Dorothy Abernathy, The Associated Press bureau chief for West Virginia and Virginia, shares the 10 things you need to know Friday, March 27, 2015. Look for full stories on these late-breaking news items, upcoming events and stories in West Virginia newspapers.
1. HOW PILOT SCREENING CAN FALL THROUGH CRACKS
Despite regulations requiring that commercial aviators be checked for mental health problems, experts say the program is not effective.
2. SENATE PASSES BALANCED-BUDGET PLAN
The GOP-dominated Congress is now positioned for months of battling Obama over Republican goals of slicing spending and dismantling his health care law.
3. WHAT INSPECTORS FOUND BEFORE NYC BLAST
An hour before an apparent gas explosion razed a Manhattan apartment building, utility company inspectors decided the work being done there was faulty.
4. CRITTERS FOUND IN ANTARCTIC ICE REVEALS TENACITY OF LIFE
Scientists have discovered creatures even in places that haven’t been exposed to sunlight for 15 million years.
5. SUNNI ARAB NATIONS INCH CLOSER TO DREAM OF JOINT FORCE
But there is resistance to creating such a military alliance — that would intervene aggressively in regional hotspots — among some countries, particularly allies of Iran like Syria and Iraq.
6. OIL COUNCIL: SHALE WON’T LAST
Federal advisers say the U.S. should exploit its trove of oil in the Arctic waters off of Alaska, or risk a renewed reliance on imports.
7. NO MURDER CHARGE FOR WOMAN ACCUSED OF CUTTING BABY FROM WOMB
But prosecutors have not explained the decision or disclosed what charges the Coloradan will face.
8. WHO WILL TESTIFY NEXT IN HERNANDEZ CASE
The fiancee of the former New England Patriots player, who has been granted immunity, will be summoned for questioning in his murder trial.
9. FROM NEW LOGOS TO NEW COKE: WHEN CORPORATIONS ERR
In its “Race Together” campaign, Starbucks was not alone in making a corporate blunder, AP’s Mae Anderson finds.
10. KENTUCKY IMPROVES TO 37-0
The Wildcats brush off bold upset talk from West Virginia to rout the Mountaineers 78-39 and advance to the Elite Eight where they will play Notre Dame.
