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Shumita Basu, Narrating: Good morning! It's Tuesday, March 7th. I'm Shumita Basu. This is "Apple News Today." On today's show, how a group of sexual-assault survivors got lawmakers to take action, the challenge of switching to green energy when America doesn't have enough electricians, and the reason why some foods just taste better the next day.
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But first, new developments following the toxic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, where residents are worried about their health. There are also growing concerns about rail safety after another Norfolk Southern train derailed in Ohio last weekend. No one was injured and there weren't hazardous materials on board. But it has people who live near train tracks on edge.
Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw will testify before Congress on Thursday. Ahead of that, the company is announcing a new safety plan. It mostly focuses on upgrades to equipment that alerts crews when train wheels are overheating to dangerous levels. Federal investigators say a video appears to show an overheated wheel bearing on the train that derailed in East Palestine. Norfolk Southern also wants the industry to standardize monitoring equipment. Right now, individual rail companies make their own decisions.
"POLITICO" reports that the plan is unlikely to satisfy the Biden administration, or Congressional Democrats who want to do more. That includes getting railroads to stop cutting back on human-run safety inspections. They also want upgraded braking systems and better communication with communities about hazardous materials that are traveling through their areas.
Some politicians in both parties have seized on the accident to push longstanding political agendas. But there is a bipartisan bill moving through Congress. "Vox" explains how it would require "well-trained, two-person crews" on every train. And it would introduce regulations around train length, weight, route selection, speed restrictions, maintenance and monitoring.
It's backed by several senators, including an unlikely partnership between Ohio's J.D. Vance, who is a strong Trump supporter, and Sherrod Brown, a progressive Democrat. Brown says the bipartisan bill would make railways safer.
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Sherrod Brown: In too many cases, hazardous materials end up in the water or in the air the way they have in East Palestine. This bill will begin to fix this and will especially hold Norfolk Southern accountable.
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As "Vox" points out, it's hard to say whether the bill's measures would've prevented the East Palestine derailment. But they might help workers catch malfunctions sooner or keep them from happening in the first place.
Norfolk Southern hasn't discussed the bill in detail, but says the industry needs to learn from what happened in East Palestine.
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A warning that this next story is about sexual assault.
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Legislators in Utah have passed a bill to change the law about sexual assault in medical settings. It follows a recent investigation from "ProPublica" and "The Salt Lake Tribune," which told the story of dozens of women whose lawsuit against an OB-GYN was thrown out of court. This is a story where investigative journalism got real results, and quickly. Utah law makes it harder for victims of sexual assault to sue if the assault happens in a medical setting. They can only sue under medical malpractice laws, which have much more restrictive rules than other lawsuits.
Stephanie Mateer is one of the women in the suit against David Broadbent. She says he assaulted her during an examination when she was 19. Mateer says it's not right that the court rejected the lawsuit, that physicians are held to a different standard when they assault patients.
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Stephanie Mateer: It's just pretty crazy that a doctor can sexually assault women and be protected by the white coat, you know.
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Broadbent's attorney says the allegations against him are without merit.
Reporter Jessica Miller told us about the women's reactions to the court's ruling.
Jessica Miller: I think that these women were really surprised that their lawsuit would be thrown out. I mean, to them it seems pretty basic that sexual assault is not healthcare.
Lawmakers heard their story and agreed. They quickly passed a bill last week to change Utah's medical malpractice law to exclude sexual assault. Miller explains why that could be important to future victims.
Miller: There's a lot of harm that comes when your case is considered medical malpractice because there's a really short filing window. You only have two years to bring your lawsuit after you were harmed. And then there's a cap on damages for your pain and suffering where, if you're assaulted by a doctor, you can only receive up to 450,000 dollars in damages for pain and suffering where that limit does not exist if you were assaulted by like a coworker or a coach or somebody else that was not in a doctor's office.
That would change if the Governor signs this new bill into law. Victims of sexual assault in medical settings would have the same legal standing as victims in other settings. But it won't help those in the past, including the women featured in this reporting.
Miller: So, the interesting thing about this bill is that it's not retroactive. This new law does not offer them a new avenue to refile their case. And so, their hope is really with the Utah Supreme Court that our high court will look at this case and reverse the judge's decision so that they can move forward with their own lawsuit.
One of the women involved says it still feels like a victory, if the law changes how future victims will be treated when they seek justice.
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<v When it comes to transitioning from fossil fuels to renewable energy, electricians are essential workers. Without them, we can't install electric-car chargers, induction stoves, solar panels, heat pumps and so many other things. But there's a huge snag>the U.S. doesn't have enough electricians.
Amrith Ramkumar: Consumers are having to wait many months to get things like electric car chargers or heat pumps put in, and electricians say they can't keep up with demand. Some are even referring potential customers to their competitor businesses in the same area.
That's "Wall Street Journal" climate finance reporter Amrith Ramkumar. He told us, it's not just that there's more demand, but the jobs are bigger and more complicated, as people switch to more energy-intensive technology.
Ramkumar spoke to an electrician in Ithaca, New York, where local policies have nudged residents away from fossil fuels. His six-person company is often booked six months out these days. One of his customers had a long wait for a heat pump.
Ramkumar: He put in that order last April and the device just got installed. So, the delays in parts of the country are crazy, and it's supposed to get worse as the new climate law called the Inflation Reduction Act really kicks in here.
The Inflation Reduction Act is expected to speed up the energy transition and incentivize people to adopt new electricity upgrades. It's also designed to boost the number of electricians and apprentices nationwide. But even then, industry analysts say it'll be tough to meet demand.
Amrith Ramkuar: One challenge for electricians specifically is that many have retired during the last few years, during the Coronavirus pandemic, and many tend to be older, so more electricians are retiring than are replaced. So it's a huge challenge to get more young people interested in this type of work.
The industry doesn't want to miss out on future opportunities. Ramkumar says a lot of companies he spoke to are partnering with local schools and working to train the next generation of electricians.
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For me, one of the best feelings in the world is opening the fridge and seeing a bunch of neatly stacked, homemade leftovers. Not just because I'm lazy and it's quick to reheat. But because some foods, I would argue a lot of foods, just taste better the next day.
If you feel the same way, you'll appreciate this "Washington Post" write-up explaining why certain dishes actually do get better with time. I think we all know intuitively that something happens. But this piece gets more explain-y. Anything that is in liquid or in a sauce tends to transfer the flavors throughout, sort of like marinating. The proteins in meat break down and become a little softer. Foods with spices can change a lot in the fridge. The flavor molecules of many spices seek out the fats in our food over time. And fats coat our tongues. The result is that those flavors end up being more accessible to our taste buds.
In my house growing up, almost everything qualified as a better-tomorrow meal. Indian curries, Iranian stews. Just yesterday, I made a double batch of keema matar, which is a curry with ground beef, peas and spices. We ate half of it as last night's dinner. The other half, I just know, is gonna taste is even better today.
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You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app. And if you're already listening in the News app right now, don't go anywhere.
We've got a narrated article coming up next from "Esquire." It sticks with the food theme, but it goes a long way from home cooking. It's about the infamous Danish fine-dining restaurant Noma, and what its closing means for the culinary world.
So sit back, enjoy listening to that, and I'll be back with the news tomorrow.
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