Governor Justice is urging West Virginians to safe during the holidays, and avoid family gatherings. The state’s COVID-19 positivity rate is over eleven-percent. There are almost 12-hundred new cases of the virus, and more than twenty additional deaths.
West Virginia continues to lead the country in COVID-19 vaccinations. Governor Justice says the state is on track to finish vaccinations at all long-term care facilities by Monday. More than 18-thousand people have been vaccinated, so far.
Justice administration general counsel, Brian Abraham, will become the new Chief of Staff. Abraham succeeds Mike Hall, who announced his retirement last week.
A Kanawha County man is under arrest for attempted burglary. Forty-year-old James Short was trying to break into houses near Rolling Hills Road and Devondale Circle. He was found in a wooded area near the homes and taken into custody.
Four pet goats were found shot and killed on a farm in East Bank. A fence was damaged, and fur was found on the barbed wire. Officials think another animal may have been involved. West Virginia State Police are investigating.
Kanawha County Emergency Management is preparing for the storm and will open the Emergency Operations Center virtually, if needed. They’re asking Appalachian Power to pre-stage equipment for potential power outages.
It looks like it will be a white Christmas. The National Weather Service is issuing a Winter Storm Warning for this afternoon through Friday afternoon. The rain will turn to heavy snow this afternoon with four-to-six inches of the white stuff.
The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection is canceling the annual Christmas tree recycling program because of rising COVID-19 cases. Officials say composting and mulching your tree is a better alternative than throwing it into a landfill.
West Virginia is reporting a record breaking 14-hundred new COVID-19 cases, and another daily record of over forty more deaths. There are almost 23-thousand active cases of the virus across the state.
November unemployment numbers are up in over half of West Virginia counties. Calhoun County has the highest unemployment rate at over thirteen-percent. The state’s overall unemployment rate is just over six-percent.