Health & Science

Kings Dominion does not plan to host a Halloween themed attraction called, Miner's Revenge next year.

The Virginia-based amusement park does not plan to host a Halloween themed attraction called, Miner's Revenge next year. The  park charged more than $32 for admission during the weekends in October. The haunted attraction's similarities to the Upper Big Branch disaster similarities infuriated the families of the victims. Some have said it’s eerily similar to their real life nightmare.

A grieving family is honoring their loved one with a memorial scholarship, with the help of the ambulance company where he worked. Mark Kinder II died in January while returning from dropping off a patient. Jan Care is donating the money for the scholarship.

It’s been about nine months since Mark Kinder II was killed. Mark’s sister Tonya, also a Jan Care employee, says her brother is believed to have been resting in the passenger seat when the accident happened.

Senator Joe Manchin is proposing a delay in a key component to the federal Affordable Care Act, the individual mandate. Manchin defended his legislation saying it allows the administration more time to fix glitches in the enrollment system, but a left-leaning policy group in Charleston maintains a delay will have significant negative impacts on West Virginians.

The individual mandate requires all Americans sign up for health insurance through the federal health care exchange by April 1, or face a penalty of $95 or 1 percent of their annual income, whichever is greater.

There’s been a lot of attention on how head injuries are affecting football players, and athletes, on all levels—including when they are very young. Stakeholders concerned about this issue hope new protocols will sufficiently prevent serious injuries.

The Huntington YMCA is leading the charge in one area of the battle with obesity that has been ignored in the Huntington area, childhood obesity.

  The Huntington YMCA along with Cabell Huntington Hospital, St. Mary’s Hospital and Cabell County Schools has developed a program called kids in motion. The new partnership will lead the brand new Kid Fit program that the YMCA and hospital officials hope is the next step in the fight against childhood obesity in the city.

An audit of the Bureau for Children and Families says the Department of Health and Human Resources needs to focus on the safety of Child Protective Service workers making home visits throughout the state.

Legislative auditors presented their review of the bureau to lawmakers with six recommendations on how to improve safety for workers monitoring cases and conducting investigations outside of their county offices.

Those include:

Google Glass. It’s a new computer right out of a James Bond film or a science fiction novel. You wear it like you would wear glasses, but you peer at the world with technologically reinforced eyes.

Like Iron Man.

…Without the suit.

Maybe the suit will come next, but, in the meantime Google Glass is being tested by thousands of people including students at West Virginia University. Professor Mary Kay McFarland got wind that Google was looking for ‘Glass Explorers’ and now she’s incorporated the technology into her class.

Up a small set of stairs and to the left sits the cafeteria at McKinley Middle School, but you don’t need the secretary’s directions to find it. At lunch time, you can hear the chatter of students as soon as you walk in the school’s front door.

McKinley houses about 350 6-8 graders who, in 20 minute shifts of about 50 or so, file into the small cafeteria, fill their trays and sit down at tables to eat.

“I’m usually scared of the school food,” said eighth-grader Mickala Wilkinson.

  The Greater Huntington Park and Recreation District is banking on the idea that if WiFi is available, people will come to the park.

An internet service provider based in Huntington pipes a signal directly to antenna’s located at strategic locations in the park. That signal is turned into WiFi; available to connect to mobile devices in the park. At 50 megabytes per second the Park District thinks they’re on to something that the public will enjoy. Kevin Brady is the Executive Director.

The West Virginia University School of Nursing Eastern Division is tackling health and wellness problems in the Eastern Panhandle counties of Berkeley, Jefferson and Morgan. A three year study is leading to a conversation in the community about how to make the area a healthier place to live.

While state officials say they’re not sure how many West Virginians have signed up for private health insurance under the Affordable Care Act last week, more than 50,000 are now covered by Medicaid under the state’s expansion of the program.

The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration is inevitably affected by the standoff in Washington. MSHA is partially open with less than half the staff.

A pink scarf that stretches more than 6,060 feet is draped across the inside of Tamarack and anyone is welcome to add a few more knitted feet. Knitters that contribute then fill out a card with a message.

“This is in memory of Telo of Richmond Hill, Georgia who passed away at a young age of 47 from cancer,” Deaner Will said. “Telo know I’m always thinking of you with much love and blessings; Linda Crawford from Middleburg Florida.”

Childhood obesity could be related to the absence of one particular hormone according to research presented this week during a conference in Huntington.

  Losing weight is as simple as having more self-control. At least that’s what some think. A new study though shows that maybe it’s not that simple, maybe obesity is tied to a hormone called Leptin. And when people don’t have enough of it in their system, their body tells them to eat more.

The federal government shutdown could possibly impact the upcoming Freedom’s Run marathon in the Eastern Panhandle if the shutdown is still going on at the end of next week. But the Marathon will continue regardless of whether the government’s closed.

This is the fifth year for the marathon and one of its main attractions is the route it takes through four national parks. Those parks are closed because of the federal government shutdown. But there is a contingency plan.