Katherine's Writing Portfolio

  CHARLESTON, W.Va.   — The influx of ticks is again making a return to the Mountain State with the arrival of Spring and Summer, and experts with the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department are sharing some information behind the dangers of these disease-carrying parasites. They met for a news conference Wednesday afternoon at Coonskin Park displaying the various kinds of ticks that are prevalent in West Virginia, along with explaining which ones carry tick-borne diseases during the department’s first-ever “Tick-Talk.” Health Officer with KCHD, Dr. Steven Eshenaur said while certain ticks native to West Virginia can carry multiple kinds of diseases such as Ehrlichiosis which is found in the Lonestar Tick, Lyme Disease remains the most prevalent. “Lyme Disease is really common in this part of the United States unfortunately, throughout the North-East you see a lot of Deer Ticks, and about 20% of Deer Ticks carry the disease,” said Eshenaur. Both Lyme Disease and Ehrlichiosis are ...

  CHARLESTON, W.Va.   — The Kanawha Charleston Humane Association says with close to 500 animals currently in their care, they need help with the additional influx of puppies and kittens they typically expect to see come in this time of year. “We’re approaching what the animal welfare world calls puppy and kitten season, it’s just where you see an influx of new faces into the shelter, lots of puppies, lots of mama dogs, lots of kittens, lots of mama cats,” said Community Engagement Manager for the Kanawha Charleston Humane Association Angie Gillenwater. Gillenwater said the number of animals they currently stand at now is nearly twice the amount their shelter is designed for. In addition to that, she said they are also having to deal with the loss of one of their main veterinarians at the Fix Charleston Clinic beside the shelter, who is moving to another veterinarian job elsewhere. Gillenwater said that’s forcing them to scale back services at the clinic such as their spay and...

Nov. 19, 2024 INSTITUTE, W.Va.   — After being the only land-grant higher education institution in the entire country lacking an agriculture research laboratory, that is all changing now on the campus of West Virginia State University. A groundbreaking ceremony for the new $50 million agriculture lab was held at WVSU Tuesday. WVSU President Ericke Cage was joined Tuesday afternoon by Governor Jim Justice, state Agriculture Commissioner Kent Leonhardt and members of the state legislature who played a hand in bringing the state-of-the-art agriculture lab to campus. Cage said he is very proud that the state was able to keep its promise to WVSU for this momentous endeavor as he knew they would. Ericke Cage “I have a strong sense of pride, a sense of pride in the fact that the state of West Virginia, Governor Justice, Speaker Roger Hanshaw, Senate President Craig Blair, and all of the members of the legislature really stood up and stood behind this project,” Cage said. The project was i...

  INSTITUTE, W.Va.   — West Virginia State University President Ericke Cage says the recently-welcomed new greenhouses on campus will only continue to boost their ongoing agricultural research and development. Ericke Cage Located behind the Dr. Hazo W. Carter Jr. Integrated Extension Building, Cage said the 6,912 square foot series of greenhouses will help to enhance the agricultural research that’s already being conducted at the facility. “It’s a great opportunity for us to expand our capability, provides more space for our researchers to do the cutting-edge research that they do every day to help support agricultural sustainability,” said Cage. Funded by the USDA’s NIFA, or National Institute of Food and Agriculture grant, Cage went on to say that it’s an extension of the work the university has already been doing with the USDA around agriculture sustainability. Vice President, Dean and Director for Agricultural Research and Extension at WVSU Ami Smith also said it will help...

 May 19, 2023 CHARLESTON, W.Va.   — A few organizations are coming together to provide training, education, and drug overdose medication all in one box, making response to drug overdoses easier than ever. A news conference was held Thursday at the office of West Virginia Drug Intervention Institute in Charleston as they announce their new project to bring Opioid Naloxone Emergency Boxes, or ONEbox to all 55 counties, and will specifically be dispersed to all public schools and federally qualified health centers in West Virginia. WVDII is partnering with Aetna Better Health of West Virginia, Vandalia Health Network, the University of Charleston and the West Virginia Primary Care Association to launch the effort. The boxes contain two doses of the opioid overdose reversal drug, Naloxone, gloves, a CPR shield for rescue breathing, and a training video to explain how to administer the treatment. Assistant Professor at the University of Charleston School of Pharmacy, Lindsay Acree ...

  CHARLESTON, W.Va.   — Obesity in the U.S., especially here in the Mountain State is a growing yet troubling trend. That’s the concern of Dr. Robert Shin, Director of the Weight Loss clinic at Charleston Area Medical Center. Dr. Robert Shin However, he is certainly not alone in this concern as recently CAMC doctors and dieticians came together for a one-day seminar, Beyond the Scale– A Comprehensive Approach to Obesity, where they addressed the issue in depth as well as presented solutions to alleviate the situation. Shin said research continues to reveal the problem is only growing. “When we look at some of the data, especially the CDC, it hasn’t gotten any better,” Shin said. “In West Virginia, more than 40-percent of people are obese, and we’re talking about number one, number two in the country, and that number hasn’t gotten better for the last three decades.” At the conference, doctors presented everything from the current surgical procedures and medications to treat obe...