News Staff Health and Human Resources official are reporting over 13-hundred new cases of COVID-19, and twenty-one more people have died. There are more than 750 people hospitalized with the virus, and more than two-hundred are in ICU.
COVID-19 numbers continue to surge, Fifty-three of West Virginia’s fifty-five counties are in the red or orange on the COVID-19 alert map. Forty counties are in the red and thirteen are in the orange. Tucker County is in gold, and Calhoun is the only county in green.
An Ashland police officer helped deliver a baby in a parking lot. The mother was on the way to the hospital when her water broke. The officer arrived before the ambulance, and he helped deliver the baby girl. Mom and baby are doing well, and they finished their ride to the hospital in the ambulance.
The City of Charleston will suspend loose leaf collection as the street department transitions to winter readiness. The trucks used for loose leaf collection are also used for spreading salt and cold patching potholes. Leaves should be bagged, and will be collected during normal trash pickup.
Fire crews have given the all clear at Women and Children’s Hospital. They responded to smoke in the boiler room. It was coming from a motor, but there was no fire. Operations at the hospital weren’t affected.
Firefighters responded to a house fire on Crescent Road. The home was vacant, and no one was hurt. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
West Virginia Natural Resources Police are investigating after three bear cubs were found dead in Barbour County. The cubs were discovered in the Talbott Road area. No arrests have been made.
Police are investigating an early morning shooting in Huntington. One person was shot just before 2 a.m. on West 2nd Street. There’s no word on their condition.
One person is under arrest after a pursuit in Cross Lanes. It started as a chase with a possible stolen vehicle on Woodward Drive in Sissonville.
Four more stores are closing at Charleston Town Center. Sephora, Talbots, Chico’s, and White House/Black Market announced they will be closing in January. The mall has been struggling to retain retailers after anchor stores Macy’s and Sears closed.