Across the nation, more than 390,000 children rely on foster care. However, a shortage of licensed foster homes is creating a national crisis. While official foster care cases are carefully tracked, many informal examples of kinship care aren’t part of the data. For this Us & Them episode, we hear the experiences of those who’ve been part of the foster care system.
Anti-Mountain Valley Pipeline activists erected an aerial blockade in the middle of an access road in the Jefferson National Forest in Giles County, Virginia.
A pole planted in the middle of an access road is halting any progress on construction of a seven-mile road leading to the path of the Mountain Valley Pipeline. An activist perched on top of the 50-foot log displays a banner that reads “The Fire is Catching, No Pipelines.”
Dozens of supporters also gathered.
Tree sitters remain as they have for a month now, camping in all weather in the tops of trees on the top of Peters Mountain to prevent felling of more trees along the route. Mountain Valley has only three more days to clear acreage before a federally mandated March 31 deadline to protect endangered species.
EQT, the main company behind the roughly 300-mile, 42-inch high-pressure pipeline project, has not yet responded to a request for comment made earlier today.
The action also comes on the heels of Virginia environmental regulators approving erosion, sediment and storm water control plans for the natural gas pipeline, effectively meaning Mountain Valley can begin full-scale construction.
Last week in a court hearing, Monroe County Circuit Judge Robert Irons denied the request for a preliminary injunction.
In Pineville, West Virginia, a town of 500, residents filled up the front rows of the county courtroom recently. They came to hear the latest legal update on a battle some have been fighting for generations - securing clean water. Bobby Lee Keen and his wife Patsy attended the hearing.
“How come they have people living like they're in a third world country and the United States of America?” asks Bobby Keen.
Two deer tested positive for chronic wasting disease in Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, marking the disease's first documented occurrence in the park.
On this West Virginia Morning, as the primary race for governor enters the home stretch, some candidate’s negative attack ads running endlessly on broadcast and social media target a minority group – transgender children. But what is the fallout from these ads for this vulnerable group, and West Virginia children and families in general? Randy Yohe has the story.