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Maine Train Derailment's Unexpected Cause

Maine Train Derailment's Unexpected Cause

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James Kratch
February 14, 2025

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Good Friday morning. A humpback whale briefly gobbled up a kayaker off the coast of Chile before safely spitting him out. Yes, there is video. Have a great weekend and, if you celebrate, a wonderful Valentine’s Day.

In Today’s Brief

Oklahoma: Schools scuffle
Myanmar: Workers freed
Minnesota: Senate exit
Markets: Tariff relief
SNL: Anniversary special

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1) Dam bad luck

Blame those pesky beavers.

Catch up: A freight train derailed in rural Maine in 2023. The Somerset County incident spilled about 500 gallons of fuel; locomotive and lumber cars were ablaze, sparking a forest fire. Three workers were injured.
The news: The derailment was caused by a beaver dam, officials said this week. Excessive water that flowed through the dam washed out part of the train tracks, pouring in under them.
Big picture: Canadian Pacific Kansas City operated the train and has since completed cleanup efforts in the area. The company was cited for environmental violations in connection to this incident and another in the state in 2022, paying a $16K fine.

2) Apparent ramming attack

At least 30 people were injured after a car drove into a crowd in Germany.

The news: A driver plowed into the rear of a labor union demonstration yesterday in Munich. Several people were seriously injured in the incident. Police fired a shot at the man who drove the car before apprehending him.
More details: The suspect is a 24-year-old native of Afghanistan in the country as an asylum seeker. He overtook a police vehicle before hitting the crowd. Cops said he was known to them for drug and theft incidents, and they could not rule out an extremist motive.
Big picture: The incident -- the latest in a string of attacks by asylum seekers in the nation -- occurred 11 days before Germany's snap election. Migration has emerged as the biggest issue of the campaign. Friedrich Merz, a center-right politician considered the favorite to become chancellor, said that "something must change" in the country.

3) Murder for hire

A New York man is accused of contracting his estranged husband's overseas killer.

Catch up: Brent Sikkema, a prominent Manhattan art gallery owner, was murdered in Brazil last year. A man -- since arrested -- entered Sikkema's Rio de Janeiro townhouse and fatally stabbed him.
The news: Daniel Sikkema was arrested earlier this week and charged with hiring a hitman to kill his husband. The men shared a son and were reportedly going through a divorce at the time. Sikkema's attorney said he is innocent; he faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison or the death penalty if convicted.
The details: Prosecutors alleged Sikkema sent over $10K to the killer and his romantic partner in Cuba -- Sikkema is a dual U.S.-Cuban citizen -- using stolen identities or go-betweens in several payments. Brent Sikkema had amassed an estate worth millions at the time of his death, prosecutors said.

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U.S. News

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt will block a state plan to collect children's immigration status during public school registration. He accused State Superintendent Ryan Walters of "using kids as political pawns" with the controversial proposal, escalating the feud between the elected Republicans (More)
A woman gave birth on a New York City subway train. Fellow commuters assisted with the delivery, which occurred at the 34th Street-Herald Square station under Macy's flagship department store (More)
Igloo has recalled over 1M rolling coolers sold in the U.S. due to a defect that risks fingertip amputations and crushings. An additional 60K of the 90-quart products were sold in Canada and Mexico (More)

World News

Over 250 foreign nationals were freed from forced phone scam work in Myanmar. Thailand's army has carried out recent operations in the shared border region to crack down on human trafficking (More)
Hamas said it would release hostages as planned tomorrow, adhering to the Gaza ceasefire deal. But Israel said it would resume war if the terrorist group does not free three living captives (More)
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth walked back his comments about Ukraine, saying "everything is on the table" after calling future NATO membership "unrealistic." President Trump said he wants Russia to rejoin the Group of 7 after its expulsion a decade ago for annexing Crimea (More | More)

Political News

Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith, a Democrat, will not seek re-election next year. Gov. Tim Walz is reportedly considering a bid for the seat; the former Democratic vice presidential candidate is not term-limited next fall (More | More)
Several federal prosecutors resigned over the Justice Department's dropping New York City Mayor Eric Adams' corruption case. Danielle Sassoon, the acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York and a Republican appointee, was among them (More)
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was confirmed as Health and Human Services Secretary in a 52-48 Senate vote; Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell was the lone GOP nay. Brooke Rollins was approved as Agriculture Secretary in a 72-28 vote (More | More)

Business & Markets

Major indexes closed higher yesterday after President Trump said his reciprocal tariff plan would not begin for months, allowing time for negotiations; the Dow Jones was up over 340 points and the Nasdaq rose almost 300 (Dow +0.77%, Nasdaq +1.50%, S&P 500 +1.04% | More).
Blue Origin will lay off about 10% of its employees. The cuts will impact roughly 1.4K workers at the space technology company owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos; the firm wants to cut costs and increase rocket launches (More)
Denny's will close about 30 more restaurants than initially announced, bringing the diner chain's total cuts to about 180 locations. Dollar Tree will reportedly take over 150 former Party City locations across the country (More | More)

Entertainment & Sports

Saturday Night Live's 50th anniversary special is this Sunday (8 p.m. ET, NBC). A separate event highlighting the program's musical acts is tonight at Radio City Music Hall; it will stream on Peacock starting at 8 p.m. ET (More)
YouTube TV is in a carriage dispute with Paramount Global. The spat could blackout channels like CBS, BET and Comedy Central on the streamer with events like The Masters and March Madness upcoming (More)
Pennsylvania sportsbooks lost $6.5M on the Philadelphia Eagles' Super Bowl LIX victory. Over $101M in wagers were placed on the game in the state; the team will have its victory parade today (More)

Quick Hitters

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Take Note: Flight anxiety is on the rise after recent high-profile air travel incidents. But there are proven ways to keep yourself grounded, even when you are at 35K feet.
Go Deep: You can learn a great deal about your health through your fingernails. Here is a closer look at what they can tell you.
New Idea: Scientists at Ohio State have developed a special light that attracts microscopic organisms to coral reefs. The coral then feeds on the zooplankton, expediting reef restoration.
Life Hack: While dry firewood is ideal, you can still get wet wood to burn. Here is the secret to doing so.

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