Free Republic

WINFIELD, WV - Students at Winfield High School in Winfield, WV have started a petition asking the Putnam County Board of Education to reconsider their decision to remove a popular graduation day tradition. Coach Leon McCoy is well known in Winfield, WV. He has made it a tradition to speak at Winfield High School's graduation. But after complaints from some parents about the religious theme in his presentation the speech has been called off. Students are fighting back. "I think it is very disappointing and unfortunate that Coach McCoy can't speak," said senior Hannah Clark. She said when she was...

WV State Regional Jail Authority Director, Joe DeLong, confirms that four correctional officers and four other inmates are now charged after they plotted to kill another inmate. DeLong, who is currently Boston attending the marathon, says the information surrounding the investigation came out Friday when the indictment was unsealed in Cabell County, WV. DeLong adds the correctional officers involved in the incident which occurred in October of 2013 are no longer with the West Virginia Regional Jail Authority. Steven D. Adkins of Milton, WV is one of the correctional officers charged. He has been charged with accessory before the fact...

CHARLESTON, West Virginia - Charleston police executed a search warrant on a downtown Charleston business Wednesday evening following an 8 month investigation. According to officers, it happened at the Middle East Mart, located by the Transit Mall around 6 p.m. Authorities told 13 News that undercover officers were made aware that the business had been receiving stolen property, as a result, the investigation was launched. Undercover officers had been selling employees at the business items that those employees believed were stolen. Those items were marked. During the raid of the business, officers located those stolen items, marijuana, and an undisclosed...

UPDATE: After the announcement (below) of the ad campaign against him, Manchin has indicated he will support the legislation. As John McCormack of the Weekly Standard reports: On Tuesday afternoon, West Virginia’s Joe Manchin became the first Democrat in the United States Senate to support a federal bill that would ban most abortions during the final four months of pregnancy. “If it comes to the floor, I’m voting for it,” Manchin told THE WEEKLY STANDARD following the Senate Democrats’ weekly luncheon. Manchin also declined to say whether or not he would take the additional step of cosponsoring the federal late-term...

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- Members of West Virginians for Life rallied Tuesday in Charleston and had a candlelight vigil later that night at the Governor's Mansion. It was in protest of Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin's veto of House Bill 4588 -- the so-called Abortion Bill. It would have prevented abortions after 20 weeks unless there were overriding medical concerns for the mother's health and life. Organizers of the vigil said they wanted to show Tomblin how they felt about the veto of a bill putting new restrictions on late-term abortions.

One of the members of the U.S. Senate who says he is pro-life on abortion has not yet co-sponsored the most important piece of legislation in the Senate that would ban abortions after 20 weeks based on scientific evidence showing unborn babies feel pain. That’s the question the Susan B. Anthony List wants to get answered. joemanchinTo put pressure on Manchin to support the bill, the SBA List today informed LifeNews of a $20,000 radio ad buy encouraging Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia to become the first Democratic senator to cosponsor the federal Pain Capable Unborn Child Act. The...

Democratic Governor Earl Ray Tomblin, who describes himself as pro-life and campaigned as a pro-life candidate, has vetoed a bill that would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. West Virginians for Life, the statewide pro-life group, tells LifeNews it is disappointed in Governor Tomblin’s veto of HB 4588, the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. Similar bills have been passed in ten other states and Governor Tomblin is the only governor who has vetoed one of these bills. fetalpain2In his veto message, the Governor claimed that attorneys advised him the bill was unconstitutional. Many cite an Arizona law as proof,...

A grand jury has indicted parents of an 11-year-old girl in West Virginia who were arrested after arranging for an abortion following a case of pregnancy after incest. West Virginia State Police say they consented to the abortion and the abortion clinic in question didn’t report the abortion to authorities. Michael and Amanda Adkins were arrested on charges of child neglect causing the risk of injury. While some licensed medical professionals were involved in getting information to authorities, WSAZ-TV indicates the abortion clinic in Charleston that did an abortion did not report the clear case of statadkinsutory rape. On Wednesday,...

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - A bill to prohibit abortions later than 20 weeks after conception has passed the West Virginia House and will be sent to the governor to sign into law. On Saturday, the House passed the bill 85-15 with two delegates not voting. House Speaker Tim Miley denied requests to talk about the bill. The Democrat from Harrison said lawmakers had too many bills to get through. West Virginia Governor Earl Ray Tomblin says he's concerned that a bill to prohibit abortions after 20 weeks could be unconstitutional.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - A West Virginia House of Delegates committee has voted to pass a bill to limit abortions after 20 weeks. The proposal passed Monday in the Committee on Health would prohibit abortions after 20 weeks unless a physician deems a woman's medical complications pose a risk to her life or would cause irreversible physical impairment. This does not include a woman's psychological or mental condition. The bill would also compel physicians who perform abortions after 20 weeks to do so in such a way that provides the best opportunity for the unborn child to survive.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - Police in Charleston say two juveniles have been charged in a hammer attack outside the Charleston Town Center mall. Media outlets report the attack occurred on the Court Street side of the mall Thursday night. Police say Ryan Lynch of Charleston underwent surgery for a head injury at Charleston Area Medical Center's General Hospital.

CHARLESTON, WV - Police are on the lookout for a suspect in an armed robbery in Huntington, WV. According to dispatchers, it happened outside of Kroger, located on 1st Street and 7th Avenue at 2:37 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 14. Dispatchers say a male armed with a handgun robbed one of the bell ringers of The Salvation Army, took an entire bucket of donations, and fled on foot. We spoke to bell ringers at another Kroger location on 5th Avenue, who tell us police stopped by to tell them to take precautions.

LOGAN COUNTY, WV - A fight on a high school basketball court Saturday night led to a coach getting arrested and facing several criminal charges. Logan High School's basketball coach Mark Hatcher was arrested after coaching the school to a victory over Scott High School during the Nationwide Insurance Basketball Classic. According to police, a fight between two opposing players broke out after they struggled for a rebound of a missed shot with only 4:33 on the clock. Punches were thrown during the fight and the two players were eventually ejected from the game.

After two months of massive glitches and bugs on the healthcare.gov website, the Obama administration says they met their self-imposed deadline of getting the site running smoothly. The administration said Sunday the site is now working for just about everyone but warned it still needs more fixes. Valley Health's health insurance enrollment campaign in Barboursville, WV proved that while the site has improved many problems, there are still kinks that need to be fixed. During Thanksgiving weekend, Valley Health helped those in need of health insurance sign up at the Huntington Mall in Barboursville, WV. In three days, certified assisters...

According to police, Jeffrey Turley was arrested Wednesday, Nov. 27, and is being held on several charges, including attempted murder. He is being held in the Western Regional Jail on a $300,000 bond. _____ ORIGINAL: The Lincoln County Sheriff's Office are investigating an incident out of Ranger, WV involving a man attacking a relative and then shooting himself. Police say it happened around 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 23 at a house in the area of 1002 Barberry Road, just off Route 37. According to Lincoln Sheriff's, a male subject, Jeff Turley, 32, attacked his brother, also a male, with a...

A store manager at Marshalls in South Charleston, WV was attacked when she attempted to stop three women believed to be shoplifters. According to the South Charleston Police Dept., three women were attempting to the leave the store with a cart full of items. The store manager stopped the women at the door and asked for a receipt. According to police, one of the women hit the manager in the face and neck knocking her to the ground. The manager held on to the shopping cart and pulled it down on top of her. One of the women attempted to...

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — A national gay rights organization sued the state of West Virginia over its ban on same-sex marriages Tuesday, declaring its Defense of Marriage Act a violation of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. New York-based Lambda Legal filed the complaint in U.S. District Court in Huntington on behalf of three same-sex couples and the child of one couple. It filed a similar lawsuit last month challenging Virginia’s ban on gay marriages. In the West Virginia case, Lambda Legal argues the state’s ban unfairly discriminates against same-sex couples and their children. The organization says its clients are...

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A former church custodian was sentenced to 15 to 35 years in prison for the sexual abuse of a young family member. Charles Brainard Hogan, 58, of Cross Lanes gave a lengthy statement to Kanawha Circuit Judge Paul Zakaib, telling a courtroom full of people that they had all sinned. "Romans 3:23 says 'for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God,'" Hogan said. "So nobody in this court can say they have not committed any kind of sin, because if they do they are a liar." Hogan said he engaged in sexual acts...

LOGAN, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- A woman is trying to put her life back together after returning home to an empty house. Nikki Bailey got home from visiting her best friend in the hospital just in time to see the repossession company leaving. “I was ready to rip out an IV and leave that hospital,” Pat Fot, Bailey’s best friend, said. Fot knows Bailey makes her house payments. “Everything was gone,” Bailey said. “Living room furniture, my Marshall diploma, my high school diploma, my pictures -- my history. I was teacher of the year. All of that stuff is gone --...

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- An 8-year-old boy was taken into custody after police say he stabbed his four-year-old sister in the neck. It happened Sunday afternoon at the family's home on Hunt Avenue in Charleston. Police say the boy was stabbing his sister's baby doll with a steak knife. The girl tried to get the doll back, but police say her brother got upset and stabbed her. The girl was taken to the hospital. Her injuries are non-life threatening, but she is being kept overnight for observation.