From the Trenches World Report
Enforce our Bill of Rights
PORT NECHES, Texas (AP) — Three workers were injured early Wednesday in a massive explosion at a Texas chemical plant that also blew out the windows and doors of nearby homes.
The fire continued to burn Wednesday morning at the TPC Group plant, after the blast sent a large plume of smoke that stretched for miles. All employees have been accounted for, TPC said in confirming the three injuries. Continue reading “3 injured as Texas plant explosion releases chemical plume”
Carlsbad Currant-Argus – by Adrian Hedden
The federal Bureau of Land Management is accepting public input for two weeks on a sale of public-land leases to the oil and gas industry for fossil fuel development in southeast New Mexico.
The public scoping period was schedule to begin on Nov. 25, until Dec. 9, seeking comments on the environmental impacts of the nominated parcels and potential alternatives. Continue reading “BLM: Oil and gas lease sale offers 112 land parcels in New Mexico, Texas”
The drug lord who succeeded El Chapo has spent a decade infiltrating his drug operation in the US, a new investigation has found.
Officially Reuben ‘Nemesio’ Oseguera Cervantes, and better known as ‘El Mencho’, the ruthless leader of Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion has managed to bring his illegal narcotics into 35 states, according to the findings of the probe. Continue reading “Mexican drug lord El Mencho’s empire has set up cells in small towns in 35 states”
A Colorado school district dealing with an “unprecedented spread of illness” has closed the doors to every one of its more than 40 schools.
Mesa County Valley School District 51, the 14th-largest school district in Colorado, according to the district’s website, announced on Wednesday that all of its schools will be closed until after Thanksgiving break is over on Dec. 2. Continue reading “Colorado’s Mesa County Valley School District 51 is closing all its schools amid ‘unprecedented’ illness outbreak”
The House judiciary committee will debate and vote Wednesday on a bill to award multiple amnesties to the agriculture industry’s large illegal-immigrant workforce.
The “Farm Workforce Modernization Act of 2019” would also convert swathes of rural America into cheap-labor, low-tech company towns. The bill would allow employers to hire from the unlimited inflow of H-2A visa-workers whose low wages will be capped by government officials working hand-in-glove with cheap-labor employers — so leaving many Americans unemployed or underpaid in their own community. Continue reading “Democrats Set Wednesday Vote for Amnesty and Company-Town Economy”
A 20-year-old man in the country illegally who was street-racing when he crashed into a car in Oregon, killing a woman, was able to flee to Mexico after local authorities did not honor an immigration detainer, according to federal officials.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said in a news release on Tuesday that Alejandro Maldonado-Hernandez was arrested on July 12 in connection with the fatal car crash that killed Janice Ator and seriously injured her husband, Patrick Ator. Continue reading “Illegal immigrant arrested in deadly Oregon crash fled to Mexico after jail didn’t honor ICE hold request”
(Bloomberg) — In the end, the unraveling economics of U.S. coal proved too much for even a giant among power generators to handle.
At 12:09 p.m. local time on Monday — after churning out electricity for almost five decades — the largest coal-fired power plant in the western U.S. permanently closed, becoming the latest testament to the fossil fuel’s decline. Once a flash point in President Donald Trump’s campaign to save America’s coal industry, the Navajo complex in the Arizona desert will now spend the next three years being dismantled and decommissioned. Continue reading “A Massive Coal Plant That Asked for Trump’s Help Has Gone Dark”
In honor of Veterans Day, the Oklahoma State football program (OSU) is rolling out a new set of military-style uniforms during their game against the University of Kansas on Saturday.
The team has partnered with Nike on developing custom design uniforms to commemorate all those who have served in the armed forces, according to a team news release – with the team Twitter account announcing, “Saturday is for the troops.” Continue reading “Oklahoma State football team honors veterans with military style uniforms”
The generational wealth gap has widened to historic levels, according to a recent study comparing millennial earnings to older generations’, according to CNBC.
When adjusted for inflation, millennials earn 20% less than baby boomers did at the same stage in their careers, according to the study, entitled “the Emerging Millennial Wealth Gap”. Median incomes for workers aged 18 to 34 are way down from their levels in the 1980s. The disparity is nothing new: Other studies have arrived at a similar conclusion. Despite being the most well-educated generation of all time (aside from Gen Z, probably), millennials earn comparatively less than their older peers did during similar periods. Continue reading “Even With Better Education, Millennials Earn 20% Less Than Baby Boomers, Study Finds”
At least two people were injured in a shooting in the stands of a high school football game in Pleasantville, New Jersey on Friday, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
In a game between Pleasantville and Camden, several shots could be heard ringing out in the bleachers during a punt play in the game’s third quarter. No players or referees were hurt, according to one of the teams’ coaches. Continue reading “At least two injured in shooting at New Jersey high school football game”
The teenager who shot five fellow students in a 16-second killing rampage at a Southern California high school has died, authorities announced Friday night.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said Nathaniel Tennosuke Berhow died at about 3:30 p.m. Friday at a hospital with his mother nearby. Berhow had been in critical condition after shooting himself following the rampage, which killed two other students. Continue reading “Teen gunman who killed two in shooting rampage at California high school dies in hospital”
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Attorney General William Barr announced a new initiative Wednesday that would better enforce the U.S. gun background check system, coordinate state and federal gun cases and ensure prosecutors quickly update databases to show when a defendant can’t possess a firearm because of mental health issues.
The push, known as Project Guardian, was unveiled at a news conference in Memphis, Tennessee, alongside officials from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, on the same day public impeachment hearings against President Donald Trump began in Washington. Continue reading “Justice Dept. rolls out new program to combat gun violence”
An apparent step-up of receipt and shopping bag checks at Walmart has sparked customer complaints, raising concerns about shoppers’ rights.
“It was not a request, it was a demand,” said Penny Rintoul of Vaughan, Ont., about a recent receipt check just before she exited Walmart with her purchases. She said her local Walmart increased its checks in the spring. Continue reading “‘Treated as a criminal’: Walmart receipt and bag checks anger customers. Your rights explained”
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The FBI has begun a corruption investigation into how Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration came to issue permits for construction on a multibillion-dollar pipeline project to carry highly volatile natural gas liquids across Pennsylvania, The Associated Press has learned.
FBI agents have interviewed current or former state employees in recent weeks about the Mariner East project and the construction permits, according to three people who have direct knowledge of the agents’ line of questioning. Continue reading “FBI eyes how Pennsylvania approved pipeline”
(Reuters) – A federal judge on Tuesday struck down the Trump administration’s effort to allow blueprints for making guns from 3-D printers to be posted online.
U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik said the State Department violated federal law by letting Defense Distributed, a Texas-based nonprofit, publish downloadable blueprints for the untraceable, undetectable, mainly plastic firearms, as part of a June 2018 legal settlement. Continue reading “Judge blocks White House from allowing downloads of 3-D printed gun blueprints”
Militants in Gaza sent a barrage of at least 50 rockets over the border into Tel Aviv early Tuesday, vowing further revenge after the Israeli military carried out a pair of targeted airstrikes on senior Islamic jihad commanders in Gaza and in Syria.
“The response to this crime will have no limits,” Islamic Jihad said in a statement. Continue reading “Gaza militants fire rockets into Israel after Islamic jihad leader killed”
Chilling new details are emerging in the case of Adrienne Quintal, who’s been missing since she called a friend for help while visiting a remote cabin in the woods of northern Michigan last month.
On Oct. 17, Quintal, 47, a mother of one from Warren, was at her family’s cabin in Honor, in Benzie County, near Lake Michigan, when she called a friend at 2:34 a.m. saying she needed help, the Benzie County Sheriff’s Office says in a new release. Continue reading “Mich. Woman Who Vanished From Cabin Was in Shootout with 2 Men Before Calling Friend for Help: Police”
A 21-year old protester was shot by police with a live round and a pro-China man was set on fire as Hong Kong woke up Monday to chaos on its streets.
Protesters, answering an online call, attempted to disrupt the Monday morning commute all across the city with what they dubbed as “Operation Dawn.” Groups of protesters fanned out across the city setting up blockades and vandalizing subways stations and intersections. Continue reading “Hong Kong protester shot by police while a pro-China man is set on fire”
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran has discovered a new oil field in the country’s south with over 50 billion barrels of crude, its president said Sunday, a find that could boost the country’s proven reserves by a third as it struggles to sell energy abroad over U.S. sanctions.
The announcement by Hassan Rouhani comes as Iran faces crushing American sanctions after the U.S. pulled out of its nuclear deal with world powers last year. Continue reading “Iran’s president: New oil field found with over 50 billion barrels”
An employee of a Buffalo Wild Wings in Massachusetts died and 10 others were hospitalized Thursday night after being exposed to a floor cleaner inside the restaurant.
Just after 5:30 p.m. Thursday, emergency responders in Burlington were called to the scene following the report of a “sick individual and a potential chemical release,” interim Fire Chief Michael Patterson told reporters in a video from the scene. Continue reading “Buffalo Wild Wings employee dies after exposure to ‘common’ cleaning agent, 10 others hospitalized”