The West Virginia legislature has passed a bill that would ban most abortions after 20 weeks and have sent it to the governor for his signature.
House Bill 4588, called the “Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act,” says that except in the case of medical emergency no abortion may be performed or induced unless the doctor performing the abortion has made a determination of the post fertilization age of the unborn child.
West Virginians for Life released a statement hailing the bill’s passage, saying it will protect West Virginia’s unborn babies and fulfills the state’s interest in making sure unborn children do not experience pain.
“Scientific research demonstrates that unborn babies can feel pain beginning by at least 20 weeks after conception,” the group said.
Pro-abortion groups in the state are making the normal claims that the bill takes away abortion rights.
West Virginia Governor Earl Ray Tomblin has expressed concerns in the past that the bill won’t stand up to a challenge in court.
West Virginia officials announced late Monday they were going to start lifting the water ban for communities impacted by a massive chemical spill.
Governor Earl Ray Tomblin said that a “rolling lift” of the ban would take place to avoid having the water system overtaxed by everyone returning to the system at one time. A mass return would also cause more water quality problems.
Up to 10,000 residents were allowed to use the water system Monday with an additional 25,000 on Tuesday. Officials with West Virginia American Water said it could be a few more days before all customers could return to the system.
Customers were warned that while the water may continue to have an odd odor, it is safe for use in bathing, cooking and cleaning.
Health officials say only 14 people have been admitted to hospitals because of exposure to the tainted water and none are in serious condition. In addition, the river has not seen a fish kill or animal deaths from the contamination.
It was a very long, hard weekend for hundreds of thousands of West Virginians still dealing with the massive chemical spill in the Elk River.
Residents say they have been taking bottled water and food to elderly neighbors and shut-ins as emergency services aren’t meeting the needs of their communities.
“They can’t get out,” Chris Laws, 42, of Marmet, a coal miner, told the Associated Press. “I’m keeping an eye on them. You got to watch out for your neighbors. They’re the ones who are going to watch out for you.”
State officials said Saturday that they now estimate 7,500 gallons of chemicals leaked from a tank at Freedom Industries. They had previously told media sources that only 5,000 gallons had leaked from the tank. They could not say how many gallons made it into the Elk River.
Residents of the capital city Charleston and surrounding towns are still being told not to use tap water for any purpose.
Investigators from a West Virginia Fire Department and the state Department of Environmental Protection found the source of a chemical leak that contaminated the water for up to 300,000 residents in West Virginia.
The source was a leak from a 48,000 gallon storage tank located along the Elk River. The storage tank is a source of water for the 1,500 mile pipeline that carries water to customers throughout central and southwestern West Virginia.
Although the source has been found, this did not solve the problem. More than 1,000 calls were placed in four to five hours to the 911 center, 24 of those calls were for emergency medical services who took approximately five people to local hospitals.
Local business owner, Patricia Peal, not only had to close her floral shop, but also told CNN how the chemical spill is affecting West Virginia citizens.
“It’s all very hectic. You don’t even want to go to the grocery store. I think everyone is in a panic.”
A chemical spill in West Virginia’s Elk River has put 300,000 area residents at risk.
Federal officials are descending into the Charleston area to investigate the leak. The chemical release has poisoned the water supplies for nine counties.
Schools and restaurants were forced to close and residents ordered by Governor Earl Ray Tomblin to not drink, bathe, cook or wash clothes using tap water because of the chemicals in the water.
The extent of the damage has not been able to be determined.
The chemical is a foaming agent used in the preparation of coal. The leak at Freedom Industries somehow broke through a containment area and rushed into the river. A spokesman for the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection said that no more than 5,000 gallons of the chemical escaped into the water.
Officials could not say how long the advisory against using the water will be in effect.
All the shaking going on at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio wasn’t just from students partying on Wednesday.
A 3.5 magnitude earthquake was confirmed by the U.S. Geological Survey as striking just before 1 p.m. local time. The earthquake’s epicenter was almost 5 miles deep and centered 2 ½ miles east-southeast of Nelsonville, Ohio.
The USGS said the quake was felt mainly in southern Ohio and into parts of West Virginia.
The quake was the strongest to hit Ohio since a magnitude 4.0 quake struck Youngstown on December 31, 2011. It was the strongest quake to hit Athens County since a 3.8 quake in 1886.
The USGS says a 3.5 magnitude quake can be felt inside homes.
“At first, I thought a car hit the house. I thought the thing was going to come down. It was one big jolt,” resident Carl Corvin told the Columbus Dispatch.
Students at Ohio University tried to take advantage of the quake by asking the vice president of student affairs on the social network twitter if the quake meant classes were released for the day.
“This is funny. Really. But no. Good try though :),” VP Ryan Lombardi replied.
At least six people are confirmed dead after a Sunday outbreak of tornadoes across the Midwest.
The town of Washington, Illinois was devastated by a massive tornado that tore an 1/8th mile wide track through the entire town. Mayor Gary Manier said that up to 500 homes have been damaged or destroyed and that some neighborhoods are completely destroyed.
“How people survived is beyond me,” Manier said.
The tornadic storms are considered unusual for mid-November. Damaging winds and tornadoes were reported in 12 states: Michigan, Iowa, Illnois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and New York.
The storms moved so fast at times that weather forecasters were warning people to see shelter even before they could see a change in the weather.
The storm threatened the Chicago area forcing the game between the NFL’s Chicago Bears and Baltimore Ravens to be delayed for two hours as teams and spectators huddled under the stadium.
Winter Storm “Q,” which has already dumped a layer of snow in Arizona, New Mexico and Southern California, moves with full force into the eastern Plains and Midwest on Thursday, where it could dump a foot and a half of snow in some areas. Continue reading →
Winter Storm “Q,” which has already dumped a layer of snow in Arizona, New Mexico and Southern California, moves with full force into the eastern Plains and Midwest on Thursday, where it could dump a foot and a half of snow in some areas. 
