radioNOVO News for Parkersburg, WV 06-08-26

Good morning,A bitter political battle over Parkersburg’s trash collection is likely heading to court. The city's referendum committee says that despite gathering over three thousand valid signatures to challenge a new contract with Waste Management, the city clerk rejected the petition based on an opinion from the city attorney. The committee plans to appeal.In legal news, a federal appeals court has revived a major class-action lawsuit challenging West Virginia’s foster care system. The court ruled federal judges have a constitutional duty to intervene when state institutions fail to protect vulnerable children. The suit alleges children are frequently subjected to abuse, neglect, and out-of-state placements.And right across the river, Marietta City Council has fast-tracked emergency funds for a major downtown hazard. Lawmakers voted to immediately spend over two hundred and eleven thousand dollars to repair an eighty-year-old sewer line that caused a massive sinkhole at Front and Greene streets.For more news, download the radioNOVO app. I’m Codi Gaboff, radioNOVO News, a service of Seven Mountains Media.