Southeast
WV’s forensic pathologists reportedly perform twice as many autopsies as industry standard
Forensic pathologists in West Virginia are being asked to perform at least twice as many autopsies as the national best practice standard, resulting in significant delays, the state office of the chief examiner said Tuesday.
West Virginia’s current turnaround on autopsy reports is around 240 days, or about eight months, a representative from the West Virginia Office of the Chief Medical Examiner told state lawmakers during state Capitol interim meetings.
The National Association of Medical Examiners, the office that accredits U.S. death investigations offices, dictates that 90% of autopsy reports should be returned within 60 to 90 days.
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“Make no bones about it, our performance is not satisfactory,” said Matthew Izzo, administrative director of the West Virginia Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
More than 300 autopsy reports are unfinished a year or more, Izzo said.
The office is expected to conduct a total of 3,600 to 3,800 autopsies this year with a staff of around six full-time pathologists. The National Medical Examiners Association standards recommend that pathologists perform no more than 250 autopsies a year. If pathologists perform more than 325 a year, the office risks losing accreditation.
Izzo said he’d like around 12 pathologists to help split up the workload, but that recruiting and hiring is a challenge, as it is across the U.S. because of a massive, ongoing forensic pathology workforce shortage. In the meantime, the office has been contracting with physicians on a part-time basis to try to mitigate the backlog.
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West Virginia does not perform an autopsy — a post-mortem surgical procedure by a forensic pathologist to determine the cause of death — for all people. Autopsies are reserved for homicides, suicides, deaths of children and those in correctional facilities, and other unexpected cases.
After the autopsy, pathologists complete a report explaining their findings and results, including an official cause of death. Reports can help determine whether a death was an accident, a suicide or a homicide. They shed light on child deaths, or show whether a person accused of murder acted in self-defense.
Often, without death certificates, families have to wait to collect insurance and settle loved ones’ affairs. Pending death certificates can be issued, but they will not be accepted in the majority of insurance cases.
“We’ve had calls coming into our office where a lady was eight months out, and she was being evicted from her home. Especially when the primary breadwinner, whether it’s the husband or wife, passes. … it really puts them in a situation of how are they going to pay the bills, the mortgage, car payment, kids, etc,” said Robert Kimes, executive director of the West Virginia Funeral Directors and Crematory Operators Association.
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Southeast
Federal judge strikes down Biden admin's Title IX rewrite
A federal judge in Kentucky blocked the Biden administration’s attempt to redefine sex in Title IX as “gender identity,” striking down the change nationwide.
The U.S. District Court Eastern District of Kentucky Northern Division made the ruling in Cardona v. Tennessee on Thursday.
“Another massive win for TN and the country!” Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said in a post on X. “This morning, a federal court ruled in our favor and vacated the Biden admin’s radical new Title IX rule nationwide.
“The court’s order is resounding victory for the protection of girls’ privacy in locker rooms and showers, and for the freedom to speak biologically-accurate pronouns.”
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., released a statement on the ruling.
“It is clear the Biden-Harris administration completely lost its way on Title IX. They betrayed the original intent of Title IX by removing longstanding protections that ensured fairness for women and girls. Good to see this harmful regulation overturned,” he said. “With President Trump and a Republican majority in Congress, we will ensure women and girls have every opportunity to succeed on the field and in the classroom.”
The ruling came months after the Supreme Court rejected the Biden administration’s emergency request to enforce portions of a new rule that would have included protections from discrimination for transgender students under Title IX.
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The sweeping rule was issued in April and clarified that Title IX’s ban on “sex” discrimination in schools covers discrimination based on gender identity, sexual orientation and “pregnancy or related conditions.”
The rule took effect Aug. 1, and, for the first time, the law stated that discrimination based on sex includes conduct related to a person’s gender identity.
It led to more than two dozen attorneys general suing over the rule, arguing it would conflict with some of their state laws that block transgender students from participating in women’s sports.
“When Title IX is viewed in its entirety, it is abundantly clear that discrimination on the basis of sex means discrimination on the basis of being a male or female,” the court’s opinion read. “As this Court and others have explained, expanding the meaning of ‘on the basis of sex’ to include ‘gender identity’ turns Title IX on its head.
“While Title IX sought to level the playing field between men and women, it is rife with exceptions that allow males and females to be separated based on the enduring physical differences between the sexes.”
Kristen Waggoner, president, CEO and general Counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom, said in a statement the ruling was a “colossal win for women and girls” in the U.S.
“The Biden administration’s radical attempt to redefine sex not only tossed fairness, safety, and privacy for female students out the window, it also threatened free speech and parental rights,” she added. “With this ruling, the federal court in Kentucky rejected the entire Biden rule and the administration’s illegal actions. We are thankful for the leadership of Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti and other state attorneys general who challenged this blatant overreach alongside our courageous clients.
“This ruling provides enormous relief for students across the country, including our client who has already suffered harassment by a male student in the locker room and on her sports team. The U.S. Supreme Court can further protect girls like our client by granting cases brought by the ACLU against West Virginia and Idaho laws that protect women’s sports.”
The decision came as Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., is set to push the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act to the Senate Floor.
A procedural vote on it will happen on Friday.
Fox News’ Julia Johnson and Chad Pergram contributed to this report.
Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
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Southeast
Laken Riley Act roils NJ governor’s race as 2 Dems skip roll: ‘The more someone campaigns the less they vote'
Two Democrats in the 2025 race to succeed term-limited New Jersey Gov. Philip Murphy did not cast votes this week in Congress on the Laken Riley Act, leading them to be lambasted by gubernatorial candidates from both parties.
The House Clerk’s office recorded Reps. Mikie Sherrill of Essex and Josh Gottheimer of Bergen County recorded as “not voting” on the landmark bill, which would require illegal immigrants convicted of theft-related crimes be detained by municipal and state authorities.
The bill takes its name from a young woman murdered by an illegal immigrant in Georgia who had been previously arrested and released on lesser charges.
Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop exclaimed, “This is cowardly,” in an X post.
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“We lose elections when we don’t have any core convictions… when we can’t explain why we have a view and why we believe in it. Hiding is not an answer that wins elections,” the Democrat said.
“Mikie and Josh are the same again – If you don’t have the courage to vote for a bill then what does that say about your courage to lead as Governor?” Fulop added.
Meanwhile, former Republican Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli slammed the two lawmakers from their right.
“Shame on [Josh and Mikie] for gutlessly ducking a vote on the Laken Riley Act today,” said Ciattarelli.
On X, Ciattarelli said Riley “fought till her last breath against a murderous illegal immigrant, but Josh/Mikie didn’t have the courage to stand up to their extreme far left base.”
Ciattarelli ran against Murphy in 2021 and nearly defeated him by Garden State standards, losing by less than three points. In November, President-elect Trump only lost the state by four points, leading the GOP to signal their optimism about flipping Trenton red this fall.
When the bill last came up for a vote, Gottheimer voted “yea,” and a spokesman told the Philadelphia Inquirer he would have supported the bill this week if he had voted.
New Jersey’s three Republican congressmen – Reps. Christopher Smith, Jeff Van Drew and Tom Kean Jr. – all voted for the Laken Riley Act.
Democratic Reps. Nellie Pou, Frank Pallone, Herbert Conaway, LaMonica McIver, Donald Norcross and Rob Menendez Jr. all voted against it.
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Republican Assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia – who is not running for governor – torched the pair on Wednesday with a quip:
“The Road to Drumthwacket is paved with flat squirrels who couldn’t make a decision,” she said, referring to the historic governor’s mansion near Princeton.
State Sen. Jon Bramnick, a GOP gubernatorial candidate, told Fox News Digital on Thursday that a lawmaker’s first responsibility is to their constituents, not their next campaign.
“I think you have to have campaign activities come secondary to your responsibility,” Bramnick said when asked about Gottheimer’s and Sherrill’s non-votes.
“The key question is – if you’re going to run – campaign activities must be secondary to your voting,” adding that systemically it seems “the more [someone] campaigns the less they vote.”
Bramnick, who is also an attorney in Plainfield, added that he couldn’t assume what was on the two Democrats’ minds in terms of their vote, but that immigration is a hot issue and often difficult to navigate.
With the Laken Riley Act scoring 48 Democratic “yea’s,” Bramnick said immigration is a bipartisan issue.
If elected governor, he said he would “follow the law” when asked how he would approach President-elect Trump or border czar-designate Tom Homan.
“Unfortunately, the Congress hasn’t done anything to [create] a path to citizenship for people who may have an opportunity to stay here,” he said, discussing those who have lived in the U.S. for many years as otherwise law-abiding members of their communities.
“If America doesn’t like the law, change it, but state-by-state shouldn’t change the law based on how they feel on the issue.”
Sherrill and Gottheimer did not immediately respond to inquiries made via their campaigns.
Another Democrat in the race, Ras Baraka – mayor of the state’s largest city, Newark – also did not respond.
Baraka, however, separately indicated he would have voted against the Laken Riley Act if he were in Congress.
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Southeast
Apalachee High School student arrested for allegedly bringing gun to campus months after deadly mass shooting
The Barrow County Sheriff’s Office said a 14-year-old student was arrested Wednesday after he allegedly brought a gun to Apalachee High School, the same Georgia school where two students and two teachers were killed in a mass shooting in September.
At approximately 2:02 p.m., school resource officers arrested the student without incident.
“The student was cooperative and compliant when encountered by law enforcement officers, and there have been no reports of the student threatening anyone with the gun,” the sheriff’s office said.
The boy, who was not named due to his age, has since been transported to a youth detention center.
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The boy was charged with theft, being a minor in possession of a gun and possessing a weapon on school grounds.
Officials didn’t say what type of gun was seized or how the child acquired the gun.
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In response to the incident, the Barrow County School System canceled Thursday’s classes at the high school and called for a meeting to discuss immediate safety enhancement options.
“We understand this brings up many different feelings in each of us,” the school system said. “We will update you all following the board meeting tomorrow with any changes regarding school procedures.”
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On Sept. 4, 14-year-old student Colt Gray allegedly opened fire at Apalachee High School, killing two teachers and two students.
Teachers Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Cristina Irimie, 53, and students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14, were killed.
Gray has since been indicted on 55 counts as an adult, including 25 counts of aggravated assault. He has pleaded not guilty and faces a maximum penalty of life in prison without parole or life with the possibility of parole if convicted.
His father, Colin Gray, who was arrested and charged with buying the semiautomatic AR-15-style rifle used in the shooting and giving it to Colt for Christmas, is facing 29 counts, including two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of involuntary manslaughter. He has also pleaded not guilty.
Georgia is one of 42 states in the U.S. that holds parents criminally responsible for their children.
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