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The latest report from the California High-Speed Rail Authority projects costs for the initial segment at $35 billion, which exceeds secured funding by $10 billion. Other segments of the system are likely to have their projected costs increase, too. The state hopes it will get more federal aid.

A source told The Ohio Star that her husband, a wildlife biologist and consultant for the federal forestry, received hundreds of calls on both Sunday and Monday from colleagues who say forestry workers have found hundreds of dead animals in Ohio’s parks. Several labs across the country have received specimens of whole minks, deer, elk, worms and livers of such animals and they are finding toxicities that are off the charts, she said.

The heads of a dozen US railroad unions said Wednesday that workers are getting sick at the site of the toxic Ohio train derailment. The meeting comes after labor leaders claimed that workers at the site of the Norfolk Southern derailment have fallen ill with “migraines and nausea.” “I have received reports that [Norfolk Southern] neither offered nor provided these workers with appropriate personal protective equipment, such as respirators that are designed to permit safely working around vinyl chloride, eye protection and protective clothing such as chemical retrain suits,” the American Rail System Federation wrote in a letter to Buttigieg...

train derailed in Clark County, Ohio, Saturday evening, Fox News Digital has confirmed. According to the Clark County Sheriff’s Office, emergency personnel and hazmat crews responded to the train derailment on State Route 41 and Gateway Boulevard near the Clark County Fairgrounds at about 5 p.m. It is not known if the train was carrying any freight at the time of the derailment. The Clark County Sheriff's Office confirmed the train was not a passenger train.

A private company that wants to build a high-speed rail line from Southern California to Las Vegas took a step toward construction on Thurdsay with the announcement of a labor agreement for the proposed project. Local ABC affiliate KABC-7 reported: Brightline, the company that will build the system, has announced a landmark labor agreement with the High-Speed Rail Labor Coalition, which is “compromised of 13 rail unions representing more than 160,000 freight, regional, commuter, and passenger railroad workers in the United States.” … The $10 billion investment is expected to create nearly 35,000 jobs during construction and over 1,000 permanent...

Prominent environmentalist Erin Brockovich hosted a packed town hall meeting in East Palestine, Ohio, Friday to relay information to local residents affected by a Norfolk Southern train derailment that released toxic chemicals into the town earlier this month. Brockovich and Mikel Watts, a trial lawyer, informed residents about the action they can consider as the town continues to rebuild itself after a controlled burn was conducted on derailed cars carrying chemicals including vinyl chloride and others associated with health hazards such as cancer.

OHIO'S MESSAGE TO TRUMP: 'Thank You for Not Forgetting About Us' [VIDEO]Ohioans are showing their gratitude.While on the ground in East Palestine former President and 2024 candidate Donald Trump was swarmed by residents who just wanted to say “thank you” for showing up.One resident asked Trump’s thoughts on Joe Biden not showing up.“It’s terrible,” Trump says, adding later that FEMA should have shown up a long time ago.Watch the clip above.

Just started speaking.......

In the video, Buttigieg skirts a series of questions from a reporter while walking on the street, referring to his comments to the media earlier in the day and noting that he was "taking some personal time" when approached. At the end of the clip, the Biden administration chief asks to take a picture of the reporter, Jennie Taer, of the Daily Caller. "I guess he didn't like that [I was asking him about the derailment] so he took a pic[ture] of me," she wrote. "I'm just doing my job, sir."

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro on Tuesday said that his office has made a criminal referral in response to the recent train derailment over the border in East Palestine, Ohio, and the aftereffects on the environment and nearby communities. Shapiro shared the information during a news conference in East Palestine with Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, EPA Administrator Michael Regan and other officials. A reporter had asked what actions the governors might take, such as penalizing Norfolk Southern, the rail company involved in the Feb. 3 derailment. "We've made a criminal referral to the acting attorney general in Pennsylvania to review and...

Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg was questioned Tuesday evening while walking in Washington, D.C. by Daily Caller reporter Jennie Taer who asked him about the toxic train wreck in East Palestine, Ohio. Buttigieg was walking with what appears to be his husband Chasten Buttigieg. Secretary Pete refused to answer Taer’s questions, save but one, repeatedly telling her to check out the “dozen” interviews he had already given today. When Taer persisted, Buttigieg informed her he was “taking some personal time”. He did say he was going to go to East Palestine but wouldn’t say when. Buttigieg creepily took a picture...

On Tuesday's "National Report," there is overwhelming sentiment that former President Donald Trump should not have been the first major official to go to East Palestine, Ohio, and that President Joe Biden should visit. NEWSMAX's Logan Ratick reports.

Union Pacific freight train derailed in Nebraska early on Tuesday, sparking an emergency response. Around 30 cars carrying coal jumped tracks three miles southeast of the town of Gothenburg at about 1.45am, officials said. Emergency hazmat teams rushed to the site of the crash. There were no reported injuries. Images posted to KNOP showed dozens of rail cars strewn along the tracks, alongside mounds of black coal. It was the fourth derailment involving a Union Pacific train in the area since May last year, KNOP reported. In a statement to Fox News, Union Pacific said a clean up operation was...

(CNN) - Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told reporters on Monday that he plans to visit East Palestine, Ohio, “when the time is right” and announced new efforts by his agency to improve rail safety in the wake of a train derailment that has left local residents questioning the safety of their soil, air and water. “I am very interested in getting to know the residents of East Palestine, hearing from them about how they’ve been impacted and communicating with them about the steps that we’re taking,” Buttigieg said on a Monday call, adding that he had referred to past common...

ransomnote: This video describes a grain supply chain issues with the country's main rail freight hub which have now worsened as a result of Union Pacific's railway embargo.ALL Shipments STOPPED -MAIN Artery for USA - Railways SHUT DOWN - Cars PILING UP | Patrick HumphreyGrain shipments had already been backing up (not delivered) since October (see chart).Now as of December 29, Union Pacific has announced an embargo which will deepen the supply chain problem with grain. Excerpt:The following excerpt sounds like "14 days to flatten the curve.... Here's a map of the Union Pacific hub impacted by the embargo; it...

The U.S. Senate voted Thursday to pass a resolution imposing a contract on freight rail workers but rejected a concurrent measure that would give workers seven guaranteed paid sick days. H.J. Resolution 100 passed the Senate by a margin of 80-15, surpassing the 60-vote threshold. The Biden Administration brokered a tentative deal in August between the unions and carriers, but rank-and-file members of four of the twelve unions in the deal rejected it. Paid sick leave for workers was a central hold-up to the deal moving forward.

President Biden on Thursday said he supports increasing paid leave accommodations for rail workers, but that it should be addressed separately from a congressional bill to avoid a work stoppage that he warned could cause a recession. “I think we’re going to get it done, but not within this agreement,” Biden said when asked if the rail workers deserve more than one day of paid sick leave. “We’re going to avoid the rail strike, keep the rails running, keep things moving, and I’m going to go back and we’re going to get paid leave, not just for rail workers, but...

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Thursday he will keep senators working in Washington until they pass legislation to avoid a nationwide rail strike, which he warned could begin disrupting the nation’s supply chain as soon as next week. “The Senate cannot leave until we get the job done and Democrats will keep working with Republicans to find a path forward that everyone can support,” he announced on the Senate floor. The Democratic leader began the so-called Rule 14 process on Wednesday evening to put a House-passed bill to avert the rail strike on the Senate calendar. The legislation...

The House on Wednesday passed a measure that would avert a national railroad strike by forcing the adoption of a tentative labor agreement. The vote was 290 to 137. House members also voted 221-207 to approve a separate proposal to provide railroad workers with seven days of paid sick leave, with Democrats in favor and nearly all Republicans opposed. Both measures now go to the Senate. A 1926 law gave Congress the power to intervene in railroad disputes that threaten to disrupt the economy. President Joe Biden on Monday called on Congress to step in–despite his usual pro-labor, pro-union stance–saying,...

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is urging Congress to come together in a bipartisan fashion to pass legislation to prevent a looming rail strike that would cripple the American economy, calling it the "best way forward" amid stalled labor negotiations between the major freight railroads and four hold-out unions. Buttigieg's comments came during a Tuesday evening interview with Fox News Digital at the Memphis International Airport, where he touted a $174 million investment from the Department of Transportation (DOT) for the production of de-icing pads at the facility "Where I hope to see it going is bipartisan cooperation...