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Mother grieves loss of baby, raises awareness of preeclampsia

RAYTOWN, Mo. — It was supposed to be Victoria Denney’s first Mother’s Day.

“This is not what I had in mind. I pictured a day filled with a sweet card from my husband, maybe some flowers, but most certainly a baby in my arms,” Victoria wrote in her blog.

But her baby, Josh, was not in her arms. In February, 29 weeks into pregnancy, Victoria developed high blood pressure and protein in the urine. It was preeclampsia, a dangerous condition for mother and baby. The amniotic fluuid level was dropping, so Josh had to be delivered more than two months early.

“The doctors just kept telling us how strong he was,” Victoria said.

But 36 hours after birth, a nurse told Victoria that Josh was having a hard time. Nothing could prepare Victoria and husband for what they saw when they entered the neonatal intensive care unit.

Public swimming pools not as clean as you think, study finds

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Just in time for pools to open up across the metro, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have come out with a new study about what’s lurking in that water.

According to the CDC report, water sampled from 161 pools around the Atlanta area found 58 percent showed signs of E. Coli, which is the bacteria most commonly associated with fecal matter.

Diapered babies and children who are not properly toilet trained can easily introduce poop into the water, the report found.

But, children are not alone as culprits.

Adults are also at fault, mainly for those who do not shower with soap before entering the pool, who bring traces of fecal matter with them.

Graduating seniors want to give back to their country

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — This time of year, we hear a lot about senior pranks or senior skip days by antsy teens ready to graduate. But there are some kids who graduated with a much more serious approach to their final days in high school and their futures.

“Anxious, more anxious than anything.”

It’s the final high school celebration for Washington High School’s class of 2013. There are many futures in this crowd, including a call to lay down your life for others.

“It’s always been my dream to serve my country and it’s been a family tradition and I’m just glad to do it,” said Jason Langley, whose part of a handful of students who will enlist in the military.

Courtney Liston is another.

“I didn’t really want to live the college life right after high school, and the experience and to be able to travel, the discipline I’ll receive,” she said.

Contractor sued for cheating Joplin tornado victims

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. Attorney General Chris Koster filed a lawsuit Thursday against a Dana Point, Calif., resident and his construction company alleging that he failed to provide construction materials and home-repair services that had been paid for by victims of the Joplin tornado.

Koster’s lawsuit alleges that homeowners paid Clark Baxter and his business, Sustainable Design, Inc., tens of thousands of dollars for the construction materials needed to rebuild their homes. However, Baxter failed to deliver the construction materials, and stopped working on the victims’ homes prior to completion, leavingconsumers to purchase these items elsewhere at additional cost.

“Unfortunately, there are always those who will take advantage of unsuspecting consumers during times of tragedy,” Koster said, “This office will continue to protect consumers by pursuing those who engage in this illegal behavior.

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Internet outage affects FOX 4

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — An internet outage is currently affecting FOX 4. The station is still able to update the website, however video cannot be added to any story. Station email and livestream capabilities are also currently unavailable.

The outage does not affect newscasts.

Phone services are also currently not affected.

If you’d like to contact the station, call 816-753-4567. To reach the newsroom, dial ext. 201.

Engineers hope to have the issue resolved by early Friday morning.

In the meantime, if you’re looking for a story that aired in the 5, 6, 9 or 10 p.m. newscasts on Thursday, it will be posted sometime Friday, barring the internet is functioning again.

We apologize for the inconvenience.

UPDATE: Viral video star arrested in NJ man’s death

(CNN) — A homeless hitchhiker who achieved Internet celebrity by acting as a Good Samaritan with a hatchet was arrested at a Philadelphia bus depot Thursday in connection with the murder of a New Jersey attorney, authorities said.

Caleb Lawrence McGillvary, 24, known on Facebook and YouTube as “Kai the Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker,” is facing a murder charge in Union County, New Jersey, authorities said.

McGillvary was arrested Thursday evening at the Greyhound terminal by Philadelphia police after New Jersey authorities issued a public call for help in finding him, said Union County Prosecutor Theodore J. Romankow.

“I am grateful for the overwhelming response and dedicated effort by the public and law enforcement that led to this arrest,” Romankow said in a statement. “I believe that everyone is a little safer with this person off the streets.”

How safe is your car? Find out here

If you’re like most people, you get in your vehicle every day with no intention of getting in an accident. However, accidents happen. And they can be deadly.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety put 13 small SUVs through crash tests to determine how safe they are. The crash tests concentrated on the left side of the vehicles, which is where a quarter of all serious and fatal injuries occur.

Revealing an overall rating of “poor” in the left-side crash tests were the Hyundai Tuscon, Kia Sportage, Buick Encore, Jeep Patriot and Ford Escape. However, those same vehicles scored high on other crash tests.

The Subaru Forester and Mitsubishi Outlander Sport were given the Institutes new “Top Safety Pick Plus” award, calling them the very safest vehicles.

But what about your car? How safe is it? Find out by visiting the Institutes website.