National

Ohio crews conducted the controlled release of toxic chemicals into the air on Monday from five train cars involved in a derailment in East Palestine.

The latest: "The controlled breach of several rail cars has been completed successfully under the supervision of experts and first responders," per a Monday night statement from Norfolk Southern Railroad, which was overseeing the release.

"Some of the material is now burning off consistent with expectations from the earlier models, and is expected to drain for a short number of hours," Norfolk Southern said.

Company officials will keep monitoring air quality with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and remediation work "can now safely continue," the statement added.

The big picture: The 50-car freight train was carrying hazardous materials when it derailed near Pennsylvania around 9pm Friday and caused a fire, AP reports.

Gov. Mike DeWine (R) ordered evacuations within a one by two-mile area of the site of the derailed train ahead of Monday's release. He also activated the Ohio National Guard on Sunday to assist local authorities. 

"The vinyl chloride contents of five rail cars are currently unstable and could potentially explode, causing deadly disbursement of shrapnel and toxic fumes," DeWine's office said in the order.

The controlled release was designed to reduce the threat of a potentially deadly explosion, officials said. Norfolk Southern Railroad said the release involved "the burning of the rail cars' chemicals."

Of note: About half of the 4,800 residents in East Palestine were warned to leave over the weekend before the controlled release was planned, AP reports.

Most individuals had already left the affected areas before the release began, according to DeWine's office. 

Meanwhile, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) urged residents within a one mile radius of East Palestine to "evacuate immediately" on Monday and the local sheriff's office said anyone who remained in the affected area could be arrested for misconduct during an emergency. 

It was not immediately clear when residents could return home.

What we're watching: The National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the incident, said the three-member train crew received an alert about a mechanical issue and applied an emergency brake just before the derailment.

Federal investigators said it's possible that a problem with a railcar axle was the main cause.

Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional details throughout.

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Ohio crews release toxic chemicals from derailed train

The controlled release was designed to reduce the threat of a potentially deadly explosion, officials said.

Smoke rises from a derailed cargo train in East Palestine, Ohio, on Feb. 4. Photo: Dustin Franz/AFP via Getty Images

Ohio

Transportation

<a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Ohio" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/columbus" data-vars-content-id="06d7960c-9b22-463a-9a81-0c371d3f7b95" data-vars-headline="Ohio crews release toxic chemicals from derailed train" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/columbus" target="_self">Ohio</a> crews conducted the controlled release of toxic chemicals into the air on Monday from five train cars involved in a derailment in East Palestine.The latest: &quot;The controlled breach of several rail cars has been completed successfully under the supervision of experts and first responders,&quot; per a Monday night <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="statement" data-vars-click-url="https://nscorp.mediaroom.com/derailment-updates" data-vars-content-id="06d7960c-9b22-463a-9a81-0c371d3f7b95" data-vars-headline="Ohio crews release toxic chemicals from derailed train" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://nscorp.mediaroom.com/derailment-updates" target="_blank">statement</a> from Norfolk Southern Railroad, which was overseeing the release.

Ominous forecasts about the impact of climate change serve as the backdrop for the world — led by U.S. lawmakers and companies — to debate big action on the problem, which could upend energy systems and our way of life.

Energy & Environment

After a record economic expansion, the coronavirus pandemic sent the U.S. economy into a recession as unemployment soared to staggering heights. The country now faces urgent questions about how much stimulus is needed for reeling consumers and businesses, and what a recovery might look like.

Economy & Business

President Biden has made the COVID-19 crisis and a post-Trump return to national unity and traditional democratic ideals his top priorities. From vaccinations to stimulus to schools, Biden is seeking bipartisan compromise while showing a willingness to use executive authority and bare Democratic majorities in the U.S. House and Senate to implement his policies. Republican leaders are navigating deep party divisions over if and how to move beyond former President Trump.

Politics & Policy

California children will no longer need the COVID-19 vaccine to attend school, state officials announced Friday.

The big picture: Almost all of California's COVID-19 restrictions have ended, and the state's emergency declaration will end on Feb. 28.

Catch up quick: Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced the mandate in 2021, saying it would apply to 6.7 million public and private schoolchildren.

The mandate — the country's first K-12 vaccine mandate — was delayed until 2023 while waiting for regulatory approval. 

Of note: California was also the first state to formally move toward an "endemic" approach to the coronavirus.

What they're saying: A California Department of Public Health spokesperson told Axios that the state's SMARTER Plan continues to provide an adequate framework for the COVID pandemic, which lead to the decision to end the emergency declaration.

"CDPH is not currently exploring emergency rulemaking to add COVID-19 vaccinations to the list of required school vaccinations."

The department still strongly recommends the immunization of students and staff: "COVID-19 immunization is an important tool for keeping our kids healthy and schools open."

Mobile vaccination services will remain available for K-12 schools, CDPH said.

The governor's office did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment.

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California no longer pursuing K-12 COVID vaccine mandate

The decision is a reversal of a state policy first issued in 2021.

Illustration of a stack of wooden toy blocks showing a syringe, a COVID cell and a cotton swab. 

COVID-19

<a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="California children" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/san-francisco/2022/08/17/california-kids-covid-omicron-pandemic" data-vars-content-id="9e44e2ef-c7a7-437c-88f6-4914b0a15d01" data-vars-headline="California no longer pursuing K-12 COVID vaccine mandate" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/san-francisco/2022/08/17/california-kids-covid-omicron-pandemic" target="_self">California children</a> will no longer need the COVID-19 vaccine to attend school, state officials announced Friday.The big picture: Almost all of California&#x27;s COVID-19 <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="restrictions have ended" data-vars-click-url="https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/OPA/Pages/NR22-027.aspx" data-vars-content-id="9e44e2ef-c7a7-437c-88f6-4914b0a15d01" data-vars-headline="California no longer pursuing K-12 COVID vaccine mandate" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/OPA/Pages/NR22-027.aspx" target="_blank">restrictions have ended</a>, and the state&#x27;s <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="emergency declaration" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2022/10/18/california-state-of-emergency-february-end-newsom" data-vars-content-id="9e44e2ef-c7a7-437c-88f6-4914b0a15d01" data-vars-headline="California no longer pursuing K-12 COVID vaccine mandate" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2022/10/18/california-state-of-emergency-february-end-newsom" target="_self">emergency declaration</a> will end on Feb. 28.

A New York man pleaded guilty Wednesday to making threatening phone calls to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), federal prosecutors announced. 

The big picture: Violence and threats against lawmakers and other elected officials have surged over the past several years. U.S. Capitol Police recorded more than 9,000 threats against Congress members last year alone.

Greene was last year subject to "swatting" incidents, which are fake emergency calls to 911 operators, who in violent situations will dispatch armed SWAT teams.

Details: Per a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office in New York,  Joseph F. Morelli admitted that he called the congresswoman's office on March 3, 2022, saying: "I'm gonna have to take your life into my own hands … I'm gonna hurt you. Physically, I’m gonna harm you.”

Prosecutors said Morelli, 51, from Endicott, left a voicemail message later that day that said he would show Greene "what violence truly is," adding that he would pay "someone 500 bucks to take a baseball bat and crack your skull," according to the U.S. Attorney's Office statement.

Morelli left a third message later that day that said he believed Greene would "cause people to get hurt." He reiterated that he would physically harm her or pay someone to and acknowledged the legal consequences. 

What's next: Morelli is scheduled to be sentenced on June 1. 

He faces up to five years in prison with a three-year supervised release and $250,000 in fines, per the U.S. Attorney's Office.

New York man admits leaving Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene voicemail threats

"I'm gonna hurt you. Physically, I’m gonna harm you.”

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene looks off into the distance.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green (R-Ga.) speaks to reporters outside the U.S. Capitol Building on Jan. 27. Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Marjorie Taylor Greene

A New York man pleaded guilty Wednesday to making threatening phone calls to <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2023/01/25/democrats-mccarthy-marjorie-taylor-greene-covid" data-vars-content-id="b9531c4c-629d-42d4-8798-56e0ed21bc84" data-vars-headline="New York man admits leaving Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene voicemail threats" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2023/01/25/democrats-mccarthy-marjorie-taylor-greene-covid" target="_self">Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene</a> (R-Ga.), federal prosecutors announced. The big picture: Violence and <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="threats against lawmakers" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2022/06/22/capitol-police-threats-congress" data-vars-content-id="b9531c4c-629d-42d4-8798-56e0ed21bc84" data-vars-headline="New York man admits leaving Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene voicemail threats" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2022/06/22/capitol-police-threats-congress" target="_self">threats against lawmakers</a> and other <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="elected officials" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2023/01/31/new-mexico-shootings-democrats-homes-solomon-pena-indicted" data-vars-content-id="b9531c4c-629d-42d4-8798-56e0ed21bc84" data-vars-headline="New York man admits leaving Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene voicemail threats" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2023/01/31/new-mexico-shootings-democrats-homes-solomon-pena-indicted" target="_self">elected officials</a> have surged over the past several years. U.S. Capitol Police recorded <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="more than 9,000 threats" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2022/12/19/9000-threats-lawmakers-congress-2022" data-vars-content-id="b9531c4c-629d-42d4-8798-56e0ed21bc84" data-vars-headline="New York man admits leaving Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene voicemail threats" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2022/12/19/9000-threats-lawmakers-congress-2022" target="_self">more than 9,000 threats</a> against Congress members last year alone.

A federal judge sentenced a U.S. Marine Corps veteran to more than five years in prison on Wednesday for assaulting police officers with chemical spray during the Capitol insurrection, per multiple reports.

Driving the news: Daniel Ray Caldwell, 51, had pleaded guilty in September to assaulting law enforcement officers with a dangerous weapon during the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, per the U.S. Department of Justice.

A man identified as Daniel Caldwell "spraying a mist at police" on the U.S. Capitol steps, according to the Justice Department. 

A man identified as Daniel Caldwell "spraying a mist at police" on the U.S. Capitol steps, according to the U.S. Justice Department. Photo: U.S. Justice Department

Details: U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly sentenced Caldwell, who's from Dallas suburb The Colony, to 68 months in prison and ordered him to pay $2,000 in restitution for damages sustained at the Capitol, per WUSA9.

Prosecutors said Caldwell showed no remorse. His attorney argued his client had been remorseful, and that he is a "proud disabled military veteran" and what unfolded at the Capitol did not "define him as a person," according to the outlet.

Kollar-Kotelly called the spraying of the officers during the insurrection "intense" and said it impacted the line officers' physical and psychological trauma, Politico reported.

"You were an insurrectionist," Kollar-Kotelly told Caldwell, per Politico.

The big picture: More than 950 people have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the Capitol breach, including 284 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, according to the DOJ.

Nearly 40% of Jan. 6 defendants received prison sentences.

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Marine vet gets 5 years in prison for assaulting officer at Capitol riot

Daniel Ray Caldwell pleaded guilty last year to assaulting law enforcement officers with a dangerous weapon.

Demonstrators swarm the U.S. Capitol building during a protest in Washington, D.C.., on Jan. 6, 2021. Photo: Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Jan. 6

A federal judge sentenced a U.S. Marine Corps veteran to more than five years in prison on Wednesday for assaulting police officers with chemical spray during the <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Capitol insurrection" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2022/01/06/capitol-riot-january-6-anniversary" data-vars-content-id="cf6badab-0177-4e04-94aa-acbccd5c059b" data-vars-headline="Marine vet gets 5 years in prison for assaulting officer at Capitol riot" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2022/01/06/capitol-riot-january-6-anniversary" target="_self">Capitol insurrection</a>, per multiple <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="reports" data-vars-click-url="https://twitter.com/MacFarlaneNews/status/1620837016614346752" data-vars-content-id="cf6badab-0177-4e04-94aa-acbccd5c059b" data-vars-headline="Marine vet gets 5 years in prison for assaulting officer at Capitol riot" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://twitter.com/MacFarlaneNews/status/1620837016614346752" target="_blank">reports</a>.Driving the news: Daniel Ray Caldwell, 51, had pleaded guilty in September to assaulting law enforcement officers with a dangerous weapon during the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, per the <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="U.S. Department of Justice" data-vars-click-url="https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/texas-man-pleads-guilty-assaulting-officers-dangerous-weapon-during-jan-6-capitol-breach" data-vars-content-id="cf6badab-0177-4e04-94aa-acbccd5c059b" data-vars-headline="Marine vet gets 5 years in prison for assaulting officer at Capitol riot" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/texas-man-pleads-guilty-assaulting-officers-dangerous-weapon-during-jan-6-capitol-breach" target="_blank">U.S. Department of Justice</a>.

The late Cuban American singer Celia Cruz will soon feature on the U.S. quarter in honor of her "significant impact" on the country, the United States Mint announced.

Why it matters: Cruz, widely known as the "Queen of Salsa," will be the first Afro-Latina woman to appear on the U.S. quarter.  

Driving the news: The U.S. Mint chose Cruz and four other women for its 2024 American Women Quarters Program, according to a statement issued last week. 

Per the Mint, the others are: Patsy Takemoto Mink, the first woman of color in Congress; Mary Edwards Walker, a Civil War-era surgeon and women's rights advocate; Pauli Murray, a civil rights activist, lawyer; and Zitkala-Ša, a writer, composer, educator and political activist for Native Americans.

What's next: The federal agency will release designs for the new quarters in mid-2023.

The big picture: Born in Havana in 1925, Cruz was one of the most popular Latin music artists of the 20th century.

She recorded over 80 albums and earned numerous awards — including a National Medal of Arts, multiple Grammy awards and a posthumous Lifetime Achievement Grammy. 

What they're saying: “All of the women being honored have lived remarkable and multi-faceted lives, and have made a significant impact on our Nation in their own unique way,” Mint Director Ventris Gibson said in a statement. 

Celia Cruz to be first Afro-Latina woman to appear on U.S. quarter

The iconic late singer recorded over 80 albums and earned numerous awards.

Cuban singer Celia Cruz performs at the North Sea Jazz Festival in the Hague, Netherlands, in 1999. Photo: Frans Schellekens/Redferns

Treasury Department

The late Cuban American singer <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Celia Cruz" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/miami/2022/09/15/celia-cruz-nft-wig" data-vars-content-id="da785a29-02b8-4792-ae87-4f58d86aced3" data-vars-headline="Celia Cruz to be first Afro-Latina woman to appear on U.S. quarter" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/miami/2022/09/15/celia-cruz-nft-wig" target="_self">Celia Cruz</a> will soon feature on the U.S. quarter in honor of her &quot;significant impact&quot; on the country, the United States Mint announced.Why it matters: Cruz, widely known as the &quot;Queen of Salsa,&quot; will be the first Afro-Latina woman to appear on the <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="U.S. quarter" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2022/01/10/maya-angeou-quarters-mint" data-vars-content-id="da785a29-02b8-4792-ae87-4f58d86aced3" data-vars-headline="Celia Cruz to be first Afro-Latina woman to appear on U.S. quarter" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2022/01/10/maya-angeou-quarters-mint" target="_self">U.S. quarter</a>.

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Stories

Celia Cruz to be first Afro-Latina woman to appear on U.S. quarter

Ohio crews release toxic chemicals from derailed train

California no longer pursuing K-12 COVID vaccine mandate

New York man admits leaving Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene voicemail threats

Marine vet gets 5 years in prison for assaulting officer at Capitol riot