Declarations

‘Not Our Friends’

“There were other victims in this cyber operation. … The Communist government in China are not our friends and are very active in conducting cyber espionage.”

— Nebraska Republican Congressman Don Bacon said on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, that the FBI had warned him that his emails were hacked by Chinese spies, with both personal and campaign messages compromised. He was told that the Chinese Communist Party had access to his accounts for about a month ending on June 16.

Delaware DOI Fights Back

“The department continues to regularly receive complaints advising that various members of the insurance industry, including insurers and brokers, have been responding to consumer inquiries related to premium rate increases by claiming that the Department has required an insurer to raise premium rates.”

— Reads a bulletin posted by the Delaware Department of Insurance on Aug. 7. The DOI said it is not forcing insurers to raise premiums and warned that anyone who says otherwise could lose their license and face fines of $10,000.

Ohio Plant Explosion

“This terrible tragedy could have been avoided if the employer followed well-known machine safety standards that are meant to prevent this type of explosion.”

— Explained OSHA Area Director Howard Eberts in Cleveland, Ohio, after an investigation into an explosion at I. Schumann & Co. LLC, a Beford, Ohio, foundry, that resulted in the death of a maintenance supervisor and injuries to 15 other employees, found the operator failed to protect workers from the hazard of steam explosions and proposed $62,500 in penalties.

Firefighters’ Cancer Risk

“Firefighters have a 9% higher risk of being diagnosed with cancer and a 14% higher risk of dying from cancer than the average American.”

— Florida CFO Jimmy Patronis said at a news conference announcing $50,000 in grants for three south Florida fire departments for the purchase of decontamination equipment. Florida firefighters are covered by a limited presumption if they are diagnosed with cancer, but some fire departments still need special cleaning systems to remove carcinogens from gear.

Texas vs. Shell

“This is a lawsuit to enforce Texas laws enacted to safeguard the state’s air resources, human health and the environment against pollution and to protect the quality of water in the state.”

— States a lawsuit filed in Travis County by the Texas attorney general’s office alleging air and water contamination and violations of state laws at a Houston-area petrochemical plant operated by Shell Oil. The state seeks more than $1 million, alleging a May 5 fire at the plant damaged the environment. A Shell spokesperson said the company is aware of the lawsuit but does not comment on pending litigation.

‘Not Ready for Prime Time’

“They are still not ready for prime time because of the way they have impacted our operations.”

— San Francisco Fire Department Chief Jeanine Nicholson said at a preliminary hearing about whether robotaxis should be approved to operate throughout San Francisco at all hours. Nicholson cited 55 written reports of the robotaxis interfering with emergency responses. Despite safety concerns expressed at the hearing, the state’s Public Utilities Commission ultimately voted to approve rival services from Cruise and Waymo to operate around-the-clock.