Pete Buttigieg warns Norfolk Southern to support Ohio community
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 led to the release of chemicals and residents expressing concerns about their health. “Norfolk Southern must live up to its commitment to make residents whole — and must also live up to its obligation to do whatever it takes to stop putting communities such as East Palestine at risk,” Buttigieg wrote. “This is the right time for Norfolk Southern to take a leadership position within the rail industry, shifting to a posture that focuses on supporting, not thwarting, efforts to raise the standard of U.S. rail safety regulation.” Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said Friday that the chemicals that spilled into the Ohio River are no longer a risk, even as people in the community say they have constant headaches and irritated eyes. The state plans to open a medical clinic in the village of 4,700 to analyze their symptoms, despite repeated statements that air and water testing has shown no signs of contaminants. Still, uncertainty persists about the consequences of a derailment that occurred roughly two weeks ago. Peter DeCarlo, a professor of environmental health and engineering at Johns Hopkins University, told ABC News on Sunday that more testing is needed to determine which chemicals are present. “We just don’t have the information we need to understand what chemicals may be present,” DeCarlo said. “We know it started as vinyl chloride, but as soon as you burn that, all bets are off. You have a lot of chemical byproducts that can happen from a combustion process like that.” Asked if he would move back to East Palestine if he were already living there, DeCarlo said: “I have two little boys. I would not.” Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw issued a statement on Saturday that he “returned to East Palestine today to meet with local leaders, first responders, and a group of Norfolk Southern employees who live in the area.” “In every conversation today, I shared how deeply sorry I am this happened to their home,” Shaw said. The Atlanta-based company has created a website with updates, NSMakingItRight.com. The transportation secretary’s letter on Sunday came across as a stern warning to Norfolk Southern, saying: “It is imperative that your company be unambiguous and forthright in its commitment to take care of the residents — now and in the future.” Buttigieg said the National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of the derailment and that the Federal Railroad Administration is also analyzing whether safety violations occurred and will hold Norfolk Southern accountable if violations did occur. The Environmental Protection Agency has said the company must document the release of hazardous contaminants and outline cleanup actions. But Buttigieg also said that Norfolk Southern and other rail companies “spent millions of dollars in the courts and lobbying members of Congress to oppose common-sense safety regulations, stopping some entirely and reducing the scope of others.” He said the effort undermined rules on brake requirements and delayed the phase-in for more durable rail cars to transport hazardous material to 2029, instead of the “originally envisioned date of 2025.” The transportation secretary said the results of the investigation are not yet know, but “we do know that these steps that Norfolk Southern and its peers lobbied against were intended to improve rail safety and to help keep Americans safe.” Republished with the permission of The Associated Press.
Two dozen AGs sue Joe Biden’s ATF for taxing, registering pistol braces
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey joined 24 other attorneys general in suing President Joe Biden’s administration for implementing a rule outlawing pistol braces. The regulation will “result in the destruction or forfeiture of over 750,000 firearms and will cost the private sector somewhere between $2 and $5 billion,” according to the filing. “As Attorney General, I will defend the Constitution, which includes holding the Biden Administration accountable for blatantly violating the Second Amendment,” Bailey said in a statement announcing the lawsuit. “I have long held that the Constitution was meant to be a floor, not a ceiling, and the Second Amendment is the amendment that makes all of the others possible.” The complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief was filed in the U.S. District Court in North Dakota. The document includes information from a patent for a “Pistol Stabilizing Brace,” used to secure a pistol to a shooter’s forearm to stabilize firing. “Through this design, braces are orthotic devices that allow users to more safely and accurately fire handguns,” the document states. Braces are often used by older people and those with limited mobility and prevent recoil and help with accuracy. The lawsuit states President Biden was frustrated in 2021 with congressional inaction and ordered the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to abandon “a decade of practice under an established statutory framework” and place pistols modified with stabilizing braces under the National Firearms Act. The classification requires owners of a pistol with a stabilizing brace to pay a $200 fee and submit their name and other identifying information to the Justice Department or face criminal penalties, the lawsuit states. The Department of Justice proposed amending ATF regulations in 2021 to clarify when a rifle is “intended to be fired from the shoulder.” The DOJ requested comment on whether firearms equipped with a “stabilizing brace” should be considered a rifle or short-barreled rifle under the Gun Control Act of 1968 or a rifle or firearm subject to the National Firearms Act. The new ATF rule was enacted on Jan. 31. Joining Bailey in the suit are attorneys general of Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming. The complaint states the ATF violated the Separation of Powers by implementing the rule and calls the regulation arbitrary and capricious. Last month, a federal appeals court struck down a ban on bump stocks instituted by President Donald Trump after an assailant used it to kill and injure dozens of people in Las Vegas in 2017. Republished with the permission of The Center Square.
Celebrating Presidents Day
Today is Presidents Day. It is a federal and state holiday, so banks, post offices, government offices, courthouses, schools, and businesses will be closed. This is the annual observance of President George Washington’s birthday. Washington was the first President of the United States, head of the Constitutional Convention, the commander of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, a delegate to the Continental Congress, a hero of the French and Indian War, and one of the most revered Americans in history. Washington’s actual birthday is Wednesday, February 22, but we celebrate it on a Monday to have a three-day weekend. Abraham Lincoln’s birthday is February 12. This holiday has evolved into rather than just celebrating Washington’s memory. All 46 U.S. Presidents are remembered and honored today. George Washington is one of the four Mount Rushmore presidents, along with Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, and Theodore Roosevelt. Washington was born on February 22, 1732, in the Virginia Colony. Washington was the son of Augustine and Mary Ball Washington. Washington was the oldest of their six children. His father also had three children with his first wife, including Lawrence Washington. His half-brother Lawrence was an inspiration and mentor to the young George Washington after their father died in 1743. Washington inherited land and slaves from his father and inherited Mount Vernon from Lawrence’s widow in 1761. Washington could have enjoyed a life of luxury on his inherited estates. Washington was a very enthusiastic farmer. Washington was an active breeder of mules, and generations of American farmers were influenced by Washington’s advocacy for the animals, which are a sterile hybrid cross between a donkey and a horse. Washington was also a very cutting-edge sheep breeder and agronomist. As much as he loved Mount Vernon and managing his lands, Washington spent much of his life elsewhere. He was an accomplished surveyor and mapmaker. He was one of the top military officers in the Virginia Militia. Washington spent years fighting the Revolutionary War, leading an army that had not existed before and training them to fight as an army. Gen. Washington had to fight smallpox, exposure, and malnutrition, which collectively killed more of his soldiers than the British did. Washington’s victory at Yorktown shocked the world. An entire British Army was trapped – and would have been wiped out if the British had not surrendered. Following the War, Washington resisted calls from some of his troops to seize the government by force and instead went home to his farm. When it became clear that the Articles of Confederation were not working, Washington joined calls for a new Constitution and led the Constitutional Convention that drafted the U.S. Constitution. Washington was elected the first president of the United States and served two terms. He could have easily been elected to a third term but chose to go home to his farm instead. Despite poor health, he came out of retirement during Adams’ presidency to head the U.S. Army for an anticipated war with France. Fortunately, Adams averted that War with diplomacy. Washington died at Mount Vernon in 1799. This Presidents Day celebration is overshadowed by the breaking news that former President Jimmy Carter, age 98, has been sent to hospice. Carter, who was President from 1977 to 1981, and Bill Clinton are the last two living twentieth century Presidents. To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com.
Tommy Tuberville to be Ranking Member of Senate Agriculture Rural Development and Energy Subcommittee
On Friday, U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville announced that he will serve as the Ranking Member of the Rural Development and Energy Subcommittee on the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. As the lead Republican on this subcommittee, Senator Tuberville will be able to build on his work to strengthen Alabama’s rural communities and expand access to broadband. “As Alabama’s voice on the Senate Agriculture Committee, I’m honored to be the leading Republican on the Rural Development and Energy Subcommittee, where I will keep working to strengthen the communities that are home to our farms and production facilities,” Tuberville stated. As we draft the 2023 Farm Bill, I look forward to championing resources like broadband, energy, and water programs so that our rural areas are well-equipped to support Alabama’s diverse agriculture industry and our national food security.” Tuberville was also appointed to serve on two other subcommittees that are crucial to Alabama farm families: Commodities, Risk Management, and Trade, and Food and Nutrition, Specialty Crops, Organics, and Research. “The past few years have shown us the importance of food security interests to our national security,” Tuberville said. “People across America depend on Alabama’s farmers and producers to ensure they can put food on the table and provide for their families. We help lead the way in many areas, such as catfish, peanuts, and broiler chicken production, and the best way to continue this is through supporting our family farms and rich agriculture diversity. These subcommittees will best position me to continue advocating for Alabama’s agricultural interests so that our state remains a leader in national food production for generations to come.” The Senate Subcommittee on Rural Development and Energy is tasked with overseeing the many programs in USDA’s Rural Development mission area, including housing, electric and water utilities, loans, and renewable energy. As Ranking Member on this subcommittee, Sen. Tuberville will be positioned to work on these Alabama-specific issues: Tuberville’s position on this subcommittee will enable him to work on issues specific to Alabama’s agriculture industry, including: The Senate Subcommittee on Nutrition, Specialty Crops, and Agricultural Research is tasked with overseeing programs regarding food and nutrition assistance, school meals, specialty crops, and research. Tuberville’s position on this subcommittee will enable him to work on issues specific to Alabama’s agriculture industry, including: Tuberville is a member of the Senate Armed Services, Agriculture, Veterans Affairs, and HELP Committees. Tuberville was elected in 2020, defeating incumbent Sen. Doug Jones in a landslide. Prior to running for the Senate, his first elected office, Tuberville spent forty years as a teacher and a coach. His coaching career included tenures as the head football coach at Ole Miss, Auburn, Texas Tech, and Cincinnati. To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com.
Mike Rogers leads congressional delegation to Romania and Poland to oversee Ukrainian aid
In his role as the Chairman of the powerful House Armed Services Committee, Congressman Mike Rogers led a Congressional Delegation (CODEL) to Romania and Poland to conduct oversight of the U.S. aid being sent to Ukraine. U.S. Reps. John Garamendi (D-California), Donald Norcross (D-New Jersey), Lisa McClain (R-Michigan), Andrew Clyde (R-Georgia), Nicole Malliotakis (R-New York), Mark Alford (R-Missouri), and Chairman Rogers released a statement following their trip. “The American people have every right to know that U.S. military equipment donated to Ukraine is being used for its intended purpose – Ukraine’s fight for national survival,” Rogers et al. said. “As a bipartisan Congressional delegation, we traveled to Poland and Romania to conduct oversight of this process. We came away with a clear understanding of the various safeguards the U.S. government, in partnership with the Ukrainians and other nations, have put in place to ensure each article is accounted for and tracked to the frontline of the war.” “We traveled to the International Donation Collection Center in Poland to see firsthand the accounting and tracking practices which provide accurate counts of shipments into Ukraine,” the congressional members continued. “While there, we also met with General [Antonio] Aguto and the Department of Defense’s Security Assistance Group Ukraine, who provided us with a comprehensive briefing which detailed how the U.S. tracks our donations directly to the frontline. We left that briefing confident in our ability to track U.S. equipment from the moment it leaves our possession and makes it into the hands of Ukrainian warfighters.” “We also relayed the concerns of Americans with the following message: should we confirm that any defense articles are siphoned off, diverted, or missing the flow of U.S. equipment would cease to be tenable,” Rogers and the group continued. “Our job of oversight is not done, and we will continue to monitor U.S. equipment flowing into Ukraine.” There have been some unsubstantiated reports that some of the first-world weaponry the United States and its allies have sent to Ukraine has found its way to international black markets arms dealers. On Sunday, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that the U.S. has no timeline for the end of American support to Ukraine. “We don’t know; we would like to see it end now,” Kirby said in an interview on “Fox News Sunday.” “As [President Biden] has said … we’re going to support Ukraine for as long as it takes, and he means that. As long as it takes.” The U.S. has sent $110 million to Ukraine, including 155 mm Paladin self-propelled howitzers, Stryker armored vehicles, Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, HMARS multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS), and even M1 Abrams main battle tanks. Congressman Michael McCaul (R-Texas), who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, called for sending Ukraine F16 fighter jets. “We need to throw/ everything we can into this fight so that they can win, and [Volodymyr] Zelenskyy is going to tell us that soon, as well,” McCaul said. “He had a speech at the conference saying the same thing. And I think the momentum is building for this to happen.” “I hope so,” McCaul said when asked if the U.S. would send Ukraine the fighter jets. President Joe Biden will also travel to Poland to meet with allies on the Ukraine situation. Kirby said that Biden has no plans to personally enter Ukraine. “We obviously are maintaining a high degree of solidarity with the Ukrainian people,” Kirby said. “The United States leads the world in terms of contributions, whether it’s humanitarian assistance or military weapons to Ukraine, and we’re going to continue to use our convening power, to marshall the world, to galvanize support for Ukraine, but there are no plans for the president to enter Ukraine on this trip,” On Sunday U.S, Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned that China is considering supplying weaponry to aid Russia in its war in Ukraine. Mike Rogers is in his eleventh term representing Alabama’s Third Congressional District. To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com.
Lawsuit: Mentally ill man froze to death in Alabama jail
A mentally ill man froze to death at an Alabama jail, according to a lawsuit filed by the man’s family, who say he was kept naked in a concrete cell and believe he was also placed in a freezer or other frigid environment. Anthony Don Mitchell, 33, arrived at a hospital emergency room with a body temperature of 72 degrees (22 degrees Celsius) and was pronounced dead hours later, according to the lawsuit. He was brought to the hospital on January 26 from the Walker County Jail, where he’d been incarcerated for two weeks. An emergency room doctor, who tried unsuccessfully to revive Mitchell, wrote, “I do believe hypothermia was the ultimate cause of his death,” according to the lawsuit filed Monday by Mitchell’s mother in federal court. Mitchell, who had a history of drug addiction, was arrested on January 12 after a cousin asked authorities to do a welfare check on him because he was rambling about portals to heaven and hell in his home and appeared to be suffering a mental breakdown. Jail video shows Mitchell was kept naked in a concrete-floored isolation cell, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit speculates that Mitchell was also placed in the jail kitchen’s “walk-in freezer or similar frigid environment and left there for hours” because his body temperature was so low. “It is clear that Tony’s death was wrongful, the result of horrific, malicious abuse and mountains of deliberate indifference,” Jon C. Goldfarb, a lawyer representing the family, wrote in the lawsuit. “Numerous corrections officers and medical staff wandered over to his open cell door to spectate and be entertained by his condition.” The lawsuit also accuses the sheriff’s office of a cover-up. The sheriff’s office issued a statement after the death saying Mitchell “was alert and conscious when he left the facility.” Jail security footage provided to The Associated Press by lawyers for Mitchell’s mother shows officers carrying Mitchell’s limp body to a transport car, then putting him on the ground before placing him in the car. The suit names Walker County Sheriff Nick Smith and jail officers as defendants. Lawyers representing the Walker County Sheriff’s Office said it could not comment before the conclusion of a requested investigation. The sheriff’s office, following routine procedures, contacted the State Bureau of Investigation after Mitchell’s death to ask for the investigation, according to a statement from Jackson, Fikes & Brakefield. “The WCSO offers and extends its condolences to the family of Mr. Mitchell and asks for your support and patience for the men and women of the WCSO,” the firm wrote in the statement. A photo of Mitchell being arrested was posted by the sheriff’s office on its Facebook page, adding that Mitchell “brandished a handgun and fired at least one shot at deputies” before running into the woods. The photo shows Mitchell’s face is painted black. According to the lawsuit, officers told a family member that Mitchell said he spray painted his own face black in preparation to enter the portal to hell. An officer told family members they planned “to detox him and then ‘we’ll see how much of his brain is left,’ or words to that effect,” according to the suit. According to the lawsuit, a doctor wrote in emergency room notes that Mitchell was “unresponsive apneic and pulseless and cold to the touch” when he arrived. “I am not sure what circumstances the patient was held in incarceration, but it is difficult to understand a rectal temperature of 72° F 22° centigrade while someone is incarcerated in jail. The cause of his hypothermia is not clear. It is possible he had an underlying medical condition resulting in hypothermia. I do not know if he could have been exposed to a cold environment,” the lawsuit quotes the doctor as writing. Cameron Mixon, a spokesperson for Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, said the office is aware of the matter and it’s “being investigated by the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.” He said the office will ensure that any appropriate action is taken after the investigation is complete. The allegations of death by hypothermia come as the state prison system also faces a lawsuit over the death of a mentally ill man who “baked to death” in an overheated prison cell. Thomas Lee Rutledge died of hyperthermia on Dec. 7, 2020, at William E. Donaldson Correctional Facility in Bessemer. Rutledge had an internal temperature of 109 degrees when he was found unresponsive in the mental health cell, according to the suit filed by his sister. It names prison staff, wardens, and contractors as defendants. Republished with the permission of The Associated Press.
Jim Zeigler: Jimmy Carter as President vs. as ex-President
After several hospital stays, former President Jimmy Carter has entered hospice care at his home in Plains, Georgia. Hospice is often (but not always) comfort care as a person is dying. Carter, 98, is an example of a person whom I can disagree with politically while liking and admiring him as a human – and in Carter’s case, as a Christian and Bible teacher. In the divisive world we live in, it has become rare for us to be able to think, “I disagree with him politically, but he is a fine person and does a lot of good.” My impression of Carter as President was – weakness. He was weak in responding to the radical Islamicists. He was weak in protecting Americans taken hostage. The radical Islamicists sensed his weakness. They kept American hostages imprisoned until the day Carter left office. As Ronald Reagan was being inaugurated as President to follow Carter, our hostages were being released. And he gave away the Panama Canal. As an ex-President, Carter did a world of good. He was a leader – and a pretty good carpenter – in Habitat for Humanity. Hundreds of formerly homeless are now in homes built in part by Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter. While an ex-President, he taught his popular Sunday School class in Plains, Georgia, for over 40 years. Jimmy Carter and wife Rosalynn (pronounced rose-a-lynn) were a model for marital integrity. They were married in 1946 – 76 years of marriage. Wow. Jimmy Carter is the longest-living former President. Historians will likely say that Jimmy Carter did more as a former President than any except former President John Quincy Adams, who served in Congress for years until his dying day. Please be in prayer for President Carter, his wife, his family, and all who have loved him in his long life on this earth. He lived an abundant life. Jim Zeigler is the retired State Auditor of Alabama.
