Louisiana among at least 12 states seeking "chemtrail" ban
Louisiana state lawmakers have sent a bill to Gov. Jeff Landry's desk seeking to ban "chemtrails."
Why it matters: They don't exist.
Zoom in: Though Louisiana Sen. Mike Fesi's bill doesn't specifically use the term "chemtrails," lawmakers used it during discussion of the legislation before giving it their OK, Fox 8 reports.
Fesi's bill bans the intentional release of any chemical into the state's atmosphere "for the express purpose of affecting the temperature, weather, climate, or intensity of sunlight."
That language is typically associated with chemtrail conspiracy theories.
The big picture: "Chemtrails" is the term for a conspiracy theory that began in the 1990s, which says the white lines left behind by some aircraft are chemical releases.
The theories began circulating in the 1990s, but kicked back up again in the post-pandemic rush of online misinformation, the BBC says.
Reality check:"'Chemtrails" are not real. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says so. Scientists say so. An increasing number of investigative journalistic accounts say so," according to researchers Dustin Tingley and Gernot Wagner, writing in a peer-reviewed study.
Rather, what folks on the ground are seeing are called "contrails," Tingley and Wagner say, which are "made up of water vapor [and] have been a byproduct of aviation ever since humans began to fly using jet engines."
What they're saying: " I'm really worried about what is going on above us and what is happening, and we as Louisiana citizens did not give anyone the right to do this above us," Rep. Kimberly Landry Coates said as she shared her support for the bill, according to the AP.
Coates acknowledged the legislation might "seem strange."
"With so many unknowns around geoengineering and atmospheric interventions, we're taking a stand for transparency, public health, and natural balance," Fesi said to the Times-Picayune in a statement. "Senate Bill 46 ensures that decisions about our air and climate are made responsibly."
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an hour ago
- Yahoo
Judge upholds dismissal in Rockingham County defamation suit; plaintiff plans appeal
ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, N.C. (WGHP) — A Wake County judge upheld his motion to dismiss a former Rockingham County commissioner's defamation lawsuit following allegations of a potential conflict of interest involving the presiding judge, according to attorneys familiar with the case. On May 16, Judge Hoyt G. Tessener sided against former Rockingham County Commissioner T. Craig Travis in his 2024 defamation suit against former Commissioner Don Powell and sitting commissioners Mark Richardson and Kevin Berger, son of North Carolina State Sen. Phil Berger (R-Rockingham), as well as Rockingham County Republican Party Chair Diane Parnell, the North Carolina Conservatives Fund, Atlas Political Consulting LLC and GOPAC Inc. Travis's legal team filed a motion to set aside the dismissal on May 22, expressing the belief that the deciding judge had a conflict of interest due to alleged connections to Speaker of the House Tim Moore and Senate President Phil Berger (R-Rockingham County). Although the court's formal written order has not been made available in the North Carolina eCourts system as of Monday, attorneys for both the defense and the plaintiff confirmed that the judge upheld his dismissal at a May 30 hearing. Rockingham County commissioners, other defendants seek protective order in defamation lawsuit An attorney for the defendants, W. Ellis Boyle, said, 'The Court got the right answer and acted completely properly as expected of a judicial officer. Plaintiff's claims never had any credibility and were always a vehicle for an improper lawfare attack against political foes. Lawyers should not countenance such abuses of the legal process deploying sleight of hand.' Alicia Jurney, an attorney for Travis, pushed back on claims that she and fellow attorneys Kimberly Bryan and Stephanie Jenkins acted improperly. 'Any assertion that Ms. Bryan, Ms. Jenkins, or I acted improperly is false,' Jurney said. 'We have fully complied with the Rules of Professional Conduct. Every document filed on behalf of Mr. Travis has been well grounded in fact, supported by the law, and in good faith in pursuit of Mr. Travis's defamation claims against the defendants.' Travis's legal team plans to appeal the dismissal and the order upholding it. Boyle told FOX8 that the court announced sanctions against the plaintiff for placing otherwise unattainable discovery into a defamation claim; Jurney, however, tells FOX8 that the judge said he would take the recommendation under advisement and that the court had not followed up with any further communication regarding sanctions, which she says would have no basis. FOX8 is working to obtain further details from Wake County court. In the original lawsuit, Travis, an outspoken opponent of a proposed casino in Rockingham County, says he chose not to run for reelection to the Board of Commissioners in 2022 due to his belief in term limits. However, in 2023, he said that multiple citizens, who also opposed the casino, reached out to him and inspired him to run again. Developer tied to casinos eyes Rockingham County land as NC lawmakers consider another new gambling law Ultimately, Travis came in fourth in the Republican primary and did not advance to the general election with the top three vote-getters. He garnered 5,506 votes, three votes short of Kevin Berger's 5,509. In the lawsuit, Travis alleges that his loss was due to defamation by the defendants. 'When the plaintiff campaigned on his opposition to the pro-casino measures supported by the incumbent Commissioners and opposed by the majority of residents of Rockingham County, the defendant Commissioners sought to discredit him by publishing defamatory statements to voters in the 2024 Republican primary election,' the lawsuit said. The lawsuit lays out Travis's belief that Kevin Berger and other members of the board acted inappropriately in their attempts to bring a casino to Rockingham County, including closed-door meetings that would violate North Carolina statute and multiple donations from lobbyists and officials associated with In a motion filed to issue a protective order against Travis after the plaintiff filed multiple subpoenas in quick succession, the defendants stated, 'Although the Complaint characterizes this action as a defamation lawsuit against county commissioners, it opens with a 17-page story about the alleged politics and lobbying surrounding the legalization of casinos in North Carolina, and no connection to any purported defamation.' Travis claims that the defendants' campaign messages and social media posts about his candidacy rose above typical political mudslinging due to his opposition to the casino proposition. 'The false statements made about Mr. Travis in the False Attack Ads, Facebook posts, email, and other communications described herein constitute more than the mere vituperation and name-calling that is characteristic of political campaigns and protected by the First Amendment,' the lawsuit said. 'These false statements were made with actual malice and intended to harm Mr. Travis's reputation in Rockingham County by lowering Mr. Travis in the estimation of potential voters in the 2024 Board of Commissioners election through deliberate deception and deterring them from supporting his campaign.' 'I call it deception,' North Carolina landowner expresses regret over making deal after learning about casino plans According to the suit, a clip of Travis speaking was deceptively edited to remove context so that it would falsely appear that Travis intended to raise taxes in Rockingham County. Mailers allegedly accused Travis of opposing budget increases for the Rockingham County Sheriff's Office, which the former commissioner said was not true. GOPAC filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, in which they wrote that they 'did not make any of the statements alleged in the Complaint in Craig Travis v. P. Kevin Berger et al. It did not send the text messages or mailers referenced in the Complaint.' Beginning on Feb. 8, 2022, and continuing through March 5, 2024, the lawsuit said, 'Defendant [Donald] Powell falsely stated to many people that Mr. Travis had vandalized his vehicle.' Those claims include an alleged accusation that Travis ripped the valve stems out of the tires on Powell's vehicle, which was not true, according to the suit. The lawsuit alleges that Kevin Berger, Powell, Richardson and Parnell told others that Travis had stolen campaign signs for the other candidates running for the Board of Commissioners. In a filing submitted in support of a motion to dismiss, the defendant's legal team argued that Travis's lawsuit repeatedly accuses individuals of making defamatory comments but does not state to whom those comments were made. The lawsuit does not identify individuals to whom Powell allegedly told that Travis had ripped out the valve stem or to whom Kevin Berger, Powell and Richardson allegedly told that Travis had stolen campaign signs. According to the filing, Parnell allegedly said on Facebook, 'When you do not see signs for [Powell], [Kevin Berger], Ben Curtis and [Richardson], they have been stolen. Signs put out at 5 and gone by 8… signs replaced… and the 'dark side' is out there again… stealing campaign signs…' The suit claims that Parnell's Facebook friends and followers would recognize that she was using 'the dark side' to refer to Travis based on Parnell's previous statements on her Facebook page, in private messages and in personal conversations. Removing campaign signs that were placed legally is a . The defendants argue that the accusations described in the lawsuit do not meet the legal standard for defamation. Camp for special needs children among plaintiffs in lawsuit against Rockingham County over casino rezoning Travis states in the lawsuit that these statements and accusations, which he says are false and stem from his opposition to the casino project, contributed not only to his loss in the primary but also to a loss of his good reputation within Rockingham County. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
New York Post
an hour ago
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Shipwreck mystery solved as lost vessel resurfaces 140 years after tragic sinking
This discovery made major waves. Researchers have discovered a vessel that sank over 140 years ago — closing the book on one of the UK's most enduring maritime mysteries. Footage of the long-lost wreckage is currently making waves online. The historic steamer, dubbed the SS Nantes, had sunk in 1888 after colliding with a German boat, resulting in the deaths of most of the crew, Jam Press reported. The freighter then lay undiscovered for nearly a century and a half until 2024, when diver and explorer Dominic Robinson identified the shipwreck by dinnerware he found at the wreck site. 5 'It's quite a sad story,' said Dominic Robinson (pictured), who helped identify the wreck. Jam Press 'Even though the wreck had been dived before, it was never identified and this small piece of broken plate allowed us to do exactly that,' the 50-year-old former army officer, who'd been diving for 35 years, told Jam Press. Meanwhile, maritime history expert Dr. Harry Bennett dubbed the recovery the 'underwater archaeological equivalent of a needle in a haystack,' the BBC reported. 'I think the local dive team are to be congratulated on a splendid piece of detective work which reveals this maritime disaster,' said the professor, who teaches at the University of Plymouth. 5 Footage of the sunken vessel, which had been lost to history for 140 years. Jam Press Built in 1874, the SS Nantes was a cargo ship operated by the Cunard Steamship Company. The 14-year-old vessel was traveling from Liverpool, UK, to Le Havre, France, with a load of coal in tow when it was struck by the German sailing vessel Theodor Ruger, which tore a 'big hole in its side,' Bennett recounted to CNN. 'For several hours, the crew tried to save their ship using all manner of materials to try and fill the hole, including mattresses,' he recalled. 'But eventually they lose that fight and the ship goes down very rapidly.' 5 The SS Nantes (pictured) had collided with a German sailing vessel. Jam Press/Rick Ayrton Bennett said that the SS Nantes 'drifted for several hours, before it finally made its way to the bottom, sadly, with many of its crewmen on board.' Their escape efforts were reportedly hindered by the fact that the lifeboats were damaged in the collision. 'There were some 23-odd fatalities,' Bennett told BBC. 'There were three survivors.' 5 Divers at the wreck of the SS Nantes, which was identified in part by the shard of a plate that bore the emblem of the Cunard Steamship Company. Jam Press/Rick Ayrton Meanwhile, corpses from the wreckage washed ashore in Cornwall, where locals were confronted by the horrific sight of bodies intermingled with pieces of the SS Nantes. Unfortunately, after plunging to the bottom of the ocean, the ship was 'essentially lost' as it was a time period with 'no satellite navigation,' per Dr. Bennett. 5 The plate with the stamp of the Cunard Steamship Company. Jam Press/Rick Ayrton It wasn't until 2024 that the local dive team identified the sunken vessel. Johnson had caught wind of the unidentified wreck from the UK Hydrographic Office and decided to investigate himself. Toward the end of a mostly fruitless dive, the wreck-plorer saw the broken plate, which provided a major clue as to the vessel's identity. 'I decided to bring it up to the surface [and] we found that [it] had the Cunard Steamship crest on it,' recalled Jonhson. 'It was then bingo, we've found it.' Researchers also identified the sunken ship by the build, technology on board, and dimensions of the vessel — which measured around 240 feet long. After examining the crews' footage and methodology, Dr. Bennett declared that 'beyond any reasonable shadow of a doubt, this is the SS Nantes.' While the sinking of the SS Nantes was an awful tragedy, Robinson hopes that the discovery at least provides a bit of closure to the heartwrenching saga. 'One of the things I like to think is by solving mysteries and telling those stories, I'm ensuring that those people aren't forgotten,' he said.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
BBC bosses in talks about how to win over Reform-voting viewers
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