospect that Joe Biden’s student loan handout could be declared unconstitutional, is drawing rebukes for being the height of hypocrisy.

Weingarten, joined by other far-left proponents of student debt relief, screamed on the steps of the Supreme Court Tuesday as oral arguments were heard in challenges to Joe Biden’s plan to cancel student loan payments, claiming the move is essential to “make good with the students of America.”

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Nearly Half of Democrats See Biden Unfit for a Second Term Due to Age: Poll

Ohio Star Staff

Nearly half of likely Democratic voters and the majority of Republican voters consider President Joe Biden not fit to run for a second term due to his age, as reported by a Yahoo/YouGov poll.

The polls reveal that one out of seven likely voters, 68% believe that Joe Biden is “too old for another term as a president,” according to a Yahoo News/YouGov poll. Roughly 48% of Democrats and 60% of Republicans agreed that Biden’s age of 80 is an issue for re-election while 23% of Democrats said they were unsure.

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Ohio Governor DeWine Refuses to Answer Reporter’s Questions on East Palestine Burn

Hannah Poling

On Wednesday, independent journalist Nick Sortor confronted Ohio Governor Mike DeWine regarding the controlled burn in East Palestine, Ohio.

DeWine returned for his fourth visit to East Palestine Wednesday to meet with various officials cleaning up the toxic Norfolk Southern train derailment from Feburary 3rd.

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Union Rep Reports: Employees Are Sick After Working on Cleanup for East Palestine Train Disaster

Hannah Poling

According to a union spokesperson for workers who build and maintain railways for Norfolk Southern, those who assisted in the cleanup after the train derailed in Ohio have continued to have migraines and nausea.

In a letter to Ohio Governor Mike DeWine on Wednesday, Jonathan Long, a union representative for the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees Division of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, claimed that Norfolk Southern, the company that owns the train that derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, last month, had ordered about 40 workers to clear the wreckage.

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Commentary: Thomas Jefferson’s Meaning of ‘The Pursuit of Happiness’

Ohio Star Staff

The idea of the “pursuit of happiness” is in our societal DNA. Yet, this “unalienable right,” immortalized in the Declaration of Independence, has often puzzled people. What exactly did Jefferson mean?

Most people think of happiness as feeling good, but that is not what Jefferson meant. Pleasure and happiness are not the same. Our happiness does not depend upon everything going right in our life or getting what we want.

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