MetroNews This Morning
MetroNews This Morning 6-24-24
Today on MetroNews This Morning:
--A study takes a look at the impact of last year's train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio
--Gas is flowing through the MVP and it's a milestone for the state's natural gas industry
--A woman uses her daughter's tragic death to hopefully improve the lives of others
--In Sports: WVU's new baseball coach addresses the media and the College World Series ends tonight
- Duration:
- 15m
- Broadcast on:
- 24 Jun 2024
- Audio Format:
- mp3
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Slide-breaking temperature today, according to the forecast, but more sunshine and highs today only on the upper 80s, rather than the mid to upper 90s. We'll have the complete forecast coming up in just a moment for you. Right now, though, let's check what's been happening over the weekend in West Virginia. The Metro News anchor desk this morning is Carrie Hootesack. Good morning, Carrie. Good morning, Chris. A recent study suggests pollutants from last year's East Palestine terrain derailment caused a mineral shock that was detected in more than a dozen states. David Gay is a coordinator at the National Atmospheric Deposition Program and scientists at the University of Wisconsin. We saw those very high concentrations, and again, it's high relative to what we normally see in our network during the week of the accident. And after the accident, those concentrations went back to normal, and we saw them at a broad range of sites across the Midwest and the Northeast. Ground samples were taken before and after the disaster, you can read more about the study at wvmetronews.com. There are emergency communication issues in Montagalia County. First responders in Mont County dealing with inadequate radio coverage in the western end of the county, Mickey Reinhardt, President of the County Volunteer Fire Association says with poor radio and cell reception, police, fire and EMS can be limited in their ability to respond to those in need. But it's pretty much from what I'm understanding is the state hands because it's their radio system itself. We're dealing with. Reinhardt says are working with local leaders and state officials to find a solution. I'm Mike Knowlting for wvmetronews.com. Natural gas is flowing through the Mountain Valley pipeline, a project that has been in the works for years and has finally come to fruition. Marcella Shale Coalition President Dave Callahan says this is a major and historic milestone in the next evolution of the natural gas industry. It checks a lot of boxes, to be honest with you. It's over when fully subscribed and when fully operational. Two billion cubic feet of gas flowing out of the basin. You know, this is the biggest basin in America. And we just need the means to get that product where it's needed. The pipeline crosses nine West Virginia counties to deliver natural gas to East Coast markets. A Canal County High School principal has been arrested for allegedly driving under the influence. Herbert Hoover High School principal Mike Kelly was pulled over near Fort Hill Drive and Cantley Drive off US Route 119 in Charleston. After police say he was seen driving into the median swerving and stopping at a red light in the middle of an intersection. A criminal complaint says Kelly had slowed speech, the smell of alcohol, bloodshot eyes and became unresponsive. He was taken to CAMC. Canaw County school officials confirm the arrest but said they could not comment on personnel matters. Wheeling police are investigating a fatal crash along State Route 2. Police say a vehicle crashed into the guardrail early Sunday morning. The driver, 23-year-old Seth O'Brythe of Wheeling, was ejected from the car and taken to Wheeling Hospital where he later died. Two North Carolina firefighters are dead following an ATB wreck in West Virginia. The firefighters were from Cleveland North Carolina-based Rowan Iredale Fire Department. The two were on vacation but it's unclear where they were in West Virginia. Hospital workers in West Virginia still face a big challenge having enough staff to take care of patients at facilities statewide. West Virginia Hospital Association Vice President Melanie Dempsey says patient care is impacted when there are fewer workers. What you see that translate to is sometimes hospitals will have to scale back how many patients they have in-house. They may have to scale back some of the services we offer and we never want to do that. A report last year shows staffing levels have decreased due to declining college enrollment, increased burnout, an aging workforce with less people entering healthcare fields overall and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. WVU medicine president and CEO Albert Wright says some of the operating rooms at Berkeley Medical Center are expected to be back in operation early next month after flooding caused some damage there during the Memorial Day weekend. Five of the ten will be brought back up on I think July 3rd and then about two weeks later we'll have the other five brought up. So we'll have all ten by this time next month operation. The Jefferson Medical Center has been covering a number of procedures usually handled in Berkeley County. Pipestem Resort State Park CEO Michael Butchler says they have a lot of summer activities including zip lining, axe throwing, archery and more. He says the new additions to the park fill a gap in the Bluestone River portion of the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve and Southern West Virginia. You know this part of the state didn't have too many adventurous activities. We're not quite quite as developed as Fayetteville in that regard. So this is a big addition to this area, Southern West Virginia, and it's very well received. We have a lake full of kids on a daily basis. The weekend you can expect a couple hundred people down here coming and going. Read more at wvmacronews.com. Two winners have been crowned in the Miss West Virginia Pageants. Jennifer Rooster of Wheeling is the new Miss West Virginia and says she plans to hit the ground running with her Wellness Across West Virginia Initiative. Yes, I plan to spread my initiative Wellness Across West Virginia, exactly so, across our state and I'm so blessed. We've got a physician's assistant degree from the University of Charleston and did her undergrad at Marshall University. Demi Breden of Charlestown was named Miss West Virginia Teen. This is so good to me. I can't stop crying. This is the best thing to ever have. The pageant winners were announced Saturday night in Martensburg. Thank you, Carrie. Coming up in a moment. A Virginia based nonprofit is working to change the lives of families in West Virginia. We'll tell you about that and then cowwigs is back. 11 update on sports. All still ahead. Stay with us. West Virginia, the all new Metro News TV app has arrived. Metro News Television brings our award-winning content to your connected device. So now you can watch on your phone, television, tablet, or laptop. Just download the app and you've got Metro News Television absolutely free. It's Metro News for your ears and your eyes. Download the free app on Roku, Amazon Devices, Apple TV, iOS, and Android. Direct links to each platform available at www.metronewstv.com. Metro News TV, now you can watch the voice of West Virginia. Coming up, cowwigs is back in hill app sports in just a moment. Right now, in our background, we're a Virginia based nonprofit is working to change the lives of families in West Virginia who suffer from medical disorders. Sarah Knight is founder of the Sweet Julia Grace Foundation and says they hope to make an impact to the mountain state. She talks more about the foundation that she formed in her background. The foundations in honor of my little girl, Julia. So Julia was born here in West Virginia in 2002 and she was born with a really rare genetic disease. And when she was born, we were told by doctors that she would probably only have a lifespan of about three to four years. And she actually lived for 12 years and so she passed away in 2013. And when she passed away, I started this foundation to carry on her legacy because she was a world changer. We always said that she truly taught us that life is not about waiting for the storms to pass. It's learning to dance in the rain. And so no matter what she went through, she always had a smile on her face. And in the midst of everything, she just really taught us what life was about. And so we basically started a foundation to come alongside families like ours and all the kids that we help, we call rain dancers in honor of that quote. So when she was here, we had that quote everywhere. And it really became her life quote. And when I had the inspiration to start this foundation, I was like, you know, it only makes sense to carry that on. And these kids that we help are truly rain dancers. And so sometimes people are like, what's the rain dancer? I'm like, well, let me just tell you. Like these kids are resilient and brave and courageous and their siblings are and their families are. And we basically come alongside them and we just say, hey, we're here to help. What can we do? And it's kids that are going through medical crisis, have special, complex special needs, chronic illnesses, maybe they're in an accident. And so now their life's been changed because of that. And so all the rain dancers that we help, we basically just do whatever we can to support that family, whether it's graining a wish for the child that might bring them joy or if it's helping the family with the need that they have. You can learn more about the foundation at wvmetronews.com. Now the sports desk, Kyle Wigs is in. Kyle, the volunteers gave me like six heart attacks over the weekend trying to watch that national, that college world series championship, but they did force a game three yesterday with a victory over Texas A&M. Yes, Texas A&M one game one on Saturday nine to five. But as you mentioned, Tennessee bounced back and beat Texas A&M four to one on Sunday. That forces the winner. Take all game three of the championship series tonight. So it is the end of the college baseball season tonight. Either Tennessee or Texas A&M will win the championship game three in Omaha tonight following Tennessee's four to one victory on Sunday close to the home and college baseball. Newmont near coach, Steve Sabins was eventually introduced to the media back on Friday. He takes over for the retiring Randy Maisie. Sabins is a Texas native. He's been on the staff for nine years as an assistant. He's been associate head coach. He's been recruiting coordinator. And now the head coach taking over a mount near program that went to a super regional for the first time in program history this year. Again more at W of the Met Grownews dot com. North Marion high school graduate, Chase Reinhardt transferring into the program after three years at USC upstate. Reinhardt this past year hit 366 with 17 home runs 59 RBI. That was a two time all big South Conference selection. He'll conclude his college career with the mountaineers next season. Tampa Bay beat the Pirates three to one. Didn't beat Paul Skeens though. Skeens allowed just one run with eight strikeouts over seven. Tampa scored two runs in the eighth inning off the Pirates bullpen and one three to one. Boston beat the red seven to four Houston eight and Baltimore one. Game seven of the NHL finals tonight in Florida Panthers against Edmonton. Thank you Cal week day morning start today with a full three hours of news on the West Virginia morning news. Hear us on great radio stations in every corner of the mountain state or catch the live stream at our website WV Metronews dot com. Now with today's commentary, here's the voice of Metronews. Hoppy Kirchival. Chris Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry last week signed into law. A bill that requires the display of the ten commandments in every public classroom in the state. The new law reignites the debate about the separation of church and state and certainly will be challenged in court as a violation of the establishment clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution. Landry says he welcomes the fight. Quote, I can't wait to be sued if you want to respect the rule of law. You've got to start with the original law giver which was Moses. Well, the governor is correct since Moses received the commandments from God on Mount Sinai and those commandments have undeniable historic and religious significance and the courts have said so. In fact, Moses and the ten commandments are prominently displayed at the U.S. Supreme Court building. However, the Supreme Court and a third grade classroom in, say, Baton Rouge are not the same and I'll get to that in a minute. The Louisiana Wall states that in 2005, the Supreme Court in Van Orden v. Perry recognized that it is permissible to display the ten commandments on government property. In that case, it was a monument on the grounds of the Texas State Capitol. However, that is only part of the decision. Chief Justice William Ringquist, who wrote the decision, also said, "There are, of course, limits to the display of religious messages or symbols." For example, he wrote, "We held unconstitutional, a Kentucky statute, requiring the posting of the ten commandments in every public classroom." So the very decision Louisiana lawmakers used to justify their bill, in fact undermines their own argument. As Ringquist wrote, the placement of the ten commandments monument on the Texas State Capitol grounds is a far more passive use of those than was the case where the text confronted elementary school students every day. What do Louisiana lawmakers expect will be gained from the posting of the ten commandments? State Representative Donnie Horton, a Republican sponsor of the bill, said, "Given all the junk our children are exposed to in the classrooms today, it is imperative that we put the ten commandments back in a prominent position." Well, kids being kids, they'll probably just ignore them. Teachers have a hard enough time getting children to focus on the daily lesson plans. But it does make me wonder how that third-grade teacher, for example, is going to handle it when an inquisitive young student asks for an explanation of the tenth commandment. That reads, "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his cattle, or anything else that is thy neighbors." A candid explanation about what it means to covet a neighbor's wife, it's probably going to be enough to land that teacher in hot water from parents or upset for exposing their children to material deemed inappropriate. Maybe the Louisiana legislature can deal with that next session. Chris. Thanks, Op. And Hoppy returns at 10 or 6 this morning with Metro News Talkline on the radio statewide and streaming at wvmetronews.com. Now that West Virginia weather forecast for the day, low clouds are expected to form across the mountains and the foothills a result of the lingering moisture from the weekend. Relief from the mid to upper 90-degree temperature starts today with the near to slightly below normal high expected. Dryer weather taking hold as high pressure moves in behind this cold front. Above normal temperatures return for tomorrow and Wednesday. Shower and thunderstorm activity may be in the forecast for Wednesday and Wednesday night as the cold front will move back through. More seasonable temperatures will return on Thursday behind that front. And now you're up to date. Have yourself a great day for Hoppy Kerchable. Kyle Wigs and Kerry Huda Sec. I'm Chris Lawrence on Metro News, the voice of West Virginia. Metro News This Morning is an exclusive production of the Metro News Radio Network. All rights reserved. (upbeat music)