Free Republic

Finally, some good news this week about lawmakers. The governor of Maryland, Wes Moore, signed into law a bill that decriminalizes HIV. Specifically, the bill repeals an old law that made it a crime to “knowingly transfer or attempt to transfer” HIV to another individual.

HOUSTON, Texas — A janitor who worked in a Texas medical facility was sentenced this week to six years in prison after he spread sexually transmitted diseases by peeing in women’s water bottles. The man infected at least 13 women. Prosecutors in Houston charged Lucio Catarino Diaz, 57, with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after he peed or spread other bodily fluids on water bottles being provided to women and a Houston area medical office building. This week, he pleaded guilty to one count and received a light sentence of six years in state prison. The remaining cases involving...

Two sick patients suspected to be infected with Ebola were taken from an Upper East Side urgent care to the hospital by first responders in hazmat suits Sunday morning, law enforcement sources told The Post. The patients were transported from a City MD on East 125th Street and Lexington Avenue by first responders wearing hazmat suits, the sources said. According to the sources, the patients are suspected to be infected with Ebola because they traveled from Uganda and had symptoms of the disease but there had been no tests to confirm the presence of the disease.

USA: One person was killed and four were injured after a freight train hit a truck standing on the tracks in the city of Pecos, Texas. As a result of the impact, the train derailed and hit buildings.

On Friday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Faulkner Focus,” Belleville, NJ, Mayor Michael Melham stated that the state of New Jersey gave them guidance that day that if a drone is downed “we’re immediately to call the bomb squad of our county, and, second, our fire department has been instructed to make sure they wear HAZMAT suits” like it’s an attack on the homeland. Melham stated, “On the way here, I was on the phone with my OEM team and we now have guidance coming from the state. And that guidance does say two different things. First of all,...

A Tesla big rig that caught fire has both directions of California's Interstate 80 closed in the Sierra Nevada on Monday morning. Cal Fire crews confirmed that they responded to the scene for an electric big rig fire around 3 a.m. near Emigrant Gap. California Highway Patrol later confirmed they are dealing with a hazardous materials situation.... First responders say that the batteries of the electric big rig were still burning more than four hours later.... "The battery itself, you can't just spray water on it to put it out. It takes either some sort of dry chemical or very...

Former President Donald Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., had an unexpected surprise Monday after he was sent a letter containing white powder and a note with a death threat, causing a hazmat unit and firefighters to arrive at his Florida home. “It’s just become a little bit too commonplace that this sort of stuff happens,” Donald Trump Jr. told the Daily Caller. “Clearly, if this happened to a prominent Democrat it wouldn’t be tolerated and would drive news coverage for weeks. The media would blame all Republicans and force them to answer for it, But since it’s me, radical haters...

WHITEMARSH TOWNSHIP, Pa. - Emergency crews are responding to the scene of a train derailment in Montgomery County. According to authorities, cars on a CSX Norfolk Southern train derailed in the area of Stenton Avenue, Flourtown Road and Joshua Road in Whitemarsh Township just after 5 a.m. on Monday. Sources told FOX 29 that 15 to 20 cars believed to be carrying hazardous materials derailed in the area, prompting a Level 2 hazmat response. Police later said the only material leaking out of the train cars was silicone pellets, which pose no threat to the public.

Electric car owners face soaring insurance and repair costs over fears the vehicles could explode after being in even minor collisions. Damaged EVs must be 'quarantined' 15 metres apart from other cars in repair shops due to the risk of battery fires under government guidelines – driving up the price for mechanics and insurers. A lack of suitable repair shops and EV trained mechanics risks increasing costs to the insurance industry by more than £600million, which could be passed on to drivers. As more battery-powered vehicles take to the road insurers will need to spend an additional £900million per year,...

When we first heard the story of a hazmat situation and the White House being evacuated on Sunday, we were told by the media that they’d found cocaine hydrochloride “near the White House.” Then it was described as being on the White House complex. That could be anywhere, including on the grounds. It was also described as “cocaine hydrochloride,” with suggestions it could be an anesthetic.Then came the report that it was in the White House library, which is on the ground floor of the executive mansion, according to the Washington Post.But now the Secret Service is contradicting that report...

At first, it was scary: A bag of white powder was found in the White House’s West Wing, causing the Secret Service to do a partial evacuation. However, once it became known that the white powder in the White House was cocaine, that opened the way to some interesting questions. Is there a Biden staffer (or more than one) who uses cocaine while working for a person who is theoretically the most powerful man in the world? Or has Hunter Biden, an acknowledged serious drug addict who’s allegedly “clean” and who’s been hanging around the White House lately, relapsed? The...

The White House grounds were evacuated on Sunday due to the discovery of an initially unidentified package. “U.S. Secret Service Uniform Division Officers located an unknown item on the White House complex,” a Secret Service spokesman confirmed. “As a precaution, the White House grounds were evacuated, and the DC Fire Departments Hazmat team responded. Curiously, there hasn’t been a lot of news coverage of this incident. This seems odd because the evacuation of the White House and the response of a Hazmat team seems like a significant story. It’s true that the item was eventually deemed to be “non-hazardous” by...

The White House grounds were evacuated Sunday after the U.S. Secret Service (USSS) discovered an "unknown item." "U.S. Secret Service Uniform Division Officers located an unknown item on the White House complex," a USSS spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

Briahna Joy Gray and Robby Soave react to news that a train that was carrying hazardous materials was derailed near Detroit.

Hazmat teams with the Riverside County Fire Department were working to clear an unknown, caustic substance at a recycling center in the 2200 block of Via Cerro in Jurupa Valley. When first responders arrived, they found one person on the ground and were informed that the situation was a hazardous materials spill within the building. When hazmat teams made entry into the recycling center, they found a substance in the bottom of a container that tested positive for an unknown caustic material. “It probably off gassed as they opened it up and the gentleman was standing right there. So, he...

A HAZMAT team responded to Harvill and Old Oleander avenues after a large plume from railcar was reported just before 7:45 p.m. Thursday, Cal Fire Division Chief John Crater said during a news conference Friday morning. Wind gusts helped spread the initial plume until it covered a two-mile area over the city of Perris, Crater said. The leaking chemical in the railcar tank was identified to be styrene, which is used to make foam products for commercial purposes. Crater consulted with experts who told him that heat building in the railcar could still cause a release. “Meaning some sort of...

Federal authorities in Seattle on Monday charged two women with a terrorist attack on train tracks, suggesting they were working with an anarchist community to stand in solidarity with a Native American tribe to oppose the construction of a natural gas pipeline across the Canadian province of British Columbia by trying to derail trains in Washington state.Samantha Frances Brooks, 27, and Ellen Brennan Reiche, 23, were arrested Saturday night in Bellingham, located in Whatcom County, which borders Canada, as they allegedly placed “shunts” on Burlington Northern Santa Fe tracks, according to a complaint filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in...

The Biden administration has affirmed a Trump administration interpretation of high-level radioactive waste that is based on the waste’s radioactivity rather than how it was produced. The U.S. Department of Energy announcement last week means some radioactive waste from nuclear weapons production stored in Idaho, Washington and South Carolina could be reclassified and moved for permanent storage elsewhere.... ...The Biden administration's affirmation of the new interpretation came after various groups offered letters of support and opposition to the agency after Biden became president, leading to the notice in the Federal Register making clear where the administration stood....

That you’re not supposed to do this should go without saying — but MTA bosses believe they need a rule explicitly banning defecating on the subway. The new rule is on the agenda for an MTA meeting Wednesday. The rule will ban defecating on the city’s subways, buses and transit facilities. Transit rules previously mandated $100 fines for straphangers who "create a nuisance, hazard, or unsanitary condition (including, but not limited to, spitting or urinating).” Creating an “unsanitary condition” surely includes pooping — but MTA officials think they have to be more specific.

When the clerk told the man he needed one, police said he walked over and said "Here, I will use this as a mask" before wiping his face and nose on the face of the clerk's shirt. Footage released by the Holly Police Department shows the man walking to the clerk and wiping his nose and face on her shirt. Police said the man “continued to be loud and disruptive inside the store” before he left in a white van.