radioNOVO News for Parkersburg, WV 07-17-26

Good morning.Parkersburg City Council has unanimously approved an increased five percent discount for residents who pay their annual police, fire, and sanitation fees in full early. The vote comes amid a wave of heavy public criticism at Tuesday's meeting, with frustrated residents demanding a full accounting and independent environmental testing following the massive Peoples Cartage warehouse fire just outside city limits.In economic news, a powerful delegation of nineteen Japanese corporate leaders, including ten presidents and C-E-O-s, wrapped up a high-stakes tour of Wood County this week. Local development officials are actively pitching the Mid-Ohio Valley’s low-cost natural gas and responsive local government to entice the foreign manufacturing giants into building facilities and creating jobs right here in West Virginia.And the Wood County Board of Education is celebrating strong community backing for its remote learning initiatives. School officials reveal that over one thousand parents surveyed overwhelmingly supported the district's first year utilizing nontraditional instruction days to keep students learning during weather closures without extending the school year into June.For more news, download the radioNOVO app. I’m Codi Gaboff, radioNOVO News, a service of Seven Mountains Media.