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NSTITUTE, W.Va. — A chemical leak at a West Virginia silver recovery business on Wednesday killed two people and sent about 30 others to hospitals, including one in serious condition, authorities said. The leak occurred at the Catalyst Refiners plant in Institute as workers were preparing to shut down at least part of the facility, Kanawha County Commission Emergency Management Director C.W. Sigman said. A chemical gas reaction occurred at the plant involving nitric acid and another substance, Sigman said at a news briefing. He added that there was "a violent reaction of the chemicals and it instantaneously overreacted." "Starting...

A wealthy white West Virginia couple forced their adopted black children to work as slaves and sleep in a barn, according to disturbing charges. Donald Lantz and Jeanne Whitefeather, pleaded not guilty to more than a dozen charges on Tuesday. Lantz and Whitefeather were first arrested in October after a wellness check led to the discovery of the couple’s five adopted children — aged 6, 9, 11, 14 and 16 — living in deplorable conditions on their Sissonville property. The indictment, which Kanawha County Circuit Judge Maryclaire Akers said was one of the worst she’s ever seen, alleges that the...

A wealthy white West Virginia couple have been accused of forcing their adopted black children to work as slaves and live inside a locked barn. Donald Ray Lantz, 63, and Jeanne Kay Whitefeather, 62 of Charleston, West Virginia, plead not guilty on Tuesday to multiple new charges after their kids were found locked in a dilapidated shed after allegedly laboring on the surrounding farmland. The judge presiding over the case said the couple targeted their five kids - aged 16, 14, 11, nine, and six - because of their race and they were 'used basically as slaves.' According to the...

A couple arrested after some of their adopted children were found locked in a shed at their West Virginia home are set for trial later this year on charges that a judge said involved their use as “slaves.” Donald Ray Lantz and Jeanne Kay Whitefeather face trial later this year after they were arraigned on 16 counts each accusing them of civil rights violations, human trafficking, forced labor, gross child neglect and falsifying an application seeking a public defender. All but one of the counts are felonies.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) - On Monday afternoon, a West Virginia circuit judge granted a preliminary injunction blocking the enforcement of West Virginia’s 1800s-era criminal abortion ban. As a result, abortions are once again legal in the Mountain State. This case pits the Women’s Health Center of West Virginia against the State of West Virginia. The ACLU, on behalf of the Health Center, was seeking an injunction to stop the enforcement of the 100-year-old law that criminalized abortion in West Virginia. The ACLU argues the state’s criminal abortion statute cannot co-exist with modern laws passed since Roe V. Wade. That includes...

HANSFORD, W.Va. — A Kanawha County sheriff bomb technician has secured the scene of an explosion in eastern Kanawha County. Deputies said the blast caused minor damage near the road in the 100 block of Chesapeake Street in Hansford. Deputies said an "improvised explosion device," or IED was apparently detonated. The blast left behind gunpowder on street signs and tree branches, dirt and grass just strewn across the ground. Dispatchers said the call came in at 11:30 p.m. Sunday. The Pratt Fire Department put out a fire when it arrived at the scene. Kanawha County deputies brought in a bomb...

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- During a press conference Saturday afternoon, the DEP said they now estimate 7,500 gallons of MCHM (4-Methylcyclohexane Methanol) have leaked into the Elk River in Kanawha County. The emergency do not use water order is still in place Saturday as crews continue to test water supplies from several different areas. Mike Dorsey with the DEP says they are "fairly confident" that the leak started Thursday. West Virginia American Water customers in parts of nine counties are under a do not use water order. Those counties are also under a state of emergency issued Thursday evening by...

The Kanawha County Republican Executive Committee (KCREC) is without a doubt one of the best Republican county executive committees in the state and it shows. In fact, the KCREC is probably more active and more effective than the West Virginia Republican State Executive Committee. Read more... http://www.wvared.com/?p=1956