A federal judge has approved a $600 million class-action settlement in the derailment of a train carrying hazardous chemicals last year in East Palestine.
The Norfolk-Southern train went off the rails in the Columbiana County village in February of 2023. Chemicals that leaked from the train and that were burned off in a pre-emptive move that was deemed unnecessary by the National Transportation Board contaminated the soil and water in and around the derailment site.
The story begins this week’s discussion of news on the “Sound of Ideas Reporters Roundtable.”
Democrats at the Ohio Statehouse are proposing a bill to make changes to the Ohio Ballot Board, which decides the language voters will see on ballot issues. Democrats claim the Republican-dominated board is too biased and is approving inaccurate summary language, including the recently approved language for Issue 1, the November ballot issue that would remove politicians from political mapmaking.
The team monitoring Cleveland's consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice will examine how the Cleveland Division of Police disciplines and promotes officers. The city has been under the terms of the consent decree since 2015 after the feds found reasonable cause to believe police engaged in excessive force, violating constitutional rights. The city must make progress toward repairing community trust before a federal judge releases it from the consent decree.
The Portage County Sheriff’s social media post criticizing immigrants and Kamala Harris supporters prompted the Board of Elections to decide not to use his department for election security. Sheriff Bruce Zuchowski, on his Facebook page, suggested people write down the addresses of supporters of Vice President Kamala Harris and called immigrants "human locusts." The board of elections voted 3 to 1 to remove the sheriff's department from providing security for in-person absentee voting because some perceived the post as voter intimidation.
A national nonprofit group that represents Haitian immigrants filed criminal charges against former President Donald Trump and Sen. JD Vance for comments they made about Haitian immigrants in Springfield. The Haitian Bridge Alliance says false and racist statements made by Trump and Vance about immigrants have resulted in bomb threats, widespread fear and disrupted public services. Both candidates have amplified unfounded claims that Haitian immigrants are eating pets in Springfield .
Two Republican lawmakers want to crack down on how imitation meat and egg products in Ohio are labeled. The bill would re-define what qualifies as a "misbranded" food in the Ohio Revised Code. It adds definitions for lab-grown and plant-based or even insect-based proteins. Any product containing those elements and descriptions such as egg, omelet, yolk, or burger would be classified as "misbranded." The bill would also generally disallow K-12 and Ohio colleges and universities from purchasing such products.
Guests:
-Matt Richmond, Criminal Justice Reporter, Ideastream Public Media
-Anna Huntsman, Akron-Canton Reporter, Ideastream Public Media
-Karen Kasler, Statehouse News Bureau Chief, Ohio Public Radio/TV
