radioNOVO News WV News Roundup for August 03, 2026

Good morning. Here is your West Virginia State Roundup.In energy news, American Electric Power has announced an agreement to purchase the seven-hundred-ten-megawatt coal-fired Longview Power Plant in Monongalia County. AEP is also acquiring the adjacent Mountain State Clean Energy site near Morgantown, which holds active permits for a future natural gas plant. Appalachian Power confirms the deal will not impact customer utility rates, while Monongalia County officials say AEP has committed to honoring existing local tax payment agreements.On state highways, law enforcement officers across West Virginia are stepping up traffic enforcement against red-light and stop-sign violations. The Governor's Highway Safety Program’s annual "Target Red" campaign officially kicked off this weekend and will run through August fifteenth. State officials note that intersection crashes account for nearly twenty percent of all wrecks in West Virginia, warning drivers that rolling through stop signs or speeding up for yellow lights will result in immediate citations.In college sports, a federal judge has ruled in favor of several Marshall University student-athletes, granting college athletes from the high school class of twenty-twenty-two an extra fifth year of eligibility for the upcoming seasons. Marshall Athletic Director Gerald Harrison says the administration is reviewing the decision, while NCAA leadership cautions the ruling highlights the need for federal legislation regarding collegiate eligibility rules.State fire officials are asking Mountain State residents to spend five minutes completing a new online Home Safety Survey. State Fire Marshal Ken Tyree launched the ten-question assessment to help local fire departments pinpoint safety needs county by county, with a goal of collecting responses from two hundred thousand households by the end of the year.And state lawmakers are finding bipartisan common ground on civil liberties. Republican Senator Chris Rose and Democratic Delegate Evan Hansen are both crafting legislation to establish guardrails and potential bans on automated license plate readers and warrantless real-time surveillance tools when the legislature reconvenes.I’m Codi Gaboff, radioNOVO News, a service of Seven Mountains Media.