‘Explosion' reported during fire at Hamer Pellet plant in Elkins
The fire was reported just before 4 p.m. at Hamer Pellet Fuel Co. plant. First responders said that there was heavy smoke when they arrived, and additional agencies were called to assist, according to a press release from the City of Elkins.
No injuries or entrapments were reported from the fire, but the city said that an EMS unit did report an explosion during firefighting operations. The fire was extinguished before 8 p.m., the release said.
Harrison County house catches fire for second time this year
Preliminary investigation suggests that the cause of the fire was electrical, and the Office of the State Fire Marshal is leading an official investigation.
Fire departments from Elkins, Beverly, Belington, Buckhannon and Coalton assisted in fighting the fire and engine transfer, and the Elkins Police Department, Randolph County Sheriff's Office, Randolph County Emergency Squad and West Virginia State Police provided additional support, the release said.
In a Facebook post, the city thanked the first responders from other communities who helped during the fire.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Buzz Feed
20 hours ago
- Buzz Feed
Teachers Talking About Rise Of Misogyny In Young Boys
Recently, I came across a post on the popular Teachers subreddit that piqued my interest. The post, written by user escrawl and addressed to fellow teachers, was titled, "Have you noticed a rise of misogyny among boys?" "I teach fourth grade, and I'm already seeing it with my boys," escrawl began. "They talk about how women can't be leaders, they don't have to listen to me because I'm a woman, etc. I have boys already following Andrew Tate and other similar influencers. What do you do?" She continued, "I once warned a mom about what a bad influence Andrew Tate could be, and the dad came back at me hard, saying I don't know what I'm talking about." "I'm at a loss," she said. "Do you just leave them be?" "I do not preach my politics to my students," she clarified. "I make it a point to not show where I lean, even when talking about politics in Social Studies. "I brought up the concern up with a parent, not directly to the student. The only thing I push is to be respectful to others. I would also be concerned and address misandry if observed." Other teachers chimed in. "46-year-old man here," one teacher, toddkhamilton, wrote. "When I was teaching in the late 2000s, another male teacher and I noticed the early signs of what has become a very serious situation with this topic." "We taught in a progressive education environment where the administration was very supportive of teacher led initiatives, so we proposed a 'G Day' (guys day) where for an hour and a half each Wednesday (basically lunch and recess), two other male teachers and myself would take the grade 5th-8th grade boys and just kind of hang together. We'd have a topic each week, and then open things up for the boys to ask questions." "It was incredible," toddkhamilton continued. "They'd ask fascinating questions about all sorts of things — people they saw online, situations they were in with girls or at home — and it worked really well. My colleagues and I saw a change in them, especially over the years of doing it." "It worked so well that the administration created the equivalent for the girls, and they felt it was successful too.I left after the third year, but heard they continued it until a head of school who felt it opened us up to liability took over and shut it need healthy men to be able to talk to and share their thoughts with and learn from. Today's male youth seem to only really have toxic men to learn from. Until there are strong positive male voices equally available to them, the toxic bros are setting the agenda." Another male teacher, Leucippus1, wrote, "I have certainly noticed that the algorithm has been pushing overtly misogynistic content to me; I can only imagine what it does to teenage boys." Another user, Jack_of_Spades, replied, "I made one Facebook post that I was feeling sad after a breakup. My feed was flooded with 'the problem with women...' 'real men do___' shit for MONTHS. I'm thinking this AI fed algorithm shit should be illegal.""It should be, yes, wrote user MossSalamander. "A lot of vulnerable people are being radicalized to hate others because of this." "Middle School teacher here," wrote user ImpressiveCoffee3. "The boys watch all of that content, even a lot of the sixth graders. They say they don't take it seriously, but they keep watching it, and watching it, and watching it." "There is also a rise in the idea that they should all be entrepreneurs and not only skip higher education, but refuse to work for someone else. They think they should have 'motion' and that because I am a teacher, I have somehow failed at life because I am paid a salary by an organization." "Glad it isn't just me," wrote teacher lilygirl112; "I heard second grade boys praise Diddy." User poopbucketchallenge chimed in: "I also think these kids are on the internet FAR TOO EARLY and it should be illegal until 18 to access any part of online other than tightly controlled academic and safe-for-work curiosity stuff."Another teacher, _Lost_The_Game, wrote, "From what I remember as a kid, [they're just being] edgy, BUT…eventually it can set in unironically. I remember lots of my classmates starting to say things just to be edgy, and eventually it just became their default state, like how you start saying some phrase or word ironically, and then later it becomes normalized." A male teacher with the username misticspear wrote, "It's easy for me because boys who fall for that don't have a role model who THEY choose and respect, and that's typically my role. I go in hard early. Call Andrew Tate stupid and talk about how he preys on people who don't know any better. Then I lead by example." Replying to escrawl's question about whether she should "leave it be," u/Ranger_242 wrote, "No, you don't leave it be any more than you tolerate racism or other forms of bullying or hate." "If it becomes enough of a problem, start writing referrals and get your union involved. As for parents, make it clear to them as well."High school teacher Helen_Cheddar wrote back, "Unfortunately, misogyny is a lot more socially acceptable than other forms of bigotry. I had my FEMALE principal brush it aside when I brought it up, and she essentially said, 'boys will be boys.'" "I see it in some of my first graders," wrote teacher nochickflickmoments, "especially in boys whose dads are clear with me that they voted for Trump. Or when one of the first graders told me 'that women shouldn't be president.'" User Major-Platypus2092 wrote, "I've noticed this quite a bit. I'm one of the only male teachers in my department, and students will often look to me to validate their Andrew Tate bullshit. I've tried correcting them in various different ways, but usually what happens is they just decide I'm a 'simp' or whatever and not worth listening to. I've broken through a few times, but it's pretty horrifying." u/Brothless_Ramen wrote, "Yeah, it's pretty great how quickly a man instantly isn't a man because he doesn't buy into their garbage, it makes it so hard to pull them out. It's like they think there's this global conspiracy where all women and some men are personally against them and trying to make them fail algebra, and if you question that, you're part of the conspiracy." "My daughter just finished fifth grade, and after the election, she had several boys saying things like 'your body, my choice,' which is kind of horrifying," said user -dudess. User BugMillionaire wrote, "It's because the algorithms are designed to feed young boys alt-right/misogyny content. There have been many studies showing how the algorithm changes depending on age and gender, and how hard it is to deviate away from the alt-right info once you get it." "Yes," u/CharmingAmoeba3330 wrote in response, "This is what I was going to say. I saw a post the other day from a doctor and team who have been studying the growing misogyny in young boys. They said they found that if a kid, 17 or younger, made a TikTok account, within the first 17 seconds they would be pushed alt-right/misogyny content." "I also saw another post about the uptick of young teen boys murdering teen girls in the UK." "It's not just the boys," u/Sad-Biscotti-3034 wrote. " I teach senior girls in my government class who truly think that women should never run for office and claim they'd gladly give up their voting rights if they didn't have to work and could be homemakers." "Yes, I live in a very red county. It's scary because many of them are voting age, and I can only teach them so much in the amount of time I have with them." This behavior is so concerning, I want to hear what you have to say. Tell me all your opinions and first-hand stories in the comments — especially if you're a teacher, parent, or student. This is a necessary discussion to have!


CBS News
a day ago
- CBS News
Two rescued by Coast Guard on Lake Superior
The Coast Guard rescued two from Lake Superior Friday night, per officials. The incident happened near Bayfield, Wisconsin. The Coast Guard says they got a call for a boat taking on water. When they arrived on scene, they pulled two people from the water and got them back to shore. The two on the boat were then checked out by EMS at a nearby marina. Officials did not sure how long the two were in the water or if they were wearing life jackets at the tiem. Both Minnesota and Wisconsin require a life jacket for each person on board. In Minnesota, children 10-years-old and younger must wear a life jacket while a boat is moving.


Chicago Tribune
a day ago
- Chicago Tribune
Key to survival and fun in Lake Michigan's surf is knowledge, training
For water safety proponent Mary Ann Best, preaching a fear of Lake Michigan is the wrong approach. 'Instead of telling everybody how deadly the lake is and to be afraid, we want people to handle themselves in the water safely, enjoy water sports and to be able to save themselves,' she said. Best grew up in Gary's Miller neighborhood along Lake Michigan's shores and has become an accomplished open water swimmer and safety supporter. She recently established a nonprofit called the Blue Flow Great Lakes Corp., which is aimed at encouraging a culture of being in and on the water safely. Wednesday's youth clinic that ended under a dark, threatening sky, drew 15 youngsters to Wells Street beach in Miller. Nine instructors took the kids, ages 6 to 15, into the lake on paddle and rescue boards to educate and teach life skills for interacting on the Great Lakes. As they headed out into the water, Jose Serrano, EMS training chief for the Gary Fire Department, watched from an ATV on the shore, while firefighter Logan McCormick sat on a jet ski just north of the students. Both are GFD water rescue team members. 'We support this class, that's why we're here,' said Serrano. 'People need to be safe and cognizant of what they do. Lake Michigan is very dangerous, and people take it for granted.' Best, who still lives in Miller, modeled her program after 'Little Nippers,' a popular Queensland, Australia youth search and lifesaving program. 'It's one of the best in the world,' said Best. 'I emailed them a year ago and asked them to work with me to start a program here.' More emails and Zoom meetings followed and Best received a book from Little Nippers about water safety for kids. Best and her daughter are revising the book, tailoring it to the Great Lakes. It will be ready for print by the end of the month. So far, Best said Blue Flow Great Lakes is the lone program in Northwest Indiana. She said there's a similar junior lifeguard program in New Buffalo, Michigan. Best also hopes the program increases the pipeline of beach lifeguards on open water who need different skills than American Red Cross-trained pool lifeguards. The kids in the clinic are introduced to lifeguarding and rescue and survival techniques. 'We get them used to swimming in all conditions and teach them the skills to be able to analyze the lake and figure out when it's not a good day to go in,' Best said. The next youth clinic on July 30 is already full. Junior program leaders also are taking on a teaching role. 'When youths teach other kids, they learn so much more themselves,' Best said. Logan Dudzik, 11, who lives in Miller, said she's at the beach nearly every day and took a previous class. 'I wanted to get better in the water and be safe. On a paddleboard, you have to get level with the wind,' she said. Mariah Smith, 14, of Gary, took part for the first time. 'It was such an experience. I'm a dedicated person and I kept falling off,' she said of her paddleboard trial. 'Next time, I will be more able. Paddling is my favorite.' Her mom, Jamika Smith, said she learned of the clinic from a friend. She said her daughter loves nature, water and the beach. 'It would be good for her to learn the tricks of the trade. She can swim a little, but I want her to be more comfortable.' Holli Divich, of LaPorte, brought 12-year-old daughter Lyric to the clinic. 'I just think it's good to learn about water safety and to be safe around water,' she said. Instructors Ty Simic and Juliet Schmidt, both of Gary, shared an incident with the class that happened to them July 12 while they were on the lake in a Hobie Cat catamaran sailboat. A strong wind broke its mast and it fell into the water, leaving them adrift. 'We would go where the wind takes us,' Simic said. He rigged another sail on the boom and a friend saw them struggling and called for help. Quickly, a Gary fire rescue crew arrived just as the couple made it back to shore. 'Call someone, let them know,' said Simic, grateful for the rescue workers. Best said both Simic and Schmidt wore life jackets and both are good swimmers. Simic was prepared and had tools on the boat. Blue Flow Great Lakes is also doing pop-up clinics at West Beach in the Indiana Dunes National Park every two weeks. 'Anybody on the beach can sign up for a two-hour session with us… We just walk around and let people know what we're doing and they sign up,' Best said. All of the clinics are free. Besides assistance from the Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant agency, the Miller Community Fund also supports Blue Flow Great Lakes, Best said. Other sponsors include Wells Street Beach and Just Passing Through, a locally-owned business. Next month, all the participants are invited back to Wells Street beach for a competition including a half-mile swim and a one-mile paddle. Best has been invited to share information on Blue Flow in South Haven and Empire, Michigan. 'Our goal is to get it going locally and be able to provide the outline for others to get it started,' she said. Best said she learned water safety as she grew up by the lake. Recently, she swam the 5-mile length of the Mackinac Island bridge and swam 8.2 miles around Mackinac Island. She also took part in the Friends of Marquette Park's effort last year to stock the park with 20 loaner life jackets and lifesaving rings. Her hope is for more beachgoers to be knowledgeable about the water currents, waves and conditions. 'Nobody knows how to act on a wavy day and the more people who are competent, the safer it is.' For more information, contact Blueflowgreatlakes@