Dorothy Abernathy, The Associated Press bureau chief for West Virginia and Virginia, shares the 10 things you need to know Thursday, Oct. 9, 2014. Look for full stories on these late-breaking news items, upcoming events and stories in West Virginia newspapers.
1. U.S. ANNOUNCES EXPANDED EBOLA SCREENING AT AIRPORTS
The checks will include taking the temperatures of travelers arriving from West Africa at New York’s JFK, Washington Dulles and the international airports in Atlanta, Chicago and Newark.
2. EBOLA PATIENT DIES IN TEXAS
Despite intense but delayed treatment, Thomas Eric Duncan died from the deadly virus in a Dallas hospital.
3. PENTAGON SAYS KEY SYRIAN TOWN COULD STILL FALL
Officials say U.S. and coalition airstrikes have forced some Islamic State militants out of Kobani, but it may yet fall under the extremists’ control because air power alone cannot prevent it.
4. WHITE HOUSE UNVEILS NEW HEALTHCARE SITE
Version 2.0 of Obama’s health insurance website has some improvements as well as at least one early mistake and a new challenge.
5. WHY UNCERTAINTY REMAINS FOR GAY MARRIAGE
Couples in Las Vegas wondered whether they’d be allowed to wed, and partners in Idaho dealt with disappointment after a ruling blocked them moments before they would have picked up marriage licenses.
6. OBAMA’S FRIENDS ARE FEW AND FAR BETWEEN
The disenchantment with Obama is in part a reflection of inevitable fatigue with a president entering his final years in office, but some say it is also a consequence of the his insular approach to governing.
7. WHAT POLICE FOUND IN BARRACKS SHOOTING INVESTIGATION
Investigators found a journal left by ambush suspect Eric Frein that describes how he opened fire on two state troopers outside a rural police barracks — watching one of his victims fall “still and quiet.”
8. WHERE WOMAN WITH CANCER PLANS TO END HER LIFE
If Brittany Maynard’s brain cancer does not kill her in October, she plans to take advantage of Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act and end her own life on the first of November — a few days after her husband’s 30th birthday.
9. CHEMISTRY NOBEL GIVEN FOR SUPER-ZOOM MICROSCOPES
The microscopes have much sharper vision than was thought possible, letting scientists peer into living cells with unprecedented detail to seek the roots of disease.
10. WHAT’S THE BUZZ IN ARIZONA
The state is in the midst of one of the wettest summers on record, causing an invasion of an unlikely pest for the desert region: mosquitoes.