Author: Fox News

An Alaska school board member stood up against the vice president as he attempted to shut down a dad speaking out against sexually explicit materials in school libraries. 

“We hear so much about diversity, inclusion and equity and how it’s one of the… main objectives of the school board in the school district,” the dad, Jay McDonald, said at an Anchorage school board meeting on Feb. 7. 

“We don’t often see specific examples of what diversity, inclusion and equity looks like, though. So today I brought an excellent representation. This is like the archetype of diversity, inclusion, equity material that it’s one of the books that was just recently purchased for our libraries,” he continued. 

The example of diversity, equity and inclusion the father raised was a book with pornographic imagery and sex advice called “Let’s Talk About it.” In one example, the book unpacks “kinks, fantasies, and porn.”

“Let’s Talk About it,” a book in Anchorage, Alaska, school district libraries, says, “There’s nothing wrong with enjoying some porn, it’s a fun sugary treat.” (Fox News Digital | respective author | iStock)

“There’s nothing wrong with enjoying some porn, it’s a fun sugary treat,” the book said. “When consumed right, porn can help you discover new aspects of your sexuality.”

“A great place to research fantasies and kinks safely is on the internet,” the book said. “There’s tons of people and communities out there who share your interests and have all kinds of advice.”

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The dad read from the portion of the book which provided tips to kids on sending naked pictures to their peers. 

“This is a book for kids!” the dad said. 

“So before you start sending your naughty masterpieces around the world, take some time to get friendly with photo editing, software and apps,” the book stated. 

“So before you start sending your naughty masterpieces around the world, take some time to get friendly with photo editing, software and apps,” the book said. (iStock)

At that point the vice president of the board, Carl Jacobs, interrupted the father. Jacobs demanded McDonald stop his comments against the book.

“I’m going to interrupt you at this point. Just sounds like you have a concern about a book, I’d be glad to get connected to the superintendent or team to go through the appropriate processes,” he said. 

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Carl Jacobs, left, and Dave Donley butt heads over silencing a dad during the public comment portion of a school board meeting. (Fox News Digital | Anchorage School District)

The dad replied, “I’d appreciate if you don’t interrupt my time.” 

After Jacobs maintained the dad could no longer speak about the book, one of his board member colleagues – Dave Donley – spoke out against his decision. 

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“Mr. President, I don’t think he’s violated any rules. I mean, he hasn’t used… bad words.” 

The two exchanged a back and forth before Donley appealed Jacob’s ruling, which brought the decision to a 5-2 vote. The majority voted against the father speaking. 

School board members Jacobs, Pat Higgins, Margo Bellamy, Kelly Lessen and Dora Wilson voted to silence the father. Donley and Andy Holleman voted against the decision. 

Jay McDonald speaks to Fox News Digital about books in Anchorage libraries. (Fox News Digital)

Fox News Digital reached out to the school board members about their vote but did not immediately receive a response. 

The father told Fox News that he yanked his kids from the district’s schools, and currently homeschool them. He wants to alert parents about the materials available to their kids.

His daughter has already learned about gender identity when she was in kindergarten and first grade, he said.

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“We came to realize that they had already been talking to her at that point about the gender stuff,” he said, “It sounds harmless and innocuous, but… what it does in their little minds, it’s very confusing to them. And I’m glad that we got her out of school when we did.”

He continued, “It’s not about one book or two books or ten books. This is a much larger push. They’re pushing critical gender theory on kids starting in elementary school. They’re encouraging them to get what they call ‘gender creative,’ and they’re transitioning them in the public schools, and they’re doing it without prior notification or consent from the parents. And in some cases they never tell the parents. So I’m encouraging people, like if you’re not able to homeschool, please just sit down with your kids and talk to them about what they hear in school.”

During his recent State of the Union address, President Joe Biden shamelessly lied to the American people about the priorities of the House Republican Conference in the 118th Congress. His sorry accusations – while entirely predictable – couldn’t be farther from the truth. In our Commitment to America, House Republicans pledged that we would protect and strengthen Social Security and Medicare so that our seniors can retire with dignity and live long, healthy lives. Ironically, the only person who has approved steep cuts to Medicare this year is none other than President Joe Biden himself. 

According to a notice from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Biden administration has proposed an average 2.3 percent payment cut to Medicare Advantage, which would slash more than $4.7 billion from this vital program that serves over 30 million American seniors. This reckless decision would force insurance companies to suspend coverage for millions of Medicare Advantage beneficiaries and withdraw from the marketplace altogether, inevitably increasing premiums, out-of-pocket costs, and deductibles.

The basic laws of economic theory posit that fewer choices result in higher costs. The healthcare ecosystem is no different. By increasing operational costs for health insurers, our seniors will suffer from subpar care, endure longer wait times, and perhaps even lose their favorite doctor – a scary preview of the ills of socialized healthcare.

However, President Biden’s overt cuts to Medicare are not the only threats facing our seniors. Willfully ignorant to the ramifications of his wasteful agenda, he flooded our economy with $6 trillion in new government spending that fueled record inflation and sharply increased spending on Social Security; an adjustment our seniors absolutely need in this poor economy. Now, our Medicare and Social Security trust funds face insolvency far earlier than originally projected. 

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Even worse, record inflation also increases our interest payments on our $31 trillion debt, which diverts scarce dollars from replenishing these depleted trust funds to financing our interest obligations – not even touching the principal amount. Ultimately, between significant advancements in healthcare research and improvements in life expectancy as a result, we must safeguard every dollar possible to fund vital healthcare services for our seniors. Government waste only exacerbates the hefty challenges of this critical task.

Complicating the already dire situation, the Biden administration also paid able-bodied workers to stay home and collect a paycheck long after the COVID-19 pandemic had subsided. This ill-advised policy discouraged capable individuals from re-entering the workforce and contributed to our distressing trust fund drought. At one point, as many as 46 million Americans received unemployment benefits during the pandemic, which undoubtedly strained the long-term solvency of our Medicare and Social Security trust funds. Additionally, according to the inspector general of the Labor Department, roughly $191 billion in unemployment claims were fraudulently dispersed.

This astonishing figure accounts for over half the amount that the federal government spends on Medicare Advantage annually. To reverse this trend, we need to reward hard work through a simpler, fairer tax code, prevent taxpayer dollars from subsidizing laziness, and hold criminals who defraud American taxpayers accountable. For the president’s awareness, these are commonsense initiatives that Republicans proudly support.

President Biden can lie all he wants about Republican priorities, but he can’t change the facts. At his direction, our nation’s seniors will face serious Medicare cuts that jeopardize their health and wellbeing. In the House Republican Conference, our promise is ironclad. We will strengthen Social Security and Medicare for our seniors while ending wasteful spending, combating inflation, and curbing our debt crisis. America’s seniors can rest assured knowing that House Republicans will always protect their hard-earned benefits. It’s exactly what they deserve.

Podcaster Joe Rogan joked that catering to the feelings of the “lazy and fat” is part of the Democratic Party’s strategy in Wednesday’s episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience.”

After talking about how the very concept of freedom has been derided by some liberals as a far-right concept, writer and standup comedian Bridget Phetasy asked, “Aren’t they connecting being healthy to the far-right now?”

Phetasy continued, “I’ve seen so many articles that are like ‘oh the far-right obsession with being in shape,’ like it’s a bad thing somehow.”

Rogan agreed and observed, “There’s a giant percentage of our population that is really lazy and fat, and if you want those people on your team you have to say, ‘There’s nothing wrong with being lazy and fat, in fact; not being lazy and fat is actually connected to misogyny, racism, and fascism, and the far right’ – so people are like, ‘Great, let’s just eat donuts and just f***ing vote blue.'”

Podcast host Joe Rogan speaks with writer and comedian Bridget Phetasy.

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Phetasy argued that there are lazy and fat people on both sides of politics, saying, “That’s why I always joke that America is too fat for a civil war.”

Rogan made a distinction between overweight people who are lazy and those who work hard but make unhealthy diet choices.

He went on to argue that the American left is more on the political side of the lazy, “Well, who is pushing for universal basic income? Who is pushing for redistribution of wealth? That’s all the people on the left.”

Rogan has slammed people for defending unhealthy dietary choices before.

A Twitter account went viral recently for claiming that the term “obese” is a slur against fat people. (iStock)

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He called out “fat professors” during a December conversation with fitness influencer Derek of the “More Plates, More Dates” YouTube channel, “F— off fat professors, f— off, you guys are unhealthy, it’s not in any way good.” 

In that episode, the two appeared to reference a document from the University of British Columbia defending the removal of nutritional information from menus because putting the number of calories next to an item can be “triggering” for some students.

One of the many consequences of the lockdown amid the COVID-19 pandemic was skyrocketing obesity across multiple demographics in the American populace. 

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Rogan also recalled a viral video showing a female professor “talking about [how] avoiding certain foods is just ‘fatphobic’ and ‘it’s not based in science.’” 

He also recalled the woman saying, “You shouldn’t deny yourself donuts” and “to call some food ‘junk food’ is incorrect.”

Rebel Wilson is one of the co-founders launching a new dating app called “Fluid,” which she said is for people in the market for “love without labels” and is inspired by her own experience in relationships and dating. 

“This is the first dating app where you don’t have to actually define yourself or tick a box to say ‘I’m straight, I’m gay, I’m bisexual,’ and you don’t have to describe what you are looking for,” Wilson told People. “It’s kind of love with no labels.”

The 42-year-old actress is in a relationship with girlfriend Ramona Agruma and is also a new mom to 3-month-old daughter Royce who was born via surrogate. 

“Fluid” is different from existing apps which “don’t take into account this kind of movement of sexual fluidity,” she said. 

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“I’ve been reading and studying a lot while doing this app,” she told People. “I think sexuality is so complex and nuanced than just saying straight or gay. I like the word fluid. I still don’t know 100 percent what category I would fit in. I’m just in a great same-sex relationship now, and it’s awesome.”

Wilson explained the app’s algorithm “just picks up who you are jiving with” and is “open enough that if your sexuality moves into a different direction, it will follow.” 

Wilson never thought she was 100 percent straight, but that she also didn’t know how to define her sexuality, she told People. 

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“What’s really cool is, it’s open to everyone,” Wilson said. “You might just be interested in checking out a wider dating pool like I was. It covers a lot of the LGBTQIA+ spectrum, but I think even if you’re straight you could use the app and have an amazing time.”

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Wilson said she wishes a similar app has been around five years go, because she would have joined.

 She touted the benefit of Fluid “because you don’t have to label yourself in any way” because to her, “it doesn’t matter about the gender, it just matters about the person.”

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Nearly 200 liberal New York Times contributors signed an open letter bashing their own news outlet for its recent coverage of trans issues.

The letter claimed that the paper’s coverage of the “propriety of medical care for trans children” has featured “an eerily familiar mix of pseudoscience and euphemistic, charged language.”

Those who signed the letter alleged that the outlet has followed “the lead of far-right hate groups in presenting gender diversity as a new controversy.”

As Fox News Digital reported last November, the Times faced “blow back” for one of its recent reports “delving into the potential consequences of puberty blockers.” 

The New York Times Building in Midtown Manhattan.  (Fox News Photo/Joshua Comins)

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This blow back has now materialized in a February 15 letter signed by prominent lefty journalists and authors, including Ed Yong, Lucy Sante, Roxane Gay, and Rebecca Solnit.  

Personally addressed to the Times’ associate managing editor for standards, Phillip B. Corbett, the letter alerted him to “serious concerns about editorial bias in the newspaper’s reporting on transgender, non⁠-⁠binary, and gender-nonconforming people.”

The aggrieved liberal authors noted that though “plenty of reporters at the Times cover trans issues fairly,” they are “eclipsed, however, by what one journalist has calculated as over 15,000 words of front⁠-⁠page Times coverage debating the propriety of medical care for trans children published in the last eight months alone.”

According to the letter, the paper has recently “treated gender diversity with an eerily familiar mix of pseudoscience and euphemistic, charged language, while publishing reporting on trans children that omits relevant information about its sources.”

Thus, it claimed that Times has impeded upon its own “editorial guidelines” which “demand that reporters ‘preserve a professional detachment, free of any whiff of bias’ when cultivating their sources, remaining ‘sensitive that personal relationships with news sources can erode into favoritism, in fact or appearance.’” 

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People gather in support of transgender youth during a rally at the Utah State Capitol Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023, in Salt Lake City.  (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

It cited several articles that allegedly ran afoul of proper practices, including, Emily Bazelon’s article “The Battle Over Gender Therapy,” “When Students Change Gender Identity and Parents Don’t Know” by Katie Baker, and “How to Make Sense of the New L.G.B.T.Q. Culture War” by Ross Douthat.

The letter lamented that several of these pieces were used in “an amicus brief in defense of Alabama’s Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act,” a bill that “would make it a felony, punishable by up to 10 years’ imprisonment, for any medical provider to administer certain gender⁠-⁠affirming medical care to a minor.”

Further, the letter accused The New York Times of following the “lead of far-right hate groups in presenting gender diversity as a new controversy warranting new, punitive legislation.”

It declared, “Puberty blockers, hormone replacement therapy, and gender⁠-⁠affirming surgeries have been standard forms of care for cis and trans people alike for decades,” and argued that the Times once also helped to demonize homosexuality in years past. 

It noted, “You no doubt recall a time in more recent history when it was ordinary to speak of homosexuality as a disease at the American family dinner table—a norm fostered in part by the New York Times’ track record of demonizing queers through the ostensible reporting of science.”

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The authors and contributors concluded with an accusation that the paper does not value trans individuals, including its own writers in that category: “Some of us are trans, non⁠-⁠binary, or gender-nonconforming, and we resent the fact that our work, but not our person, is good enough for the paper of record.”

It added, “Some of us are cis, and we have seen those we love discover and fight for their true selves, often swimming upstream against currents of bigotry and pseudoscience fomented by the kind of coverage we here protest.”

Zee Kilpack is photographed at a rally where hundreds gathered in support of transgender youth at the Utah State Capitol, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023, in Salt Lake City. Utah lawmakers on Friday, Jan. 27, 2023, gave final approval for a measure that would ban most transgender youth from receiving gender-affirming health care like surgery or puberty blockers. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer) (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., on Wednesday called out former President Donald Trump’s niece, Mary Trump, for what she described as a racist tweet about former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.

Mace’s comments came after Trump, a podcaster and psychologist, made her thoughts on Haley quite clear.

“First of all, f— you Nimrata Haley,” wrote Trump. “Second, you are a racist, anti-American sell-out. Third, my friend @DeeTwoCents [podcaster Danielle Moodie] has more integrity, intelligence, passion, and decency in one fingernail than you have in your entire being. Finally, @NikkiHaley, you will never be president.”

Haley, who also served as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations in the Trump administration, announced her 2024 presidential campaign this week. She was born Nimrata Nikki Randhawa in South Carolina to immigrant Indian Punjabi Sikh parents and has gone by her middle name since birth.

Mace noted the history of Haley’s name in a tweet responding to Trump.

“This you?” wrote Mace. “Also, as for your racist AF tweet, Nikki is her middle name, she’s used it since birth. It’s also Punjabi. Get. Some. Help.”

Mace also included a tweet from Trump in August 2021 saying she was “having a hard time understanding why it’s so difficult for so many people to be kind.”

Trump’s tweet appeared to have been prompted by Haley’s official campaign launch video, in which Haley as a narrator says some people think America’s “ideas are not just wrong but racist and evil” while showing clips of Moodie and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.

Moodie responded on Twitter, writing, “I’m proud to be #WokeAF all day every f—ing day to push back against handmaidens like Haley.”

After Haley announced her presidential bid, journalists from prominent media outlets such as CNN, ABC, and MSNBC quickly launched a wave of attacks against her — including targeting her Indian heritage. 

With her announcement, Haley joined former President Trump in vying for the 2024 Republican nomination.

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Trump and his niece have an infamously poor relationship, having launched several public attacks against each other.

The People’s Republic of China is denying reports the government has not cooperated with the World Health Organization’s study into the origins of COVID-19.

According to a report published in Nature Tuesday, the WHO has unceremoniously canceled the “second phase” of its investigations into the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The report cited key officials within the organization claiming China has proved too uncooperative to conduct the intended studies.

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A security person moves journalists away from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)

“There is no phase two,” WHO epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove told the outlet. “The politics across the world of this really hampered progress on understanding the origins.”

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Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Wang Wenbin pushed back on these assertions Wednesday in a press conference in Beijing.

“China’s position on the study of the origins of SARS-CoV-2 is consistent,” Wang said, when asked about China’s transparency with the WHO. “We always support and participate in science-based global origins tracing. At the same time, we firmly oppose all forms of political manipulation.”

Members of the World Health Organization team tasked with investigating the origins of the coronavirus disease (REUTERS/Thomas Peter)

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The spokesman cited two previous envoys of WHO scientists allowed into the country, claiming this demonstrated China was “open” and “transparent” with the international community.

“China has shared more data and research findings on SARS-CoV-2 origins study than any other country,” Wang said. “This fully demonstrates China’s open, transparent and responsible attitude and its support for the work of the WHO and SAGO. China will continue to support science-based global origins tracing and keep up communication and cooperation with the WHO.”

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The first phase of the investigation began in 2020, when a team of WHO scientists spent four weeks in China probing for evidence of the COVID-19’s origins. This trip resulted in a report outlining four possible origins, with the most likely listed as a viral leap from bats to humans.

The WHO scientists said in an exit briefing it is “most likely” that the coronavirus was initially transmitted via a jump from animal to human, perhaps starting with a bat associated with the Wuhan seafood market, which was an early hypothesis.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin attends a press conference May 24, 2022, in Beijing. (VCG via Getty Images)

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From the time it was published, the WHO report received intense skepticism.

Wang shifted focus away from China during the press conference, claiming that “more and more clues from the international science community are pointing the origins of SARS-CoV-2 to sources around the world.”

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At once point, Wang specifically proposed a debunked theory of U.S. origin, saying, “Many have raised questions and concerns about U.S. bio-military bases at Fort Detrick and around the world. The WHO and SAGO should take a close look at these clues, effectively cooperate with these relevant countries and share research findings with all parties in a timely way.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the World Health Organization for comment but did not receive a response.

NewsNation correspondent Evan Lambert is speaking out as charges against him following his Feb. 8 arrest at a Ohio train derailment press conference were dropped. 

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, R, announced Wednesday that “relevant video and documentary evidence” do not support the charges against Lambert, who was accused of criminal trespass and disorderly conduct.

“While journalists could conceivably be subject to criminal charges for trespassing in some situations, this incident is not one of them,” Yost wrote. “The reporter was lawfully present at a press conference called by the Governor of the state. His conduct was consistent with the purpose of the event and his role as a reporter.”

NEWSNATION CORRESPONDENT ARRESTED WHILE COVERING OHIO TRAIN DERAILMENT PRESS CONFERENCE

NewsNation correspondent Evan Lambert was arrested while reporting on the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. (Screenshot/NewsNation)

Lambert released his own statement, commenting on the arrest for the first time since it occurred. 

“It is by design that reporters aren’t meant to become the story. In my case, I truly did not choose this, and anyone who knows me will attest to the fact that I do not want nor relish in any of this extra attention,” Lambert began. “To all who have shared the video of the harassment, then excessive force, then unjust and illegal arrest, I thank you.”

EAST PALESTINE POLICE DEFEND ARREST OF NEWSNATION CORRESPONDENT COVERING OHIO TRAIN DERAILMENT PRESSER

“I’m still processing what was a traumatic event for me, in the context of a time where we are hyper aware how frequently some police interactions with people of color can end in much worse circumstances. That is not lost on me,” Lambert wrote. “At the same time, as a journalist who has spent more than a decade covering crime, courts and more recently federal law enforcement, I have great respect for the officers who do their jobs each day with integrity, civil rights, justice and safety at the core of their mission.”

NewsNation correspondent Evan Lambert was reporting from the back of a gymnasium ahead of a press conference when law enforcement began surrounding him. (Screenshot/NewsNation)

Lambert went on to express gratitude to Attorney General Yost, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, R, as well as NewsNation and its parent company Nexstar Media Group for helping secure his release and dismiss his charges. 

Last week, a heated clash between Lambert and law enforcement broke out at a gymnasium in East Palestine, where DeWine was giving a press conference to update on the unfolding disaster from the toxic train derailment. 

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As he was reporting live, Lambert was told by authorities he had to leave, which he refused. The situation escalated when police officers forced Lambert to the ground, cuffed him and escorted him to a patrol car that took him to the county jail. 

This photo provided by Ohio State Highway Patrol shows police bodycam footage of NewsNation correspondent Evan Lambert interaction with authorities Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2023 in the gymnasium of an elementary school in East Palestine, Ohio. (Ohio State Highway Patrol via AP)

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While local police defended their actions, DeWine denounced the arrest during the press conference, saying it was “wrong” for Lambert to be told to stop reporting and asserting he did not authorize law enforcement to apprehend the NewsNation correspondent.

“I’m certainly very, very sorry that that happened,” DeWine told reporters. “[Lambert] had every right to be reporting and do what they do every single day.”

An Ohio Republican Congressman representing East Palestine says it’s “past time” for Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg to hear the concerns of residents ahead of a town hall Wednesday night, saying he’ll “save him a seat.”

A train with 50 rail cars, 10 of which were carrying vinyl chloride, derailed in East Palestine on Feb. 3. The derailment caused hazardous chemicals to spill onto the ground and sent a plume of smoke into the air. 

Officials conducted a controlled release of chemicals because of the risk of an explosion, releasing thick smoke into the air. Residents were evacuated before the controlled release was performed.

A town hall meeting hosted by the East Palestine officials is scheduled for Wednesday at 7 p.m. at a local high school.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is once again in the national spotlight over an incident that grounded about 1,300 aircraft. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

Rep. Bill Johnson, R-Ohio, called on Buttigieg to attend the meeting in a tweet on Wednesday.

“@SecretaryPete, hope to see you tonight at the town hall in #EastPalestine. I’ll save a seat for you. It’s past time you hear the concerns of residents affected by the train derailment,” Johnson said.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said on Tuesday that it hasn’t detected health concerns from the air in the area.

“Since the initial derailment, EPA has led robust air-quality testing (including with the state-of-the-art ASPECT plane) in and around East Palestine,” EPA Great Lakes said in a tweet. “At this time, our air monitoring has not detected any levels of health concern that can be attributed to the incident.”

Some residents are reporting that animals are becoming sick or even dying after East Palestine Fire Chief Keith Drabick said on Feb. 7 that it was safe for evacuated residents to return.

One East Palestine resident, Nathan Velez, told ‘Jesse Watters Primetime” that he has had persisting headaches that are related to the chemicals in the air.

OHIO RESIDENTS FEAR TRAIN DERAILMENT POISONED AIR, GROUND, REPORT ANIMALS DYING

A large plume of smoke rises over East Palestine, Ohio, after a controlled detonation of a portion of the derailed Norfolk Southern trains Monday, Feb. 6, 2023. About 50 cars, including 10 carrying hazardous materials, derailed in a fiery crash. Federal investigators say a mechanical issue with a rail car axle caused the derailment.  (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

“My house is just across the tracks … and it smells, too. You can’t spend a lot of time here without feeling like crap,” he said. “And my question is why, if it’s okay if it’s safe, and all these people say it’s safe, if it’s so safe and okay then why does it hurt?”

The EPA told Norfolk Southern in a Feb. 10 letter that the company is liable for cleanup and said some contaminated soil wasn’t disposed of correctly, according to WKBN.

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Smoke rises from a derailed cargo train in East Palestine, Ohio, on February 4, 2023. – The train accident sparked a massive fire and evacuation orders, officials and reports said Saturday.  (Dustin Franz/AFP via Getty Images)

“Five railcar tankers of vinyl chloride were intentionally breached; the vinyl chloride was diverted to an excavated trench and then burned off. Areas of contaminated soil and free liquids were observed and potentially covered and/or filled during reconstruction of the rail line including portions of the trench /burn pit that was used for the open burn off of vinyl chloride,” the EPA said in the letter.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Department of Transportation for comment.

Fox News’ Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report.

The White man who pled guilty to killing 10 Black people and wounding three others in a hate-fueled mass shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, last year was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison without parole.

Payton Gendron was read his punishment in Erie County Court after pleading guilty in November to charges including murder and domestic terrorism motivated by hate in relation to the May 2022 attack at a Tops Friendly Market. The hearing was interrupted at one point by a man who lunged at Gendron while a family member was reading a victim impact statement, and the shooter himself was seen weeping as relatives of those who lost their loved ones delivered remarks.

“I’m very sorry for the pain. I forced the victims and their families to suffer through. I’m very sorry for stealing the lives of your loved ones,” Gendron told the courtroom just prior to learning his fate. “I cannot express how much I regret all the decisions I made leading up to my actions on May 14th.

“I did a terrible thing that day. I shot and killed people because they were Black. Looking back now, I can’t believe I actually did it,” he added. “I believed what I read online and acted out of hate. I know I can’t take it back. But I wish I could. And I don’t want anyone to be inspired by me and what I did.”

MAN RUSHES AT BUFFALO MASS SHOOTER PAYTON GENDRON DURING SENTENCING HEARING

Buffalo mass shooter Payton Gendron is sentenced to life in prison without parole Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023, for killing 10 people in a Tops grocery store in May 2022. (Pool/Fox News)

A prosecutor representing the Erie County District Attorney’s Office called the sentence “an opportunity to say no to racism, to say no to hate, our chance to hold this defendant accountable and show others that think like the defendant, that these acts have no place in our society and that there will be dire consequences.”

Brian Parker, a defense attorney representing Gendron, said he “will spend the rest of his life locked away and eventually he will die in state prison.

“We hope that knowing he will never be free again will offer some small bit of comfort to those that he hurt so much,” Parker added.

Judge Susan Eagan said “There is no place for you or your ignorant, hateful and evil ideologies in civilized society” and “There can be no mercy for you, no understanding, no second chances.”

Gendron appeared to show no emotion as Egan delivered the sentencing. His legal team said it will not appeal the ruling.

WATCH: MAN LUNGES AT GENDRON:

Police intervene after Payton Gendron is confronted in Erie County Court in New York on Wednesday, Feb. 15. (POOL)

During victim impact statements, a family member representing victim Ruth Whitfield, the 86-year-old mother of a former Buffalo fire commissioner, turned to Gendron and called him a “cowardly racist” for carrying out the shooting.

“We find strength in knowing that her legacy will outlive you. You will simply go from a name to a number,” she said. “You’ll be herded like cattle. You will be shut away from the world. You will not enjoy family events. You will not enjoy outings with friends. You will be nameless and faceless and we feel sorry for you. We pity you.”

“Even with all of the heartache that you have caused, you still have to break our family spirit,” she added. “You thought you broke us, but you awoke us. We all know the pure hatred and motivations behind your heinous crime and. And we are here to tell you that you failed.”

Gendron, now 19, wore bullet-resistant armor and a helmet equipped with a livestreaming camera as he carried out the May 14, 2022, attack. 

He killed his victims with a semiautomatic rifle that was purchased legally but then modified so he could load it with high-capacity ammunition magazines that are illegal in New York. 

Community members pay respects at a memorial filled with flowers, photos and mementos outside the Tops Friendly Market on Jefferson Avenue on July 14, 2022, in Buffalo, New York. (John Normile/Getty Images)

MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY GUNMAN HAD FELONY WEAPON CHARGE DROPPED IN 2019 

Gendron’s victims included a church deacon, the grocery store’s guard, a neighborhood activist, a man shopping for a birthday cake, and a grandmother of nine. They ranged in age from 32 to 86. 

Authorities said Gendron drove about three hours to Buffalo from his home in Conklin, New York, to carry out the shooting. Shortly before opening fire, he posted documents that outlined his White supremacist views and revealed he had been planning the attack for months.   

In those documents, Gendron said he hoped the attack would help preserve White power in the U.S. and that he picked the Tops grocery store because it was in a predominantly Black neighborhood, according to The Associated Press. 

Buffalo mass shooter Payton Gendron still faces federal charges in relation to the attack. (Erie County District Attorney’s Office/Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Erie County District Attorney John Flynn said he instructed court officers to not press charges against the man who rushed at Gendron inside the courtroom Wednesday.

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Gendron, he added, will probably be transferred Thursday to federal custody for prosecution for federal hate crimes, which he has pleaded not guilty to. If federal prosecutors don’t pursue the death penalty, a decision will be made where Gendron will serve out his sentence, he also said.

In a December hearing, defense attorney Sonya Zoghlin said Gendron is prepared to enter a guilty plea in federal court in exchange for a life sentence. 

Fox News’ Laura Prabucki and The Associated Press contributed to this report.