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SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

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The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

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Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

Turning a Disaster Into a Cookout – One Flood Response

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Monday, June 27, 2016   

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - The floods have been tragic and disastrous, but they also gave folks a chance to show the instinct for neighborliness West Virginians are known for. When the bridge into the Crossings Mall in Elkview collapsed, it took out the only road into the shopping plaza. Hundreds of people were trapped. But at least Kroger employees like Cody Deahl made sure they had something to eat. Deahl said they cranked up a couple of the store's propane grills and cooked steak, chicken and other foods. He said it turned into a nice cook-out.

"I guess it was," he said. "I mean, it's like everybody wants to go to the beach, and we were trapped on our own little island for a little while. So, why not?"

After a couple of days all but cut off, emergency workers built a temporary access road into the back of the plaza.

Many trapped at the mall were sleeping in their cars and everyone was doing without running water. But Kroger co-manager Jamie Barker said everyone tried to stay positive. After the foot-traffic access road was opened, they agreed to help a woman who was passing out cleaning supplies who, against the rules, drove her vehicle into the shopping plaza.

"She actually snuck by the cops while they were talking to the National Guard," she said. "Drove her van up here. They were buying some stuff out of their own pocket. She asked us if there was any way that we could donate. So we said 'get a buggy, load it up, and we'll donate whatever you can fit in this buggy.'"

Some of the Kroger employees doing the cooking were also trapped. Deahl said he was dying to take a shower. But he still seemed upbeat about the situation. Deahl said the store manager told them to go find all the meat that was nearly out of date and serve all of that.

"Hundred and twenty pieces of chicken, about a hundred some pieces of steak," he added. "Why throw it away when we could just give it to people who need it?"

Deahl said helping out in an emergency is not that unusual. "We're West Virginians," he said. "That's just what we do."


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