Pritzker, a Democrat seeking his third term, said his order was in response to the legislature’s failure to raise data centers’ electricity rates, given their high energy usage, which he asked them to do in February. He plans to push the issue during the veto session in mid-November. 

“Data centers are asking just too much for too little in return, whether it’s electricity or clean water,” Pritzker said in a video posted on X. “We can’t let them cause our utility bills to go up.” 

Ohio paused tax incentives for data centers on Wednesday. Governor Mike DeWine ordered a halt to a program offering tax breaks while a committee studies the economic impact of the projects. 

Read More: Ohio to Halt Data Center Tax Credits as Opposition Grows

The governor’s order on Friday also comes amid growing opposition to data centers. Development projects worth about $64 billion have been delayed or canceled across the US due to community pushback, according to industry researcher Data Center Watch. In January, the city council in Naperville, Illinois, voted down plans for a proposed data center in the Chicago suburb, where many residents expressed fears that the project would increase their water and energy costs.

Pritzker’s move puts him in opposition to a core Democratic constituency: organized labor, which has called for the tax breaks to continue. Unions support the incentives so that their members can build the data centers. Climate Jobs Illinois, an umbrella group representing 15 unions, issued a statement on Friday calling on Pritzker to reverse his pause. 

“This pause does nothing to lower utility bills, protect the grid, or advance clean energy. Instead, it will send billions of dollars in investment and thousands of union jobs to Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio — states that sit on the same electrical grid, where those data centers will be built anyway, just without Illinois workers,” the group said in its statement. 

Read More: Pritzker to Halt Data Center Tax Perks as Power Bills Soar

Pritzker’s order won’t affect agreements entered into before July 1, and companies are still able to seek local tax relief support. The state provided almost $1 billion in tax incentives between 2020 and 2024, according to a report from the state’s Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. Illinois has seen more than $15 billion in investments from data centers. 

An Ohio doctor who received a flood of threats over a pro-vaccine social media post is standing by her message. In a playful TikTok video, Dr. Nicole Baldwin showed the benefits of vaccines, and said they do not cause autism. But that prompted a barrage of hateful responses. Despite scientific evidence that there’s no link between vaccines and autism, a recent poll found 46% of parents are still unsure. Dr. Jon LaPook joins “CBS This Morning” to discuss how doctors can counter misinformation about vaccines.

A Michigan resident has died of rabies after receiving a transplanted organ in Ohio, the Toledo-Lucas County (Ohio) Health Department reported Wednesday. 

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services confirmed the report, saying the patient died in January and the transplant happened in December.

“A public health investigation determined they contracted rabies through the transplanted organ,” the Michigan agency said.

The patient had received a transplanted organ and was under care in Lucas County, where they died. Because the person was a Michigan resident, it will be counted as a Michigan human rabies case rather than an Ohio one, the local health department said. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), it is Michigan’s first human case of rabies since 2009. 

Lucas County and its county seat of Toledo are just south of the Michigan-Ohio state line. Authorities from both states were involved in the investigation; and the CDD made the rabies confirmation.

The organ donor was not a resident of Michigan or Ohio, Michigan officials added.  

“A multi-state public health investigation was conducted to determine the risk of exposure to the recipient and found no risk to the general public,” the Toledo health report said. 

The CDC explains that rabies is a viral disease that is deadly to humans if medical care is not received before symptoms start. It is usually spread to humans and pets through bites or scratches from an infected animal. 

Fewer than 10 deaths are reported each year among humans in the United States. 

Each year, 60,000 Americans receive medical care after a potential rabies exposure. 

“Post exposure preventative care, if appropriate, has been provided,” the Michigan agency said in its statement about this case. 

Ohio’s health department confirmed Saturday that a farmer in the state was discharged from the hospital after being sickened by bird flu, marking the fourth American to have been hospitalized with the H5N1 virus.

“The individual had respiratory symptoms. He was previously hospitalized and has since been released,” a spokesperson for Ohio’s health department told CBS News in an email Saturday.

Authorities in Ohio had previously refused to disclose the status of their bird flu case, which was first announced earlier this week in a man who had contact with sick poultry. 

News of the hospitalization comes a day after Wyoming announced the third U.S. hospitalization from bird flu, linked to exposure to an infected backyard flock. 

Wyoming’s health department declined Saturday to release details of the patient’s status, who is hospitalized in neighboring Colorado.

“We don’t typically provide information on patient condition due to privacy concerns,” spokesperson Kim Deti said in an email to CBS News. 

Deti said that the hospitalization in Colorado occurred within the last two weeks, “just a couple of days” after they had been exposed to sick poultry at their home in Wyoming’s Platte County.

The vast majority of human cases have been blamed on direct, often intensive exposure to sick cows or birds.

Data reported so far by the CDC from testing labs suggests that this winter’s record surge of influenza is being driven by seasonal strains of the virus, not human-to-human spread of a bird flu strain.

However, investigations of a handful of human bird flu cases in the U.S. have so far not been able to identify a source of how they may have gotten sick.

The first U.S. bird flu hospitalization was reported last year in Missouri, though health officials think the patient tested positive while hospitalized for other reasons, not bird flu. A second hospitalization was later reported in Louisiana, in a patient who died from the virus.

Which bird flu strain sickened the new cases?

It is unclear which strain of the H5N1 bird flu virus caused the Ohio and Wyoming cases. Answering that question has been a focus of experts and health officials for previous cases, as they track the evolution of the virus.

Federal authorities usually take samples of the virus and analyze them for worrying mutations that might raise the risk of the virus spreading between humans or causing more severe disease. 

A spokesperson for Ohio’s health department said that information was not immediately available. Wyoming has also not confirmed the genotype of their case, though the state’s veterinarian says flocks in the county where the patient lived recently tested positive for the B3.13 strain of the virus.

A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment about whether that had occurred for these cases.

Many human cases of bird flu in the U.S. to date have been in dairy workers after working with sick cows infected by the B3.13 strain of the H5N1 virus. 

Scientists suspect that B3.13 is less severe for humans. Until recently, it had been the only bird flu strain detected spreading between dairy herds and into some nearby poultry farms.

But a new strain called D1.1 has grown to dominate the spread between wild migratory birds in recent months. That strain has also contributed to a surge of spillovers from wild birds to poultry flocks that have driven up egg prices nationwide.

D1.1 was also behind the first confirmed U.S. fatality from bird flu, in the Louisiana patient. A child in Canada was also hospitalized with D1.1 last year.

D1.1 has also spread at least twice now in recent weeks from birds to dairy herds, the U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed Friday, dashing hopes that the spillover which started the B3.13 dairy herd outbreaks in late 2023 was a one-off.

Many residents of East Palestine, Ohio, expressed outrage about the appeal because it will delay the payments they had been counting on to help them recover from the toxic train crash that disrupted their lives when it spewed hazardous chemicals into their community. Some people had planned to use the money to relocate.

People in town who are frustrated they won’t get their money right away lashed out at Rev. Joseph Sheely and started threatening him and his wife Monday because his name is on the appeal. Sheely did challenge the settlement this summer but said he specifically asked his lawyer to leave him out of any appeal and doesn’t want any part in it. He said with the serious health concerns he and his wife developed since the derailment, they can no longer tolerate the stress of being at the center of the case.

“I was trying to do something for the residents of East Palestine, including myself,” Sheely said. “But it seems like they don’t want anybody to do anything. They just want the cash. And so I’m done. I’m so totally done.”

The plaintiffs’ attorneys had hoped to start sending out the first checks before the end of the year, but that won’t happen because the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals will first have to address concerns about whether the deal offers enough compensation and whether residents were given enough information to decide whether it is fair.

“We will do everything in our power to quickly resolve this appeal and prevent any further burdens on the residents and local businesses that want to move forward and rebuild their lives,” the plaintiffs’ attorneys said in a statement. “It is tragic that one person is substituting their judgment for the entire community who wants this settlement, and instead of opting out, they have gone this route.”

The lawyers estimated that the payments will be delayed at least six to 12 months while the appellate court considers the appeal that was filed Friday but they could be delayed even longer if the case is appealed up to the U.S. Supreme Court or sent back for additional proceedings in Judge Benita Pearson’s court.

Sheely’s attorney, David Graham, said the statement from the plaintiff’s attorneys only served to put more pressure on his client and spurred on the threats.

“Their reckless statements have put my client in jeopardy and make my client feel unsafe in his own community,” Graham said.

The settlement offered payments of up to $70,000 per household for property damage and up to $25,000 per person for injuries to those who lived within two miles of the derailment. The payments would drop off significantly further out with only a few hundred dollars offered to people who live closer to the limit of 20 miles (32 kilometers) away.

The appeal won’t increase the $162 million in legal fees and $18 million in expenses the judge awarded to the plaintiff’s attorneys last week unless the deal is overturned and new fees are awarded as part of the case.

Residents posting on the “East Palestine off the rails!” Facebook group accused the pastor who filed the appeal of being greedy because one of his objections to the deal is the frustration that any payments residents received from the railroad since the derailment to temporarily relocate or replace damaged belongings will be deducted from any settlement they receive. Some characterized that as a desire to be compensated twice for the derailment.

But the vocal few who objected to the deal have said they have deeper concerns. They have said they don’t know the full extent of the chemicals they were exposed to because the plaintiff’s lawyers have refused to disclose what their expert found when he tested in town and because the Environmental Protection Agency doesn’t disclose everything it knows about the extent of the lingering contamination.

The town of East Palestine remains deeply divided over the derailment with some residents eager to move forward and put the disaster behind them while others who are still dealing with unexplained health problems can’t see how to do that. The dispute over the appeal in the class action case only adds to the divisions.

If Brown loses, the chances get much higher that Republicans take the Senate majority, and Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) potentially becomes the next chairman. Though Scott’s crypto views had long been muted, he recently cheered on digital assets innovations at the Nashville Bitcoin 2024 event, and at a symposium in Wyoming hosted by the SALT Conference, he floated a crypto-specific subcommittee if he wins the gavel.

Ransomware has long been plaguing American municipalities. It appeared to be another typical ransomware attack that impacted the city of Columbus, Ohio, this past July. The city’s response to the hack, however, was not, and it has cybersecurity and legal experts across the country questioning its motives.

Connor Goodwolf (legal name is David Leroy Ross) is an IT consultant who plumbs the dark web as part of his job. “I track dark web-type crimes, criminal organizations, and stuff like what the Telegram CEO has been arrested for,” Goodwolf said.

So when word got out that the city of Columbus, his hometown, had been breached, Goodwolf did what he does: he poked around online. It didn’t take him long to discover what the hackers had in their possession.

“It wasn’t the biggest, but it was one of the most impactful breaches I have seen,” Goodwolf said.

In some ways, he described it as a routine breach, with personal identifiable information, protected health information, Social Security numbers and driver’s license photos exposed. However, because multiple databases were breached, it was more encompassing than other attacks. According to Goodwolf, the hackers had breached multiple databases from the city, the police, and the prosecutor’s office. There were arrest records and sensitive information about minors and domestic violence victims. Some of the breached databases, he says, went back to 1999. 

Goodwolf found over three terabytes of data that took over 8 hours to download.

“The first thing I see is the prosecutor’s database, and I’m like ‘holy sh-t’ these are domestic violence victims. When it comes to domestic violence victims, we need to protect them the most because they have already been victimized once, and now they are again by having their information exposed,” he said.

Goodwolf’s first action was to contact the city to let them know how serious the breach was, because what he saw contradicted official statements. At a press conference on August 13,  Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther said: “The personal data that the threat actor published to the dark web was either encrypted or corrupted, so the majority of the data came by the threat actor is unusable.”

But what Goodwolf was finding didn’t support that view. “I tried to reach out to the city multiple times to multiple departments and was blown off,” he said.

Google-owned Mandiant, as well as many other top cybersecurity firms, have been tracking a continued increase in ransomware attacks, both in prevalence and severity, and the rise of the Rhysida Group behind the Columbus hack, which has come into prominence within the last year.

The Rhysida Group claimed responsibility for the hack. While not much is known about the cyber gang, Goodwolf and other security experts say they appear to be state-sponsored and based in Eastern Europe, possibly linked to Russia. Goodwolf says these ransomware gangs are “professional operations” with a staff, paid vacation, and PR people.

“They have ramped up the attacks and targets since last autumn,” he said.

The U.S. government’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency issued a bulletin about Rhysida last November.

Goodwolf said that because no one from the city responded to him he went to the local media and shared data with journalists to get the word out about the seriousness of the breach. And that is when he heard from the city of Columbus, in the form of a lawsuit and a temporary restraining order preventing him from disseminating additional information. 

The city defended its response in a statement to CNBC:

“The City initially moved to obtain this order, which was granted by the Court, to prevent the dissemination of sensitive and confidential information, potentially including the identities of undercover police officers, that threatens public safety and criminal investigations.”

The city’s temporary 14-day restraining order against Goodwolf has since expired, and now it has a preliminary injunction and an agreement with Goodwolf not to release more data.

“It should be noted that the Court order does not prohibit the defendant from discussing the data breach or even describing what kind of data was exposed,” the city’s statement added. “It simply prohibits the individual from disseminating the stolen data posted on the dark web. The City remains engaged with federal authorities and cyber security experts to respond to this cyber intrusion.”

Meanwhile, the mayor did have to perform a mea culpa at a subsequent press conference, saying his initial statements were based on the information he had at the time. “It was the best information we had at the time. Clearly, we discovered that that was inaccurate information and I have to accept responsibility for that.”

Realizing the exposure to residents was greater than first thought, the city is offering two years of free credit monitoring from Experian. This includes anyone who has had contact with the city of Columbus via an arrest or other business. Columbus is also working with Legal Aid to see what additional protections are needed for domestic violence victims who may have been compromised or need help with civil protection orders.

To date, the city has not paid the hackers, who were demanding $2 million in ransom.   

‘He’s Not Edward Snowden’

Those who study cybersecurity law and work within the realm expressed surprise at Columbus filing a civil lawsuit against the researcher.

“Lawsuits against data security researchers are rare,” said Raymond Ku, professor of law at Case Western Reserve University. On the rare occasion they do happen, he said, it is usually when the researcher is alleged to have disclosed how a flaw was or can be exploited, which would then allow others to take advantage of the flaw as well.

“He wasn’t Edward Snowden,” said Kyle Hanslovan, CEO of cybersecurity company Huntress, who described himself as troubled by the city of Columbus’s response and what it could mean for future breaches. Snowden was a government contract employee who leaked classified information and faced criminal charges, but considered himself a whistleblower. Goodwolf, Hanslovan says, is a Good Samaritan who independently found the breached data.

“In this case, it appears we have just silenced someone who, as far as I can tell, appears to be a security researcher who did the bare minimum and confirmed the official statements made were not true. This can’t possibly be an appropriate use of the courts,” Hanslovan said, predicting the case will be quickly overturned.

Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein said during a September press conference that the case was “not about freedom of speech or whistleblowing. This is about downloading and disclosure of stolen criminal investigatory records.”

Hanslovan worries about the ripple effect where cybersecurity consultants and researchers are afraid to do their jobs for fear of being sued. “The bigger story here is are we seeing the emergence of a new playbook” for hacking response in which individuals are silenced, and that should not be welcomed, he said. “Silencing any opinion, even for 14 days, could be enough to prevent something credible from coming to light, and that terrifies me,” Hanslovan said. “That voice needs to be heard. As we see bigger cybersecurity incidents come up, I am worried that folks will be more concerned bringing them to light.”

Scott Dylan, founder of United Kingdom-based venture capital firm NexaTech Ventures, also thinks the actions of the city of Columbus could induce a chilling effect on the field of cybersecurity.

“As the field of cyberlaw continues to mature, this case is likely to be referenced in future discussions about the role of researchers in the aftermath of data breaches,” Dylan said.

He says legal frameworks must evolve to keep pace with the sophistication of both cyberattacks and the ethical dilemmas they generate, and the approach taken by Columbus is a mistake.

Meanwhile, the legal process will grind on for Goodwolf. Despite Columbus and Goodwolf reaching an agreement last week on the dissemination of information, the city is still suing him for damages in a civil suit that could reach $25,000 or higher. Goodwolf is representing himself in his talks with the city, though says that he has a lawyer on standby, if needed.

Some residents have filed a class-action lawsuit against the city. Goodwolf says that 55% of the information breached has been sold onto the dark web, while 45% is available for anyone with the skills to access it.

Dylan thinks the city is taking a big risk, even if its actions may be legally defensible, by creating the appearance of an attempt to silence discourse rather than encourage transparency. “It’s a strategy that could backfire, both in terms of public trust and future litigation,” he said.

“I am hoping the city realizes the mistake of filing a civil suit and the implications not just on security,” Goodwolf said, noting that Intel is spending billions, with significant federal government support, to build chipmaking facilities in a Columbus suburb. In recent years, the city has been positioning itself as a new tech hub in the Midwest’s “Silicon Heartland,” and attacking white hats and cybersecurity researchers, he said, could cause some in the tech sector to rethink it as a location.