Ohio

Ohio residents hurt in Norfolk Southern freight train derailment can now get $25,000 each from $600 million settlement

Published

6 months ago

July 31, 2024

Ohio residents hurt in Norfolk Southern freight train derailment can now get ,000 each from 0 million settlement

The lawyers who negotiated the deal have increased the estimated injury payment from the original $10,000 because they now have more information about how many claims there will be. One of the plaintiffs’ attorneys, Adam Gomez, said the original estimate was conservative to ensure that no one will receive less than they were promised as part of the settlement.

“We are not looking to over promise and under deliver in any way shape or form to the class,” Gomez said.

The lawyers plan to hold a Zoom call for residents Thursday evening to explain why the health payment is increasing and why they believe it is the right amount.

That payment for health problems is on top of the up to $70,000 households can receive for property damage. But to get the injury payment, residents who live within ten miles of where the train derailed have to agree before the Aug. 22 deadline to give up the right to sue the railroad or anyone else involved down the road even if they develop cancer or other serious health conditions later.

The biggest property damage payments of $70,000 per household are limited to people who lived within two miles of the derailment. The payments get much smaller toward the outer edge of the 20-mile radius that’s covered in the settlement.

The personal injury payments are only available to people who lived within ten miles of the derailment.

For the folks in East Palestine who are worried about the possibility of developing cancer or another serious health condition down the road like Jami Wallace even $25,000 seems way too low. She thinks residents’ health claims are likely worth way more than that.

Gomez said that the settlement is primarily designed to address only the short-term health impacts that residents have seen since the derailment because the courts won’t allow them to try to cover future health problems.

But the lawyers hired their own toxicologists and testing experts to try and determine what kind of long-term risks the community faces from the cocktail of chemicals that spilled and burned after the train derailment along with the vinyl chloride that was intentionally released and burned three days after the crash.

Gomez said the evidence they gathered about the chemicals that spilled and how long people were exposed to them suggests there may not be a rash of terrible illnesses in the future.

“In fact, we do not think that there is, support in that data for any significant increase in the number of additional cancers or other illnesses in East Palestine or the surrounding communities,” Gomez said.

But Wallace and others in town may not be ready to believe that because of what she has heard from other chemical experts and the doctors who are studying the health problems residents have reported.

“I have letters written from multiple toxicologists that have credentials longer than your arm that’ll say there’s definitely a huge health risk in the future,” Wallace said.

But Gomez cautioned that anyone who opts out of the class action settlement now should consider the difficult road they would face in bringing their own lawsuit later. He said it will likely be difficult that something like cancer was caused by the derailment because the disease can be caused by other factors.

The National Transportation Safety Board said that the East Palestine derailment, which was the worst rail disaster in the past decade, was caused by an overheating bearing on one of the cars on the train that wasn’t detected soon enough by the network of detectors the railroad has alongside the tracks.

The head of the NTSB also said that the five tank cars filled with vinyl chloride didn’t need to be blown open to prevent an explosion because they were actually starting to cool off even though the fire continued to burn around them.

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Look: Kirk Herbstreit gets emotional on TV after Ohio State wins national championship

Published

55 minutes ago

January 21, 2025

Press Room

Look: Kirk Herbstreit gets emotional on TV after Ohio State wins national championship

Kirk Herbstreit is as professional as it comes when he calls college football games for ESPN.

However, the former Ohio State football quarterback could not control his emotions after the Buckeyes’ 34-23 win over Notre Dame in Monday’s College Football Playoff national championship game. In a segment with ESPN Sportscenter’s Scott Van Pelt, Herbstreit got emotional when talking about the national championship for the Buckeyes.

Buy Ohio State CFP championship books, posters, gear

“Don’t start with me, man. I am a little emotional,” Herbstreit said. “I’m just fired up for these guys. When I call these games, I am incredibly objective, and I love all these Ohio State teams, but this team, because of what they went through to get to this point, is just happy. Just happy for them.”

Van Pelt asked fellow commentator Chris Fowler a question to allow Herbstreit to collect himself. Then, he appeared back on screen with a napkin and wiped the tears away from his face.

The Buckeyes were denied a chance to play in the Big Ten Conference championship game after a major upset loss to rival Michigan in the final week of the regular season. However, Ohio State bounced back with four straight wins, including a win over No. 1 Oregon, to win the national championship.

Herbstreit attended Centerville High School in Centerville, Ohio, and played for the Buckeyes from 1989 to 1993. In his senior season, he earned a starting role and led the Buckeyes to the Florida Citrus Bowl. Herbstreit’s father, Jim Herbstreit, was a co-captain on the 1960 Ohio State team and later became an assistant coach.

With Monday’s win, the Buckeyes clinched their first national championship since 2014, the first year of the 4-team CFP. Monday’s championship game concluded the first version of the 12-team CFP.

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Matt Painter Details No. 11 Purdue’s ‘Tough’ Matchup vs. Ohio State

Published

9 hours ago

January 20, 2025

Press Room

Matt Painter Details No. 11 Purdue’s ‘Tough’ Matchup vs. Ohio State

After a two-game road trip to the West Coast, No. 11 Purdue has a quick turnaround, hosting Ohio State at Mackey Arena on Tuesday. Boilermakers coach Matt Painter says that, despite the Buckeyes’ record, he expects a really tough game in West Lafayette.

Purdue enters the game on a seven-game winning streak, winning six of those by double digits. Ohio State, on the other hand, has dropped each of its last three games, losing by a combined five points.

While the Buckeyes have had some late-game errors that have cost them, Painter said Jake Diebler and his staff are bring an extremely talented team to Mackey Arena.

“They’re 2-5 in our league and they’re three possessions away from being 5-2. I think you’ve got to keep that in perspective,” Painter said. “The games they’ve lost, the last one (to Indiana) in overtime, and the other ones could have went either way.

“They’re a very good team, Bruce Thornton is very talented, (John) Mobley (Jr.) is a guy you have to be aware of at all times.”

Four Buckeyes enter Tuesday night’s contest averaging double digits. Thornton is the leader, posting 17.4 points per game while shooting 52.6% from the floor and 41.1% from 3-point range.

His physical style of play and ability to knock down shots anywhere on the court could cause some problems for Purdue’s defense.

“He can get to his kill spots. He’s shifty, he’s quick, but he’s also physical,” Painter said. “He can get to the basket, he can make pull-up threes, but he can also get into the paint, jump stop and make that reverse pivot shot where he fades away and knocks that down. He also plays off his shot fake and draws fouls.

“Just a versatile guard. A versatile lead guard who is good at distributing the ball, but also being aggressive and scoring.”

Devin Royal — who missed last week’s game against Indiana — is averaging 13.8 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. Mobley is scoring 12.5 per game and Micah Parris is adding 10.5 per contest. In other words, Ohio State has a lot of weapons.

Purdue’s defense has been stifling recently, holding each of its last seven opponents to 68 points or less. The Boilermakers are also forcing turnovers at a much higher rate, with opponents giving the ball up 14.6 times per game in the last seven contests.

It’s going to take another strong defensive effort from Purdue to try and quiet an Ohio State offense that has plenty of scorers on the floor.

“Across the board, they have a good team. They have good athleticism on their front line, good size, they have depth,” Painter said. “It’s going to be a tough game.”

KAUFMAN-RENN EARNS NATIONAL HONOR: Purdue junior forward Trey Kaufman-Renn was named the Naismith Men’s College Player of the Week after leading the Boilers to wins over Washington and Oregon. CLICK HERE

PURDUE JUMPS IN LATEST AP POLL: After wins over Washington and Oregon to extend its winning streak to seven games, Purdue jumped up six spots to No. 11 in the latest Associated Press poll. CLICK HERE

BRADEN SMITH MIDSEASON ALL-AMERICAN: Purdue guard Braden Smith has been tabbed as a midseason first-team All-American by FOX. He’s averaging 15.1 points, 8.9 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 2.4 steals. CLICK HERE

PAINTER GETS MAJOR SHOUTOUT: FOX college basketball broadcaster John Fanta is giving Purdue coach Matt Painter incredible praise for the job he’s done with the 2024-25 Boilermakers so far. CLICK HERE

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Why did Chip Kelly leave UCLA for Ohio State? Explaining head coach to assistant move

Published

17 hours ago

January 20, 2025

Press Room

Why did Chip Kelly leave UCLA for Ohio State? Explaining head coach to assistant move

Ohio State football and coach Ryan Day made a coaching hire splash in the offseason, when it hired former UCLA coach Chip Kelly as offensive coordinator.

It was an interesting move for Kelly, who decided he’d rather be the offensive coordinator at Ohio State than the head coach at UCLA, a position he held from 2018-23.

Day and Kelly have history, which made the move make sense, as Kelly was Day’s offensive coordinator when Day was New Hampshire’s quarterback from 1998-2001. Day was also the quarterbacks coach for the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers when Kelly was an NFL head coach.

Day’s first coaching job as New Hampshire’s tight ends coach in 2002 was also under Kelly’s offense.

Kelly, who won three Pac-12 championships and led Oregon to the 2011 national championship, is among the most experienced offensive minds in all of college football.

Here’s why Kelly left UCLA for Ohio State ahead of the 2024-25 season:

Why did Chip Kelly leave UCLA for Ohio State?

Kelly explained his decision to move from UCLA head coach to assistant at Ohio State in his first spring with the Buckeyes in March.

Kelly, who hadn’t been an assistant being the offensive coordinator at Oregon in 2008, coached UCLA’s quarterbacks for the Bruins’ LA Bowl matchup with Boise State, after Ryan Gunderson left to be the offensive coordinator at Oregon State.

He said being a position coach reinvigorated his love for football.

“I actually coached the quarterbacks for the bowl game, and I just started to think, like I hadn’t actually coached a position since 2008,” Kelly told reporters in his introductory press conference. “I think my wife remarked, she was like, ‘I haven’t seen you this happy in a long time.’ And, to me, the best part of football is football. And so, you got to do football, and not do some of the things involved with the head coaching deal.”

Kelly then said he started looking into possible opportunities to be an assistant coach again.

“So I started to look into, ‘Is there an opportunity?’” Kelly said. “And it would have had to been the right spot to go somewhere and just coach a position again and be back with that group.”

Kelly has been the head coach at Oregon and UCLA, and also the NFL’s Eagles and 49ers since he last stint as an assistant.

Of course, it would’ve taken one of the top assistant roles in college football to likely lure Kelly away from UCLA, which Ohio State provided. It’s unclear what some of the things with head coaching were that turned Kelly away from the Bruins, however, with the current age of college football in recruiting, name, image and likeness and also leading UCLA into a new conference, it likely took a toll on Kelly’s time.

Kelly said being a head coach in the current era of college football requires being a “CEO.”

“I just want to be happy. And I’m really happy coaching the position,” Kelly said. “Really happy to be at this place. It would have taken a special place for me to leave UCLA, because I love those players and I love that coaching staff, but to be here with Ryan, had a great relationship, I’ve known Ryan since he was a little kid. So, I think a lot of things just fell into place that way.”

Kelly took the job that was previously filled by Bill O’Brien during the offseason, but O’Brien never actually coached the Buckeyes as he turned around and took the head coaching position at Boston College, leaving the opportunity open for Kelly.

“Sometimes I do a lot of things other people don’t do,” Kelly said with a laugh. “I don’t know if that’s right or wrong.”

Chip Kelly contract

According to USA TODAY’s assistant coaches’ salary database, Kelly is the eighth-highest paid assistant in college football, making $2 million this year.

He also can make up to $940,000 in bonuses.

Chip Kelly buyout

Ohio State paid UCLA $1.5 million to hire him as offensive coordinator, according to USA TODAY’s salary database. Ohio State also paid an undetermined amount to reduce the tax impact on Kelly.

Kelly signed a contract extension with the Bruins in 2023, which would’ve paid him $6.1 million in 2024.

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