Articles by Josh Funk

Norfolk Southern Looks to Others to Share Blame in February Derailment

Norfolk Southern says the owner of the rail car that caused the fiery Ohio derailment in February failed to properly maintain it in the years before the crash, and the railroad wants to make sure that company and the owners …

Firefighters Struggled to Identify the Toxic Freight in Ohio Train Derailment, Chiefs Say

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – Firefighters who responded to February’s fiery train derailment in Ohio struggled to immediately identify the hazardous chemicals the train was hauling due to a lack of communication from the railroad, officials said Thursday. During a public …

Federal Regulators Promise Safety Review at all the Major Freight Railroads

The Federal Railroad Administration recently completed a review of Norfolk Southern’s safety culture in the wake of the February’s fiery derailment in Ohio, and officials plan to follow up with similar investigations of all the major freight railroads over the …

Firm That Employed Children to Clean Meat Plants Keeps Losing Work

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – The slaughterhouse cleaning company that was found to be employing more than 100 children to help sanitize dangerous razor-sharp cutting equipment like bone saws has continued to lose contracts with the major meat producers since the …

Norfolk Southern Estimates That Ohio Derailment Cost $387M

Norfolk Southern expects February’s fiery Ohio derailment to cost it $387 million, but that total will likely increase over time and that doesn’t reflect how much the railroad’s insurance companies will eventually cover. The railroad provided a detailed estimate of …

Buffett Says People Shouldn’t Worry About Berkshire, Banks

Billionaire Warren Buffett assured investors Wednesday that Berkshire Hathaway will be fine when he’s no longer around to lead the conglomerate. Buffett said shareholders shouldn’t worry about the future of the company after Vice Chairman Greg Abel takes over because …

Safety Agency Opens Probe of Norfolk Southern Rail Accidents

Federal investigators are opening a wide-ranging investigation into one of the nation’s biggest railroads following a fiery derailment on the Ohio-Pennsylvania border last month and several other accidents involving Norfolk Southern, including the The National Transportation Safety Board said on …

Bird Flu Costs Pile Up as Outbreak Enters Second Year

The ongoing bird flu outbreak has cost the government roughly $661 million and added to consumers’ pain at the grocery store after more than 58 million birds were slaughtered to limit the spread of the virus. In addition to the …

Bird Flu Outbreak Prompts Slaughter of 1.8M Chickens in Nebraska

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – Nebraska agriculture officials say another 1.8 million chickens must be killed after bird flu was found on a farm in the latest sign that the outbreak that has already prompted the slaughter of more than 50 …

Disqualified for Disabilities, Railroad Workers Push Back

After Terrence Hersey had a stroke on the way home from his railroad job in 2015, he underwent months of therapy to learn how to put words together in sentences and learn to walk again. He had to relearn how …