Pa. lawmakers subpoena Norfolk Southern in Ohio derailment probe
HARRISBURG, Pa. — A state Senate committee voted Wednesday to subpoena Norfolk Southern’s chief executive to appear before the panel, after a bipartisan outpouring of frustration over a lack of information and testing data following last month’s catastrophic train derailment across the border in East Palestine, Ohio.
The Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee voted 9-1 to issue the subpoena to CEO Alan Shaw after several lawmakers railed about the plight of residents in Beaver County and nearby portions of Ohio around East Palestine, where the Norfolk Southern train carrying toxic chemicals derailed Feb. 3.
State Sen. Doug Mastriano, R-Franklin, said residents haven’t been given reliable information about what they might have been exposed to since the derailment and the subsequent controlled release of vinyl chloride from overturned tanker cars. He said people and animals in the area continue to show signs of poor health.
“The people of western Pennsylvania want answers,” said Mastriano, the committee’s chairman. “I think this is going to get worse.”
Norfolk Southern did not immediately respond to an email and phone message seeking comment.
—Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Florida bill seeks death penalty for child rapists
TAMPA, Fla. — Acting on a proposal from Gov. Ron DeSantis, Florida lawmakers filed legislation Wednesday to allow the death penalty for adults convicted of sexual battery of children younger than 12.
The bills would put Florida at odds with prior U.S. Supreme Court precedent saying that capital punishment can be applied only in the case of murder. But the bill sponsors — state Sen. Jonathan Martin, R-Fort Myers, and state Rep. Jessica Baker, R-Jacksonville — appear to be seeking a challenge of prior rulings.
A 2008 Supreme Court case, Kennedy v. Louisiana, and a 1981 Florida Supreme Court case were “wrongly decided and an egregious infringement of the states’ power to punish the most heinous of crimes,” the bills’ text reads.
Florida statutes already say sexual battery of a child under 12 is a capital felony, but it has been effectively moot because of Supreme Court rulings barring the death penalty in such cases. The bills filed Wednesday say it’s the Legislature’s intent that the procedure in the statute, allowing for capital punishment, be followed.
—Tampa Bay Times
Yosemite breaks decades-old snowfall record, closing park indefinitely
Cabin roofs at Yosemite National Park are almost completely covered with snow. In the Yosemite Valley, snow accumulation broke a 54-year-old daily record — by multiple inches.
The historic snowfall in the Sierra Nevada from back-to-back winter storms has closed the world-famous park indefinitely while rangers and park staffers work to respond to the epic snowpack.
"In all of my years here, this is the most snow that I've ever seen at one time," said Scott Gediman, a spokesperson for Yosemite and ranger for 27 years. "This is the most any of us have ever seen."
The park known for its impressive granite formations and stunning waterfalls initially announced Saturday it would close because of severe winter weather, with plans to reopen by Thursday. But after additional snowfall through early Wednesday, officials for the national park announced it would remain closed, without a specific date to reopen.
As of late Tuesday, officials measured 40 inches of snow in the Yosemite Valley — among the park's lowest elevations — setting a record for the date, Gediman said. The previous record on the valley floor had been set at 36 inches on Feb. 28, 1969.
—Los Angeles Times
US requests extradition of El Chapo’s son, Ovidio Guzmán
The United States has requested that Mexico extradite Ovidio Guzmán, son of notorious crime boss Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán, so that he can face criminal charges in the U.S. for trafficking cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana.
Guzmán — who also goes by El Raton — was arrested last month after a night of deadly violence near the city of Culiacan in the northern state of Sinaloa, where his father’s still-thriving drug enterprise is headquartered. He’s accused of helping run the infamous Sinaloa cartel ever since El Chapo was handed over to the United States in 2017.
The kingpin is currently serving a life sentence at a high-security facility in Colorado for trafficking hundreds of tons of drugs into the country over the course of nearly three decades.
The U.S. Embassy in Mexico City has presented the extradition request to the foreign ministry and attorney general’s office, according to a Mexican government spokesman, who did not want to be named.
—New York Daily News
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