Rep. McKinley, West Virginia state auditor McCuskey discuss infrastructure needs with North Central W.Va. mayors

Published

3 years ago

April 19, 2022

Press Room

Rep. McKinley, West Virginia state auditor McCuskey discuss infrastructure needs with North Central W.Va. mayors

Source link

Click to comment

West Virginia House Rejects Vaccine Exemption Bill

Published

9 hours ago

March 24, 2025

Press Room

West Virginia House Rejects Vaccine Exemption Bill

The West Virginia House of Delegates on Monday rejected a bill that would have allowed parents to seek out religious and philosophical exemptions for school vaccinations.

The House, which is composed of 9 Democrats and 91 Republicans, voted 56-42 against the bill, meaning parents and guardians must continue to get their children vaccinated if their children attend West Virginia schools. Two lawmakers were not present or did not vote.

The bill would have mandated that public schools accept the exemptions while private and religious schools have the option to do so. The state Senate voted in favor of the bill. However, the Senate’s version of the bill would’ve mandated that all schools — including public, private and religious ones — accept the exemptions.

Regardless, the House vote blocks a January executive order from West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey (R) that would have allowed families to claim “religious or conscientious” exemptions for their school-aged children.

According to West Virginia’s News, some lawmakers celebrated the bill not passing and called on Morrisey to rescind his executive order.

“Today, members of both parties stood together to prioritize the safety and well-being of West Virginians,” said Del. Anitra Hamilton (D-Monongalia). “We’ve sent a clear message that the health of our children and communities must always come first.”

“Governor Morrissey must now immediately rescind his ill-advised, dangerous, and deadly executive order, respecting the clear voice of our constituents,” said Del. Mike Pushkin (D-Kanawha). “This administration cannot continue to put political pandering ahead of the health and safety of West Virginia families.”

Monday’s vote comes after a group of former state health officers wrote a letter warning lawmakers about “non-medical exemptions” on Friday.

Dr. Matt Christiansen, Dr. Ayne Amjad and Dr. Cathy Slemp argued the financial implications of loosening vaccine requirements, leading to an outbreak, are substantial.

“The cost of a measles outbreak is estimated at $33,000 per case (Pike, et al. 2020),” they wrote. “In West Virginia, the vast majority of these costs would fall to already strained systems ― Medicaid, PEIA, CHIP, the Bureau for Public Health and Local Health Departments. And there are broader societal costs: lost work days, childcare closings, business losses, and days out of school.”

They also added that “strong immunization laws protect our freedom to live without fear of preventable diseases.”

“They protect children with cancer, newborns too young to be vaccinated, pregnant people and the elderly. Weakening these laws will not return us to the rampant disease rates of yesteryear, but will result in some fully preventable illness, birth defects, outbreaks and, yes — on rare but devastating occasions — death,” the letter continued.

Currently, all states and Washington, D.C., allow for medical exemptions for school vaccinations, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

According to data from the National Conference of State Legislatures, 30 states and Washington, D.C. allow for exemptions for religious reasons while 13 states allow religious or personal exemptions. (Two states don’t specify whether the nonmedical exemptions can be religious or personal.) Finally, just five states, including West Virginia, don’t allow any nonmedical exemptions.

The topic of vaccinations has been a polarizing topic for many, as seen in the decline of child vaccination rates in recent years.

As such, a measles outbreak across multiple states has led to hundreds of people contracting the vaccine-preventable disease.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is notably anti-vaccine and has spread numerous false claims about vaccines, was confirmed to his role as Health and Human Services secretary earlier this year. But experts warned ahead of time that Kennedy’s anti-vaccine standpoints could lead to a public health crisis.

Then, two weeks after his confirmation, an unvaccinated 6-year-old child died after contracting the measles amid an outbreak in Texas. The child is the first person to die from the disease in over a decade.

At least one other person has died amid the outbreak this year, according to the CDC.

Kennedy has downplayed the measles outbreak, telling reporters in February that the outbreak is “not unusual” and “we have measles outbreaks every year.”

We Don’t Work For Billionaires. We Work For You.

Big money interests are running the government — and influencing the news you read. While other outlets are retreating behind paywalls and bending the knee to political pressure, HuffPost is proud to be unbought and unfiltered. Will you help us keep it that way? You can even access our stories ad-free.

You’ve supported HuffPost before, and we’ll be honest — we could use your help again. We won’t back down from our mission of providing free, fair news during this critical moment. But we can’t do it without you.

For the first time, we’re offering an ad-free experience to qualifying contributors who support our fearless journalism. We hope you’ll join us.

Support HuffPost

This past week, the parents of the child who died, who are anti-vaccine, said that they still hold those views.

Rep. Kim Schrier (D-Wash.), a pediatrician, slammed Kennedy for the measles outbreak and for his response to the 6-year-old’s death.

“I do blame him and others like him who, for the past 20 years, have been spreading lies about vaccines, which are safe and effective. And that has been proven time and again,” Schrier said. “This is settled science.”

Source link

West Virginia

What channel is North Carolina-WVU today? Time, TV schedule to watch women’s March Madness

Published

21 hours ago

March 24, 2025

Press Room

What channel is North Carolina-WVU today? Time, TV schedule to watch women’s March Madness

North Carolina women’s basketball is one step closer to the Sweet 16 following an easy win over Oregon State on Saturday.

No. 6 seed West Virginia (25-7) will be the next test for the No. 3 Tar Heels (28-7). UNC will host the Mountaineers at 7 p.m. Monday in the 2025 women’s NCAA Tournament second-round game in Chapel Hill’s Carmichael Arena.

North Carolina picked up a 70-49 win over the Beavers in the first round, led by a 19-point performance by Lexi Donarski. Meanwhile, West Virginia earned a 78-59 victory over No. 11 Columbia.

This will mark the second-ever matchup between the Tar Heels and Mountaineers. In the first matchup, North Carolina won 95-56 on Nov. 17, 1979, in Harrisonburg, Virginia.

Here’s how to watch UNC’s second-round game against West Virginia on Monday in the women’s NCAA Tournament:

What channel is UNC vs West Virginia on today?

North Carolina-West Virginia will air live on ESPN2, with streaming options available via March Madness Live or the ESPN app, both with a valid cable login. Another option is Fubo, which offers potential subscribers a free trial and covers the ESPN family of networks.

Watch UNC-WVU women’s basketball live with Fubo (free trial)

North Carolina vs West Virginia time today

Date: Monday, March 24
Time: 7 p.m. ET
Location: Carmichael Arena (Chapel Hill, N.C.)

The Tar Heels-Mountaineers game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. ET tipoff on Monday, March 24, inside Chapel Hill’s Carmichael Arena.

UNC vs West Virginia predictions, picks, odds

Odds courtesy of BetMGM as of Sunday, March 23

Spread: West Virginia (-1.5)
Over/under: 126.5
Moneyline: West Virginia -118 | UNC -102

Prediction: UNC 70, West Virginia 64

The Tar Heels prove too much for the Mountaineers and pull away late in the fourth quarter with a big run.

North Carolina women’s basketball schedule 2024-25

Here are North Carolina’s last five results. See the Tar Heels’ full 2025 schedule here.

March 2: Virginia 78, UNC 75
March 6: UNC 78, Boston College 71 (ACC Tournament)
March 7: UNC 60, Florida State 56 (ACC Tournament)
March 8: NC State 62, UNC 55 (ACC Tournament)
March 22: No. 3 UNC 70, Oregon State 49 (NCAA Tournament)

West Virginia women’s basketball schedule 2024-25

Here are West Virginia’s last five results. See the Mountaineers’ full 2025 schedule here.

Feb. 26: West Virginia 75, Utah 46
March: West Virginia 85, Cincinnati 69
March 7: West Virginia 73, Kansas State 69 (Big 12 Tournament)
March 8: TCU 71, West Virginia 65 (Big 12 Tournament)
March 22: No. 6 West Virginia 78, No. 11 Columbia 59 (NCAA Tournament)

We occasionally recommend interesting products and services. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. USA TODAY Network newsrooms operate independently, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.

Source link

West Virginia

Bullpen falters for Mountaineers in 11-4 loss to Arizona – WV MetroNews

Published

1 day ago

March 23, 2025

Press Room

Bullpen falters for Mountaineers in 11-4 loss to Arizona – WV MetroNews

GRANVILLE, W.Va. — While winning 19 of their first 21 games this season, the Mountaineers have either been on the good side of many lopsided scores or they found the key hit or the key shutdown inning from their bullpen to secure victories.

In the rubber game of their three-game series Sunday against Arizona, WVU could not get timely outs in relief as the Mountaineers fell to the Wildcats, 11-4. The Mountaineers (19-3, 2-2 Big 12) lost their first series of the year.

“I think it is the first time ever that maybe we have experienced a little bit of adversity or things hadn’t gone our way,” said WVU head coach Steve Sabins. “We had bases loaded multiple times and hit some balls really hard. We had a chance for a grand slam in the first, [Michael] Perazza line drive double play.”

“It is a long season. Just taking everything with a grain of salt, trying to win every pitch by pitch,” said WVU senior Kyle West. “Eventually win enough pitches and you will win innings and you’ll win games. That being said, the Big 12 is a tough conference. Anybody can beat anybody on any given day. It has been proven. Just stay present in each moment and you’ll give yourself a chance to win.”

West Virginia fell behind 3-0 in the third inning after starting pitcher Carson Estridge surrendered a solo home run to Adonys Garcia in the second inning and a two-run homer to Maddox Mihalakis in the third. After Garcia’s home run, both teams were warned by umpires after crosstalk between the two dugouts.

“I wasn’t a huge fan. I think something had gone on in the first or second inning where there was a little bit of back-and-forth. After Adonis Guzman hit the home run, he stood there for a little while and then I think talked on his way around the bases. So our guys kind of chirped back a little bit. I thought it was instigated by Arizona today,” Sabins said.

“But I think both teams were passionate in a rubber match and an opportunity to win the game. I wasn’t too worried about it. I just thought in that moment, I didn’t believe that we should probably have received a warning just because it was clearly one side. But I think early in the game, we had chirped at Arizona a little bit. So you can’t blame the umpires ever. They were doing basically their best job to make sure the game doesn’t get out of hand.”

The Mountaineers gained the lead in the bottom of the fourth. Sam White’s two-run home run in the third inning and Jace Rinehart’s two-run double in the fourth put the Mountaineers ahead 4-3.

“If I think about the moment and how big it is too much, I think it gets to me. So every time I go up to the plate, I do the same thing I do every time,” Rinehart said.

While White’s home run put the Mountaineers on the scoreboard, he did not return to the game in the fourth inning and was seen wearing a sling. Sabins did not have an immediate medical update on White following the game.

“He’s a huge part of our locker room and our morale,” West said. “Obviously, he plays a huge role at second base and hitting third every day. From a locker room standpoint, I think us as a team, we’ll do everything we can to make sure he stays up and he’s with us all the time.”

Catcher Logan Sauve did not play a day after he was injured in game two of the series.

“Yesterday he dove at home plate and landed on his shoulder. It was really tender this morning,” Sabins said. “We checked in it see if he could potentially play today and we didn’t think it was a good idea to put him in there today.”

Estridge left the game with the lead after pitching five innings. He allowed three runs and struck out six batters.

“It just was competitive the whole time,” Sabins said. “He gave us a chance to win the game.”

Leading 4-3 in the top of the eighth inning, Mason White’s two-run home run gave Arizona (18-5, 5-1 Big 12) a lead they would not relinquish. Arizona scored four more runs in the eighth and two in the ninth inning to close the game with eight unanswered runs.

WVU’s bullpen, shortened by a 16-inning game on Friday night, cycled through eight pitchers in the final four innings.

“Big impact, it changes what we do. But everyone we threw today is good enough to win the ball game. It just didn’t go our way,” Sabins said.

“I just felt like this whole weekend, it was right within our grasp. Friday, obviously we played 16 innings. We had a lot of opportunities, guys on third and less than two out. You had some men in scoring position Friday. A big win on Saturday and then we can’t quite close the deal on Sunday.”

Tyler Hutson fell to 1-1 on the season with the loss. He surrendered Mason White’s home run in the eighth inning.

Garcia went 3-for-5 with two home runs for Arizona.

West Virginia will host Marshall Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.

Source link