West Virginia
West Virginia’s capital officials reject abortion provider’s proposal to start syringe service
![West Virginia’s capital officials reject abortion provider’s proposal to start syringe service](https://s.abcnews.com/images/US/wirestory_0d4efbd84bc039532c849427e5783047_16x9_992.jpg)
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — City councilors in West Virginia’s Democrat-controlled capital city voted against a proposal from the state’s long-time abortion provider to start a syringe service program in one of the country’s most opioid-devastated areas.
The 17 to 9 vote on Monday came two years after the council and the Republican-controlled state Legislature passed regulations restricting the programs, which are supported by the Centers for Disease Control as scientifically-proven methods to curb drug use and prevent the spread of infections like hepatitis c and HIV. The opposition said they feared the program would bring increased drug use and crime into Charleston’s west side, a low-income area that has suffered from redlining and historic disinvestment.
Supporters of the Women’s Health Center of West Virginia said drug use is already prevalent and that a syringe service program would help more people get into recovery in the community, which has also historically seen the city’s highest percentage of emergency overdose calls.
The meeting was the latest development in a years-long, highly contentious battle for recognition of what is considered medical best practice for harm reduction in substance use disorder and its intersection with poverty, race, and economic equity in West Virginia’s capital city.
“Our city is dying — it’s our responsibility to do something about it,” said Republican Frank Annie, a sponsor of the proposal and a research scientist specializing in cardiovascular health at Charleston Area Medical Center Memorial Hospital.
Annie, who represents the more affluent South Hills and was working with a coalition of all-Democratic councilors, spoke about the high rates of hepatitis c, HIV and endocarditis from intravenous drug use that are “crippling” local healthcare systems.
Dr. Adina Elise Bowe, an addiction psychiatrist with Charleston Area Medical Center, asked councilors to put “emotions aside and look at the evidence” supported by three decades of medical research.
West Virginia is the U.S. state with the highest rate of opioid overdoses. In 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declared Charleston the scene of the country’s “most concerning HIV outbreak” due to intravenous drug use.
Women’s Health Center of West Virginia providers said their proposal was part of an effort to expand services for marginalized communities now that a near-total ban on abortion is in effect in the state.
Syringe service programs operate by allowing people to exchange dirty syringes used to inject drugs for clean, sterile ones. They are CDC-recommended methods to curb the spread of infection and typically offer a range of services, including referrals to counseling and substance use disorder treatment.
Such programs exist nationwide, but they are not without critics, who say they don’t do enough to prevent drug use. The city has one syringe service program now, located in the more affluent east end. A program run out of the Charleston-Kanawha Health Department was shuttered by the city in 2018.
West Virginia Republican Gov. Jim Justice signed a law in 2021 requiring syringe providers to be licensed with the state and recipients to show proof of residency and return each needle after use.
The Charleston City Council followed with an ordinance requiring programs to collect at least 90% of the syringes distributed. Exchange programs violating the restrictions can be charged with a misdemeanor criminal offense, adding fines of $500 to $1,000 per offense. The programs also must be approved by the council and county commission.
Christy Day, a Black west side resident who spoke against the proposal, said she’s tired of coming to city council to talk about programs like syringe service without an equity plan focused on bringing other needed resources, like new families and businesses like grocery stores.
Larry Moore, the city council member representing the west side, said people in his community feel like they haven’t always had a voice in decisions that are made in the city.
Kenny Matthews, a Black man in recovery from opioid use who lives on west side, said syringe service programs save lives by building trust with a hard-to-access community and connecting people to treatment while offering resources like fentanyl test strips and overdose-reversal drugs.
“What we’re asking to be done is to allow people to be surrounded by people that say, ‘You’re worth living. You have something to contribute, and you can be better,’” he said. “If we say that we don’t want harm reduction, then you’re saying that you don’t want people to live.”
After the meeting, Democratic Mayor Amy Goodwin — who voted against the proposal — said she sees the benefit of syringe service programs and voted in support of the existing program run by a clinic for underinsured residents on the east end. But, she said more medical expert testimony and more time was needed to ask questions before being pushed to vote on this latest proposal. Women’s Health Center providers said they reached out to Goodwin to talk about the program in June.
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West Virginia
West Virginia has one of the most dangerous parks in America
![West Virginia has one of the most dangerous parks in America](https://www.wtrf.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/25/2024/04/NRG_Bridge_Sunrise-2-e1713468123729.jpg?w=1280)
WEST VIRGINIA (WTRF) – West Virginia boasts some magnificent parks, but one study warns visitors to be cautious when visiting this Mountain State marvel.
Personal injury litigators at Triumph Law, P.C. found that New River Gorge National Park & Preserve is the seventh most dangerous national park in the US.
New River Gorge has 5 deaths per 1 million visits.
Someone dies in a national park every 29 hours and most deaths are due to human factors rather than nature.
Top 10 Most Dangerous National Parks in America
#
National Park
State(s) / District / Territory
Average yearly visits
Total deaths (2013-2023)
Deaths per 1 million visits
1
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument
AZ
215,881
60
25.27
2
Virgin Islands National Park
VI
299,756
33
10.01
3
Upper Delaware Scenic & Recreational River
NY, PA
252,268
17
6.13
4
Colorado National Monument
CO
441,356
29
5.97
5
Big Bend National Park
TX
431,241
28
5.90
6
Denali National Park & Preserve
AK
478,153
28
5.32
7
New River Gorge National Park & Preserve
WV
1,291,650
72
5.07
8
Redwood National and State Parks
CA
444,254
22
4.50
9
Death Valley National Park
CA, NV
1,219,446
51
3.80
10
Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks
CA
1,680,761
69
3.73
The study analyzed data from official fatality rates occurring in 153 popular national parks across America. it gathered data from the US National Park Service spanning 11 years, from the beginning of 2013 until the end of 2023.
West Virginia
West Virginia white couple alleged to have kept five adopted black children ‘locked in barn and used as slaves’
![West Virginia white couple alleged to have kept five adopted black children ‘locked in barn and used as slaves’](https://e3.365dm.com/24/06/1600x900/skynews-west-virginia-children_6590978.jpg?20240626031828)
A white couple from West Virginia have been accused of child neglect after allegedly forcing their adopted black children to work as ‘slaves’ and locking them in a barn.
Donald Ray Lantz, 63, and Jeanne Kay Whitefeather, 62, pleaded not guilty at Kanawha County court on Tuesday to multiple charges, including human trafficking of a minor child, use of a minor child in forced labour, and child neglect creating substantial risk of serious bodily injury or death, according to local news outlet Metro News.
They also face allegations of human rights violations, over specifically targeting black children and forcing them to work because of their race, Metro News said.
Kanawha County circuit Judge Maryclaire Akers claimed that the children were “used basically as slaves”, citing what the indictment alleges.
The couple were first arrested in October 2023 after a wellness check led to the discovery of two of the couple’s five adopted children – aged six, nine, 11, 14 and 16 – living in inhumane conditions at a property in Sissonville.
In a previous statement made to the court, Whitefeather alleged that the barn where the 14 and 16-year-old were found in was a “teenage clubhouse” and denied that they were locked in.
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A nine-year-old girl was found inside the main house before Lantz came home with an 11-year-old boy and later, Whitefeather returned with a six-year-old.
Their bail has been set at $500,000 each, up from the previous amount of $200,000.
A trial date for the couple has been set for 9 September.
West Virginia
July hearing set for senator’s challenge of election results • West Virginia Watch
![July hearing set for senator’s challenge of election results • West Virginia Watch](https://westvirginiawatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Chandler-Swope.jpg)
A hearing has been scheduled in the case of a West Virginia senator challenging the results of the primary election, which he lost.
Sen. Chandler Swope, R-Mercer, filed a challenge to the election results in seven Mingo County precincts after losing the Republican primary to opponent Craig Hart.
The hearing will be at 9 a.m. July 18 at the Mingo County Courthouse.
In a notice filed earlier this month, Swope said he intends to challenge all votes cast in seven precincts in Mingo County. He requested to examine poll books across the county and reserves the right to amend the challenge to include additional precincts if irregularities are found.
According to the West Virginia Secretary of State’s Office, Hart won 75% or 2,152 votes in Mingo County, while Swope captured 364 and former state Del. Eric Porterfield had 344.
In total, Hart won the election with 4,847 votes amounting to about 40%, while Swope had 4,384 votes, or approximately 37%. Porterfield had 2,633 or 22% of the votes.
Swope’s challenge includes four affidavits and an unsworn letter from Mingo County voters alleging irregularities with the primary election.
Based on the voter accounts and a Republican turnout of more than 70% percent in 12 of 28 precincts, compared with an approximately 47% Republican turnout for the county during the 2020 primary, Swope’s challenge says it appears many Mingo County voters were improperly given a choice about which primary they wanted to participate in, rather than being given the ballot of their respective party registration.
“These issues span multiple precincts, and in all likelihood, explain the unusually high number of Republican ballots submitted,” Swope’s challenge said.
In a joint motion, Swope and Hart requested a procedural hearing around July 1 to discuss procedural issues ahead of the July 18 hearing. They noted that both have filed Freedom of Information Act requests with the Mingo County Clerk’s Office.
Anthony Majestro, a Charleston attorney representing Hart, said the Mingo commission has agreed to allow them to review the poll books Friday to see if it’s mathematically possible for Swope to win the election in the challenged precincts.
Majestro said Swope’s challenge of specific precincts raises issues of disenfranchising people who correctly voted and possibly affecting other races. Swope’s argument about the high percentage of Republican votes cast in the primary is misleading, Majestro said, because it does not take into account independent voters, the number of which have increased in the past few years as the number of registered Democrats has declined.
According to the West Virginia Secretary of State’s office, in April 2020, Mingo County had 3,291 registered Republicans, 12,691 registered Democrats and 1,987 independent voters. As of April 2024, the county has 5113 registered Republicans, 7,202 Democrats and 2,295 independent voters.
“It shouldn’t surprise anybody that the independents are voting in the Republican primary rather than the Democratic primary, because there were no contested races in the Democratic primary …no local races contested,” Majestro said.
Swope was one of four West Virginia senators to lose seats during the primary election last month.
Mingo County Commission President Nathan Brown did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
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