Sonia Gandhi to file nomination papers for upcoming Rajya Sabha polls today, leaves for Jaipur
The Rajya Sabha election is to be held on February 27. Sonia Gandhi, who was Congress president for almost 22 years between 1998 and 2022, is a five-time Lok Sabha MP.
Who is Tom Suozzi? A look at the Democrat who flipped Santos’ seat blue
The Democratic candidate for New York’s vacated 3rd Congressional District, former Rep. Tom Suozzi, is seeking to fill the seat vacated by former Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., in a race that has captivated national attention. “I am the agent of change in this race because Washington is dysfunctional,” Suozzi told Fox News Digital on the eve of Election Day Monday. Suozzi’s comments come as he looks to beat upstart Republican candidate Mazi Melesa Pilip in Tuesday’s special election, which was made possible when Santos was expelled from Congress last year after being indicted on federal charges for allegedly defrauding donors. ELECTION DAY SNOW STORM HITS AS CANDIDATES MAKE LAST MINUTE PITCH TO REPLACE DISGRACED SANTOS The race promises to be a close one, with the most recent polling showing the candidates within the margin of error of each other just days ahead of voters making their way to the polls. Suozzi is no stranger to New York’s 3rd Congressional District, having been elected to represent the same constituents in 2018 and again in 2022. Suozzi declined to seek another term in Congress in 2022, instead throwing his hat into the Democrat primary in that year’s race for governor in New York. But that bid ended in disappointment for Suozzi, who finished third behind Jumaane Williams and incumbent New York Gov. Kathy Hochul. That loss marked the second time Suozzi had failed in a bid to become New York’s governor, coming 16 years after losing the Democratic primary to Elito Spitzer, who would go on to win the general election and serve as the state’s governor until his 2008 resignation. NEW YORK SPECIAL ELECTION CANDIDATES CLASH OVER BORDER CRISIS, ABORTION: ‘YOU CREATED THIS ISSUE’ Before the unsuccessful first bid for governor, Suozzi served as mayor of Glen Cove, New York from 1994 until 2001, then became the Nassua County Executive in 2002, a seat he held until the end of 2009. With the failed campaign for governor in the year view mayor, Suozzi announced in December that he would once again be seeking to serve in Congress by replacing Santos. With just hours before voters made their decision in the race, the Democratic candidate expressed optimism in an interview with Fox News Digital, touting the enthusiasm of his supporters and the thousands of volunteers who aided his campaign. Suozzi also touted his history as a bipartisan deal maker, arguing his experience aligns perfectly with what voters in the district want in a candidate. “My whole career has always been about working across party lines to get things done,” Suozzi told Fox News Digital. “That’s what people want, that’s the change we’re looking for.”
Dems flip seat as Suozzi wins crucial special congressional election in New York
EAST MEADOW, N.Y – Former Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi has won a closely watched special election for a vacant House seat once held by former Republican Rep. George Santos, who was expelled from the chamber in December. The Associated Press projected that Suozzi would defeat Republican county lawmaker Mazi Pilip, to win back his old job. With the GOP hanging on to a razor-thin majority in the House, national Republicans and Democrats poured big bucks into a race in suburban New York City where immigration and border security, crime, and abortion were the top issues, and where the election was seen as a bellwether ahead of the all-but-certain November White House rematch between President Biden and former President Donald Trump. The Long Island district held for a decade by Democrats was flipped by Santos in the 2022 midterms. But Santos was kicked out of Congress less than a year into his tenure, after he was exposed for lying about his background and indicted for a slew of financial crimes. Suozzi, who represented the district for six years before running unsuccessfully for governor, repeatedly tied Pilip to Santos, as well as to former President Donald Trump. ELECTION DAY SNOWSTORM HITS AS CANDIDATES IN CRUCIAL SPECIAL HOUSE ELECTION MAKE CLOSING CASES “Who knows what she really stands for? She’s George Santos 2.0. It’s the exact same nontransparent, phony baloney, just trying to get votes instead of saying what you really think,” Suozzi charged on the eve of the election. And Suozzi, a former mayor and county executive, argued that Pilip – who is in her second term as a county lawmaker – “is a far-right wing extremist” who is “totally in line with Mike Johnson and Donald Trump .” NEW YORK SPECIAL ELECTION CANDIDATES CLASH OVER BORDER CRISIS, ABORTION: ‘YOU CREATED THIS ISSUE’ Pilip, an Ethiopian Jew who fled to Israel at age 12 to escape persecution and who later enlisted and served in the Israeli military before immigrating to the United States, linked Suozzi to President Biden and blamed him for the migrant crisis. “You know, he is the one who opened the southern border. He voted with Biden 100% of the time. He supported squad members 90% of the time, he is the one who caused the migrant crisis,” Philip claimed in a Fox News interview on Sunday. Suozzi, a centrist and moderate Democrat, kept his distance from Biden and his party when it came to immigration. With Republicans currently holding a fragile 219-212 majority in the House going into the election, the pickup by the Democrats now puts the GOP’s grip on the chamber further in peril. The contest may also offer clues to how top issues like immigration and abortion will impact November’s elections. “Tom Souzzi rolled out the red carpet for illegal immigrants,” claimed a recent TV ad from the Congressional Leadership Fund, the main super PAC supporting House Republicans. And a commercial from the House Majority PAC, the top super PAC backing House Democrats, charged that “Mazi Pilip is running on a platform to ban abortion.” Besides campaigning heavily on crime and immigration, Pilip – a former Democrat who argues the party “left me and many others” – also spotlighted the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel as she aims to win voters unhappy with the far-left’s criticism of the Jewish State and support for the Palestinians. But her support of Trump – who she has acknowledged she voted for in 2020 – was potentially a concern with moderate voters who are not fans of the former president. Meanwhile, Suozzi showcased his support for Israel and a trip he made to the country last year. While Suozzi, a campaign veteran, welcomed his interactions with reporters, Pilip’s public appearances were carefully managed. The district, which includes a sliver of the outer portion of the New York City borough of Queens, is anchored in neighboring Nassau County. And it’s the kind of suburban district where Democrats need to dominate in the 2024 elections as they aim to reclaim the House majority they lost in the 2022 midterms. But while Democrats have performed well in suburban districts in recent cycles, Republicans have a history of coming out on top on New York’s Long Island. While Biden carried the current confines of the district by eight points in his 2020 presidential election victory, Santos won the 2022 election for the open House seat by the same margin. The final public opinion polls in the special election suggested that Souzzi was clinging to a slight single-digit edge over Pilip. Turnout was considered key in the outcome of this election. Democrats appeared to enjoy a slight edge in the nine-day early voting period, which ended on Sunday. And a winter snowstorm walloped the District on Tuesday morning, as polls opened. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 722
As the war enters its 722nd day, these are the main developments. Here is the situation on Wednesday, February 14, 2024. Fighting At least 10 people were killed in Russian drone and shelling attacks across eastern, central and northern parts of Ukraine, including three who were at a market in the northeastern region of Kharkiv. A missile and drone attack on the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro damaged a power plant, forcing authorities to close schools and evacuate a hospital. Ukraine’s Air Force said it shot down 16 of 23 drones. The UN’s educational, scientific and cultural organisation UNESCO said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has caused damage estimated at about $3.5bn to the country’s heritage and cultural sites, with some 5,000 destroyed. Politics and diplomacy Mike Johnson, the Republican Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, blocked war aid for Ukraine, ignoring President Joe Biden’s plea that passing the bill was vital to stand up to “Russian dictator” Vladimir Putin. Johnson, who is close to presidential candidate Donald Trump, told reporters he had no intention even of allowing a vote on the bill, which had been passed in the Senate. Russia added Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas and two of the country’s top officials to its wanted list over the “destruction” of Soviet-era war memorials and alleged hostility towards Russia, hours after intelligence services in the Baltic state warned that Russia was gearing up for a war against NATO in the coming decade. Kallas is one of Ukraine’s most vocal supporters. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he had spoken this week of Paul Whelan, a former Marine jailed in Russia on espionage charges, as he promised sustained efforts to free Whelan as well as journalist Evan Gershkovich who has been detained pending trial on spying charges. The men and the US government have rejected the spying claims. The US classified Whelan and Gershkovich as “wrongfully detained”. A Russian military appeal court overturned a fine to jail left-wing academic Boris Kagarlitsky for five years after he criticised Moscow’s war in Ukraine, his lawyer said. Weapons Global defence spending jumped by 9 percent to a record $2.2 trillion last year, the London-based think tank the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) said in its annual report The Military Balance, and was likely to rise further in 2024. The report said Russia had lost some 3,000 main battle tanks during the fighting in Ukraine, or roughly as many as it had in its active inventory before it began its full-scale invasion two years ago. It is now refitting older tanks for use, it added. Adblock test (Why?)
Farmers protest: Ghazipur, Tikri, Singhu, Jharoda, Chilla borders sealed in Delhi, here’s a list of alternative routes
Heavy traffic grips Delhi as farmers’ protest march intensifies, leading to the sealing of major routes between Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and the capital.
Polls close in special congressional election seen as bellwether ahead of likely Biden-Trump rematch
GARDEN CITY, N.Y. – The polls have closed in New York’s 3rd Congressional District, in a closely watched special election for a vacant House seat once held by former Republican Rep. George Santos, who was expelled from the chamber in December. With the GOP hanging on to a razor-thin majority in the House, national Republicans and Democrats have poured big bucks into a race in suburban New York City where immigration and border security, crime, and abortion are top issues, and where the election is seen as a bellwether ahead of the all-but-certain November White House rematch between President Biden and former President Donald Trump. The Long Island district held for a decade by Democrats was flipped by Santos in the 2022 midterms. But Santos was kicked out of Congress less than a year into his tenure, after he was exposed for lying about his background and indicted for a slew of financial crimes. Former three-term Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi, who’s running to reclaim his old seat, has repeatedly tied Republican candidate Mazi Pilip to Santos, as well as to former President Donald Trump. ELECTION DAY SNOWSTORM HITS AS CANDIDATES IN CRUCIAL SPECIAL HOUSE ELECTION MAKE CLOSING CASES “Who knows what she really stands for? She’s George Santos 2.0. It’s the exact same nontransparent, phony baloney, just trying to get votes instead of saying what you really think,” Suozzi charged on the eve of the election. And Suozzi, a former mayor and county executive, argued that Pilip – who is in her second term as a county lawmaker – “is a far-right wing extremist” who is “totally in line with Mike Johnson and Donald Trump .” NEW YORK SPECIAL ELECTION CANDIDATES CLASH OVER BORDER CRISIS, ABORTION: ‘YOU CREATED THIS ISSUE’ Pilip, an Ethiopian Jew who fled to Israel at age 12 to escape persecution and who later enlisted and served in the Israeli military before immigrating to the United States, has linked Suozzi to President Biden and blamed him for the migrant crisis. “You know, he is the one who opened the southern border. He voted with Biden 100% of the time. He supported squad members 90% of the time, he is the one who caused the migrant crisis,” Philip claimed in a Fox News interview on Sunday. Suozzi, a centrist and moderate Democrat, has kept his distance from Biden and his party when it comes to immigration. With Republicans currently holding a fragile 219-212 majority in the House – with four vacancies – a pickup by the Democrats would put the GOP’s grip on the chamber further in peril. The contest may also offer clues to how top issues like immigration and abortion will impact November’s elections. “Tom Souzzi rolled out the red carpet for illegal immigrants,” claims a recent TV ad from the Congressional Leadership Fund, the main super PAC supporting House Republicans. And a commercial from the House Majority PAC, the top super PAC backing House Democrats, charges that “Mazi Pilip is running on a platform to ban abortion.” Besides campaigning heavily on crime and immigration, Pilip – a former Democrat who argues the party “left me and many others” – is also spotlighting the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel as she aims to win voters unhappy with the far-left’s criticism of the Jewish State and support for the Palestinians. But her support of Trump – who she has acknowledged she voted for in 2020 – may hurt her with moderate voters who are not fans of the former president. Suozzi – who unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2022 rather than seek re-election to the House – is showcasing his support for Israel and a trip he made to the country last year. While Suozzi, a campaign veteran, has welcomed his interactions with reporters, Pilip’s public appearances have been carefully managed. The district, which includes a sliver of the outer portion of the New York City borough of Queens, is anchored in neighboring Nassau County. And it’s the kind of suburban district where Democrats need to dominate in the 2024 elections as they aim to reclaim the House majority they lost in the 2022 midterms. But while Democrats have performed well in suburban districts in recent cycles, Republicans have a history of coming out on top on New York’s Long Island. While Biden carried the current confines of the district by eight points in his 2020 presidential election victory, Santos won the 2022 election for the open House seat by the same margin. The final public opinion polls in the special election suggested that Souzzi was clinging to a slight single-digit edge over Pilip. Turnout is considered key in the outcome of this election. Democrats appeared to enjoy a slight edge in the nine-day early voting period, which ended on Sunday. And a winter snowstorm walloped the District on Tuesday morning, as polls opened. While the treacherous weather passed by early afternoon, it could impact Election Day voter turnout. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
User’s Manual to what’s next now that the House impeached Mayorkas
The House has now impeached Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Think of impeachment as an indictment. It’s up to the Senate to act as a “court” and judge whether the accused is guilty of the charges in a trial. The impeachment of cabinet officials is rare. The House has now impeached multiple Presidents and federal judges. But only one cabinet secretary prior to Mayorkas. That was Secretary of War William Belknap in 1876. Don’t expect anything to start until late February or early March. The House will send the articles of impeachment plus the House “managers” over to the Senate to formally begin the trial. SENATE APPROVES $95 BILLION FOREIGN AID BILL “Impeachment managers” are House members who serve as prosecutors. They present the findings of the House before the Senate. Senators sit as jurors. There is a bit of a ceremony to send the articles of impeachment to the Senate from the House and for the Senate to receive the articles. In this case, Acting Clerk of the House Kevin McCumber and House Sergeant at Arms William McFarland escort the articles of impeachment and House managers across the Capitol Rotunda to the Senate. The Senate gathers, usually with all senators sitting at their desks. Senate Sergeant at Arms Karen Gibson then receives the House entourage at the Senate door and reads the following proclamation to the Senate. “All persons are commanded to keep silence, on pain of imprisonment, while the House of Representatives is exhibiting to the Senate of the United States articles of impeachment against Alejandro Nicholas Mayorkas.” The articles are then presented to the Senate and the managers are introduced. That is all they usually do on the first day of a Senate trial– although FOX was told the Senate might try to squeeze everything into one day. BIDEN’S EXPORT SUSPENSION ON LIQUEFIED NATURAL GAS COULD SPIKE YOUR HEAT BILL Under Senate impeachment trial rule III, the body is supposed to wait until the next day to swear-in senators as jurors. But FOX is told that could happen on day one in this instance. According to Senate rules, the trial must begin the day after the Senate receives the articles at 1 pm in the afternoon. Trials are supposed to run Monday through Saturday. We had Saturday sessions in both impeachment trials of former President Trump in 2020 and 2021. It is unlikely that U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts presides over a possible Mayorkas trial. Senate impeachment rule IV requires the Chief Justice to preside over cases involving the President or Vice President. In this case, it’s likely that Senate President Pro Tempore Patty Murray (D-Wash.) presides over a Mayorkas tribunal. Now we get to perhaps the most interesting question of all. How much of a trial is there? The Senate cannot immediately bypass a trial. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has announced that Mayorkas’ trial will begin later in February. The House has named its 11 impeachment managers. Senators will be sworn in as the jury. Senators can decide to hold a full trial, or potentially, move to dismiss or actually have straight, up or down votes on convicting or exonerating Mayorkas. The Senate could also send the articles to a committee for review. SHOOTING BLANKS: HOW REPUBLICANS MISFIRED WHEN THEY TRIED TO IMPEACH MAYORKAS In the 1998 impeachment trial of former President Clinton, late Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) made a motion to dismiss the charges. There will eventually be either a vote to convict/exonerate Mayorkas or dismiss the charges. Senate Republicans will watch very closely if Senate Democrats engineer any vote to short-circuit the trial. The GOP will take note of how multiple vulnerable Democrats facing competitive re-election bids in battleground districts vote. If they vote to end the trial or clear Mayorkas, Republicans will likely enroll that into their campaigns against those Democratic senators. Keep in mind that FOX polling data revealed that border security was the number one issue facing voters in Iowa and New Hampshire. Republicans will examine the trial-related votes of Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) and Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) – if she runs. But the Senate must at least entertain the articles for a day or two – and then render some sort of judgment.
Joe Biden is ‘the big guy,’ Tony Bobulinski said during ‘unshakeable’ testimony amid impeachment inquiry
Hunter Biden’s ex-business associate Tony Bobulinski testified that Joe Biden is “the Big Guy” and said the president “continues to lie” to the American people about his involvement in his son’s business dealings. Bobulinski, who worked with Hunter Biden to create the joint-venture SinoHawk Holdings with Chinese energy company CEFC, and said he met with Joe Biden in 2017, provided “unshakeable” testimony behind closed doors at the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees Tuesday. JOE BIDEN ‘ENABLED’ FAMILY TO SELL ACCESS TO ‘DANGEROUS ADVERSARIES,’ TONY BOBULINSKI TESTIFIES His testimony, which came as part of the House impeachment inquiry against President Biden, lasted for more than eight hours. A source familiar with his testimony told Fox News Digital that he testified that he “personally met” with Biden in May 2017 in Los Angeles on the sidelines of the Milken Conference for somewhere between 45 minutes and an hour. Fox News Digital first reported on that meetings between Bobulinski and Biden in October 2020. Joe Biden, on May 3, 2017, spoke at the conference, hosting “A Conversation with the 47th Vice President of the United States Joe Biden.” Just days after the May 2, 2017, meeting, the now-infamous May 13, 2017, email, which included a discussion of “remuneration packages” for six people in a business deal with a Chinese energy firm. The email appeared to identify Biden as “Chair / Vice Chair depending on agreement with CEFC,” in a reference to now-bankrupt CEFC China Energy Co. The email includes a note that “Hunter has some office expectations he will elaborate.” A proposed equity split references “20” for “H” and “10 held by H for the big guy?” with no further details. FLASHBACK: HUNTER BIDEN BUSINESS ASSOCIATE’S TEXT MESSAGES INDICATE MEETING WITH JOE BIDEN Bobulinski testified Tuesday that Joe Biden is “the big guy.” Bobulinski has, since 2020, said “the big guy” was Joe Biden. But IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler, who claimed that politics had influenced the yearslong federal investigation into Hunter Biden, also said “the big guy” was known to be Joe Biden. Meanwhile, Bobulinski testified that from his “direct personal experience,” it is “clear” that Joe Biden was “‘the Brand’ being sold by the Biden family.’” “His family’s foreign influence peddling operation—from China to Ukraine and elsewhere—sold out to foreign actors who were seeking to gain influence and access to Joe Biden and the United States government,” Bobulinski said in his opening statement, exclusively obtained by Fox News Digital. “Joe Biden was more than a participant in and beneficiary of his family’s business; he was an enabler, despite being buffered by a complex scheme to maintain plausible deniability,” Bobulinski said. “The only reason any of these international business transactions took place—with tens of millions of dollars flowing directly to the Biden family—was because Joe Biden was in high office.” Bobulinski added: “The Biden family business was Joe Biden, period.” Bobulinski served in the U.S. Navy’s Naval Nuclear Power Training Command as a decorated master training specialist instructor; the Command’s chief technology officer, holding “Q security clearance” from the Energy Department and from the National Security Agency; and later served as a direct input officer for the command in his final Navy Fitness Report. Another source familiar with Bobulinski’s testimony told Fox News Digital that he told committee investigators that Jim Biden, the president’s brother, was never concerned about the optics of Joe Biden’s involvement in the family’s foreign business dealings, saying he could claim “plausible deniability.” Bobulinski also told congressional lawmakers that he was never approached by the Justice Department, or Special Counsel David Weiss, to answer questions or provide testimony on anything related to the Bidens. “Tony Bobulinski articulated under oath that Joe Biden was ‘the brand’ the Bidens sold to enrich the family,” House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer said in a statement after Bobulinski’s testimony. “Joe Biden not only knew about his family’s dealings with a Chinese Communist Party linked energy company, but he also enabled them and participated in them. Tony Bobulinski testified he believes Joe Biden committed wrongdoing and continues to lie to the American people about his participation in his family’s influence peddling schemes.” BOBULINSKI OFFERED TO TESTIFY AT HUNTER BIDEN GRAND JURY BUT ‘NEVER HEARD BACK’: SOURCE Comer went on to say Bobulinski “was unshakeable in his testimony today, providing facts Democrats didn’t want to hear.” “As such, Democrats put on a shameful display as they yelled at Mr. Bobulinski, cut him off, belittled him, and threatened him, “Comer said, blasting his Democratic colleagues for “behavior that I’ve frankly never seen before in a transcribed interview.” Comer said he will “soon release the transcript to provide the American people with transparency about Joe Biden’s involvement in his family’s shady schemes and Democrats’ efforts to smear him for blowing the whistle.” But the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, Jamie Raskin, D-Md., said Bobulinski “offers absolutely no testimony that indicates any criminal activity by President Biden… or evidence that President Biden was involved in Hunter Biden’s businesses.” Meanwhile, as Bobulinski left Capitol Hill Tuesday, he turned to reporters and said: “It was a great day for the American people.” Next up before the committee as part of the impeachment inquiry is the president’s brother, Jim Biden, on Feb. 21. Hunter Biden is expected to appear for his deposition on Feb. 28.
U.S. House impeaches Homeland Security Secretary
House Republicans Tuesday evening succeeded in impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas by a single vote over his stewardship of the U.S. immigration system.
WV agriculture bill revives concerns over planned fumigation facility
A West Virginia bill approved by the House of Delegates on Tuesday that limits counties from regulating agricultural operations is stoking fears that a logging company could resurrect plans to build a toxic-spewing fumigation facility in the picturesque Allegheny Mountains. The House voted 84-16 to approve the bill that previously passed the state Senate. Both chambers have Republican supermajorities. The bill would bar counties from usurping state law on agricultural operations, including revoking such county regulations that were previously adopted. The bill “is really just a backdoor way for non-local, corporate entities to build whatever they want, wherever they want, whenever they want, regardless of the impact on local communities,” said Hardy County resident John Rosato. WEST VIRGINIA LAWMAKERS PUSH TO BAN SMOKING IN CARS WITH CHILDREN Last May, Allegheny Wood Products withdrew an application for a state air permit to build a facility off U.S. Route 48 in the Hardy County community of Baker after residents bombarded state regulators with opposition. At the time, the county commission said the company’s efforts would have faced huge hurdles locally. The facility would treat logs before they are shipped overseas. Prior to the company backing down, the state Department of Environmental Protection’s Division of Air Quality said it tentatively planned to issue the permit that would let the facility emit up to nearly 10 tons of the pesticide methyl bromide into the atmosphere each year. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, methyl bromide can cause lung disease, convulsions, comas and ultimately death. It is three times heavier than air and can accumulate in poorly ventilated or low-lying areas and remain in the air for days under adverse conditions. The bill doesn’t specifically address the fumigation facility, but it bans counties from prohibiting the purchase or restricting the use of any federal or state-registered pesticide, herbicide or insecticide. It’s unknown whether Allegheny Wood Products, which has eight sawmills in the state, wants to resume its efforts to obtain an air permit. It would be required to submit a new application. A company official didn’t immediately respond to an email and a phone message left by the AP. Hardy County Commissioner Steven Schetrom said Tuesday it “definitely leaves more of an opening” for Allegheny to file for a permit and “less ability at the local level to produce regulations that would stop something like that from happening.” It also wasn’t known whether Republican Gov. Jim Justice plans to sign the bill. A spokesperson for the governor didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday. The governor’s family owns dozens of businesses, including coal and agriculture. According to the governor’s official website, Justice’s companies farm more than 50,000 acres of corn, wheat, and soybeans in West Virginia and three other states. Also under the bill, county commissions also would be barred from adopting ordinances that regulate buildings on agricultural land or operations. Hardy County is along the Virginia line in the heart of the state’s poultry industry and is less than a two hours’ drive from Washington, D.C. County planner Melissa Scott said the fumigation plant situation is worrisome to many residents but isn’t the only issue in the bill. “Our real concern is the eventual loss of everything our citizens value most and their loss of opportunity to do anything about it,” she wrote in an email Tuesday to the AP. In recent years, lawmakers expanded agriculture definitions to encompass what Scott called “nearly any activity taking place on any rural land.” Now, “it seems that this legislature is set on letting industries make their own rules at any cost to communities,” she said. “The worst part is that this ‘industry above community’ mindset is setting up West Virginia for the next round of exploitation. Do we not learn from our own history?” Scott said her county commission will work to continue to educate the public about the importance of allowing communities to maintain their own values and assets. “Leaving people feeling powerless to make change in their own communities definitely does not improve quality of life,” she said. “It only takes away their desire to stay here.”