Midwest
Senior Trump official reveals visit that set ‘trajectory’ for election victory
A top Team Trump official disclosed the moment that “really set the campaign on a trajectory to victory” – the day President-elect Donald Trump arrived in Columbiana County, Ohio, to survey the East Palestine train derailment.
“The ripples from that day do not get enough attention,” White House communications director-designate Steven Cheung said on X, formerly Twitter, in retweeting an op-ed making that assertion.
In February 2023, a Norfolk-Southern train hauling caustic industrial chemicals – including vinyl chloride – derailed in a small community near the Pennsylvania border, causing immediate chaos and long-lasting, widespread damage to the region.
A controlled burn held shortly after the derailment released toxic phosgene into the air.
WHISTLEBLOWER ALLEGES MISTAKES IN INITIAL EAST PALESTINE DISASTER RESPONSE
Steven Cheung (inset) and Donald Trump. (Getty)
On February 23 – Ash Wednesday – Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, hosted Trump at the site, where the former and future president highlighted Americans “forgotten” by President Joe Biden – who had not yet shown up and would not visit for several more months.
The Republican mogul handed out “Trump”-branded water and met with local officials. Meanwhile, officials in both Ohio and Pennsylvania were also visibly working to hold the railroad accountable.
In his tweet, Cheung was responding to an op-ed by Pittsburgh-based Washington Examiner writer Selina Zito, who covered the crisis at the time.
Zito wrote that Trump’s arrival had happened at a political nadir for the Republican, following the 2022 midterm losses and amid a then-close presidential primary race with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
She noted in a tweet that it was Vance – his future running mate – who brought him to the site.
Trump’s mantra of “you are not forgotten” to Rust Belt residents too often forgotten by Washington helped change minds in the area, Zito wrote, quoting a local resident who said she had “switched parties because of the way he spoke directly to the concerns.”
“I have voted for him both times since then,” the woman, who owns an East Palestine farm, said.
TRUMP VISITS EAST PALESTINE, HANDS OUT TRUMP-WATER: ‘WE STAND WITH YOU’
Former President Donald Trump, with Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, departs after greeting supporters and touring water pumps at Little Beaver Creek during a visit to East Palestine, Ohio. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty)
Trump told residents that day that “in too many cases, your goodness and perseverance were met with indifference and betrayal.”
The disparity between Trump’s eagerness to “show up” and Biden’s apparent putting-off of a visit to East Palestine helped turn the tide in the Republican’s favor, the column continued.
“100%,” Cheung wrote in his tweet.
Trump’s former running mate, Mike Pence, also called out Biden at the time, saying he was “AWOL” and remarking to Fox News that the Delaware Democrat’s policies had “derailed the economy of East Palestine long before that train came through.”
On the Pennsylvania side of the line, both Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro and his then-former gubernatorial opponent, state Sen. Doug Mastriano, R-Gettysburg, also responded quickly to the derailment.
Shapiro lodged a criminal referral at the time, and Mastriano led hearings that hosted affected residents along the Ohio border wherein Norfolk-Southern CEO Alan Shaw notably no-showed.
“It is very disheartening to hear that these alleged delays and botched response approaches took place – especially since those in East Palestine, Ohio, and areas in my district here in Pennsylvania have been dealing with the aftermath of this derailment for over a year now,” state Sen. Elder Vogel Jr. told Fox News Digital at the time, after a whistleblower had spoken out about alleged mistakes from Biden’s EPA response – which the agency disputed.
Read the full article from Here
PLOVER, Wis. (WBAY) – Police in the western part of the state are spreading the word after someone stole over $95,000 worth of Milwaukee-brand tools. Police are concerned that they’ll be sold online or sold outside the state.
Milwaukee-brand tools were stolen from a trailer at a solar farm in Plover.
Police say there were 130 items, including more than 40 half-inch impact guns, multiple wire cutters, grease guns, 80 batteries, and a couple of small generators.
Investigators are warning that buyers who purchase stolen items can have them seized and could lose their money or even face criminal charges if they knew the property was stolen.
Copyright 2026 WBAY. All rights reserved.
Big Honking Truck Parade heads to Minneapolis
A ?cavalcade of wheels? will line Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis on Thursday, July 31, for the first-ever ?Minneapolis Moves: The Big Honking Truck Parade? featuring vehicles from fire engines to snowplows.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – Families can get up close to massive trucks and city vehicles as the Big Honking Truck Parade rolls back through Minneapolis on Thursday.
Big trucks take over Nicollet Mall
What we know:
The “Minneapolis Moves: The Big Honking Truck Parade” is set to line downtown with municipal, public safety, construction and big-wheel trucks in an effort to bring families together and highlight the people and equipment that keep the city running.
The event begins at 5 p.m. with a local vendor market featuring crafts and food. A parade then starts at 5:30 p.m., traveling down Nicollet Mall from East Grant Street to South Sixth Street.
Mayor Frey during the 2025 Big Honking Truck Parade. Credit: City of Minneapolis (Supplied)
Dig deeper:
The parade is said to feature City of Minneapolis cars, police and fire trucks, construction vehicles, semitrailers and more from local businesses and operators.
Two Minnesota Special Olympics athletes, Dequan Williams of Minneapolis and Niko Lichtscheidl of St. Francis will serve as grand marshals of the parade, ahead of the 2026 Special Olympics USA Games which officially kick off in Minnesota on Saturday.
After the parade, all vehicles will be parked along the Mall until 8 p.m. for a “touch-a-truck” experience, giving families a chance to explore the trucks up close.
According to officials, the parade route will:
- Begin at East Grant Street
- Travel down Nicollet Mall
- End at South Sixth Street
Hoping to expand upon its first year in 2025, the parade is said to feature City of Minneapolis cars, police and fire trucks, construction vehicles, semitrailers and more from local businesses and operators.
What they’re saying:
“The Big Honkin’ Truck Parade is one of those uniquely Minneapolis events that brings families together while showcasing the people and equipment that serve our city every day,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said in a press release. “It’s fun, it’s educational, and it’s a great reminder of all the work happening behind the scenes to keep Minneapolis running.”
The Source: Information provided by a City of Minneapolis press release.
The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission on June 17 gave AES the nod to raise electricity rates enough to earn an additional $71 million each year, a decision that drew reproof from Indiana lawmakers who called it another blow to cost-burdened consumers.
The approved rate represents less than half of the $192 million increase that AES initially requested. It’s also less than the $91 million increase proposed in an October settlement agreement between AES, the city of Indianapolis and major electricity consumers like Kroger and Walmart.
But the new rate is still significantly more than what the Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor, the state agency representing ratepayers in the case, recommended in September. The OUCC’s proposal would have capped AES’s annual operating revenue at $21 million less than the current level.
The rate increase authorizes AES to earn a total of nearly $2 billion each year, or an estimated $384 million in profit.
The higher base rate comes as a double whammy for Indianapolis-area households, who are already paying more for electricity this summer after AES temporarily raised rates to account for higher-than-anticipated fuel costs during last winter’s storms. The increase also arrives against the backdrop of inflation, which rose to a three-year high last month, and surging gas prices due to the war in Iran.
Gov. Mike Braun wrote in a Wednesday post to X that he was “deeply disappointed” by the IURC’s approval of the rate increase.
“Hoosiers have spent years tightening their belts and making tough financial decisions,” Braun wrote. “It’s time for utility companies to do the same.”
The IURC’s decision also drew fire from the other side of the aisle. In a June 17 news release, five Democrats representing Indianapolis in the state Senate – J.D. Ford, Andrea Hunley, La Keisha Jackson, Fady Qaddoura, and Greg Taylor – chastised Indiana’s Republican supermajority for failing to rein in rising utility costs.
“Hoosiers pay more. Monopoly utilities collect more. And the leaders in the super-majority who promise affordability over and over again show those are just empty words,” the news release said. “Instead, they continue to defend a system that takes more and more out of our paychecks.”
The consumer advocacy group Citizens Action Coalition also slammed the rate increase. Ben Inskeep, CAC’s program director, said the decision left him “less optimistic that this commission is willing to do things differently and to actually hold utilities accountable.”
He said the IURC should have penalized AES for issues that plagued customers after the utility updated its billing system in 2023, including duplicated withdrawals for the same monthly bill.
The rate increase will take effect in two phases, with rates going up in July 2026 and January 2027. AES officials anticipate the hikes “will be less than $5 per month per phase” for a household that uses 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per month, according to a Wednesday news release from the utility.
“The IURC’s decision reflects a thorough, transparent process and balances the need for continued investment in the electric system with a focus on customer affordability,” the news release stated.
Under a state law that Braun signed in February, AES cannot ask for another increase to its base rate until January 2030 — though electricity bills could still go up for other reasons, like the fuel adjustment charge hitting consumers this month.
Three members of the five-member IURC signed off on the rate increase: Andy Zay, David Veleta, and David Ziegner. Commissioner Bob Deig dissented. Commissioner Anthony Swinger recused himself from the decision because he worked on the AES rate case for the OUCC before he was appointed to the IURC by Braun in January.
“None of this was taken lightly,” Zay, the IURC’s chair, said at the Wednesday hearing, adding that the commission and its staff had carefully weighed concerns about affordability. The commissioners did not go into further detail at the hearing.
But the commission’s order shows some of the debates that played out during the rate case. One point of contention was AES’s authorized return on equity — that is, how much the utility can earn each year in profits. Other disputes hinged on how AES forecasts its operating expenses.
The OUCC accused AES of including more than 100 “phantom hires,” vacant positions it did not necessarily intend to fill in its calculations. Last year, AES said that the rising costs of vegetation management, or trimming trees around power lines, also drove the need to raise rates. The OUCC recommended keeping vegetation management costs flat.
One factor that’s not driving higher prices? Data centers.
AES does not currently provide service to any data centers and did not include them in its calculations, AES president Brandi Davis-Handy said in testimony before the IURC.
Tilly Robinson is a Pulliam fellow for the Indianapolis Star. She can be reached at tilly.robinson@indystar.com.
-
Boston, MA5 minutes ago
Boston Bruins are retiring Patrice Bergeron’s No. 37 next season
-
Denver, CO12 minutes agoBroncos make decision on tryout quarterback, sign 2 players
-
Seattle, WA15 minutes agoFox Soccer broadcast coming to Seattle waterfront ahead of US game
-
San Diego, CA27 minutes agoSan Diego begins installing parking meters in San Ysidro business district
-
Milwaukee, WI30 minutes ago$95,000 worth of Milwaukee tools stolen in Plover
-
Atlanta, GA35 minutes agoStaycations Are Trending: Atlanta Events Worth Staying Home For In June
-
Minneapolis, MN42 minutes agoMinneapolis Big Honking Truck Parade returns to Nicollet Mall on June 18
-
Indianapolis, IN44 minutes agoIndiana regulators approve $71 million rate increase for AES
