In Around West Virginia today: the West Virginia Religious Freedom Restoration Act, an animal cruelty case, a meeting on a constitutional convention, and more.
n A marketing organization for nine southern West Virginia counties opposes the West Virginia Religious Freedom Restoration Act, according to The Register-Herald. Doug Maddy, president and CEO of Visit Southern West Virginia, said the bill sends a "message of intolerance." "It's saying we don't want your business," he said.
House Bill 4012 establishes a balancing test for courts to follow when a person or business feels their religious beliefs have been violated. The test weighs whether a person's religious beliefs have been substantially burdened by state action, and whether compelling state interest outweighs that burden. "State action" would include local nondiscrimination ordinances. Civil rights advocates fear businesses, healthcare providers and others would use the law to say those local nondiscrimination ordinances don't apply to them, and refuse service to LGBT West Virginians.
The Register-Herald also reports that a recent study by professors at Georgetown University and Brigham Young University found that tourism declined in states with RFRAs.
n Of West Virginia's 7,215 bridges, 1,092, or 15 percent, are structurally deficient, according to the Federal Highway Administration's 2015 National Bridge Inventory. The Journal reports that 1,462 bridges, or 20 percent, are functionally obsolete. Brent Walker, spokesman for the state Department of Transportation, said those categories do not imply the bridges are unsafe.
n While Cabell and Berkeley counties lead the state in overdose-related deaths, the county sheriff's departments are not carrying naloxone, a live-saving drug that reverses the effects of an opiate overdose. Sheriffs of both counties told The Journal that other first responders that carry naloxone tend to arrive on scene first.
n State Police arrested a Huntington man Friday night for "appearing" to choke a dog, according to The Herald-Dispatch. Noah Alexander Flora, 27, was seen on video placing both hands around a pit bull's neck. He was charged with felony animal cruelty.
n The House Judiciary Committee held a public hearing Saturday on holding a convention of states to amend the U.S. Constitution, West Virginia Public Broadcasting reports. Some lawmakers want to amend the Constitution to require a balanced budget.
n Two men chased down an intoxicated driver who fled the scene of an accident in Wheeling, according to WTRF. D.J. Shalvey and his friend Jason Boone helped police arrest James Andrew Wilson, 40, of Moundsville. It was Wilson's third DUI.
Reach Erin Beck at erin.beck@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-5163, Facebook.com/erinbeckwv, or follow @erinbeckwv on Twitter.