radioNOVO News WV News Roundup for August 31, 2026

Good morning.On this International Overdose Awareness Day, state health officials report significant progress in West Virginia’s fight against addiction. The West Virginia First Foundation expects to invest nearly fifty million dollars in opioid settlement funds into treatment and prevention programs by the end of this year. State drug policy officials tell lawmakers that overdose deaths in the Mountain State have dropped nearly forty-two percent from pre-pandemic levels, while cases of babies born dependent on drugs have decreased by more than forty-four percent.In state government news, Governor Patrick Morrisey's administration is inviting public comment on proposed rules for West Virginia's Military Hall of Fame. Created by the legislature in twenty-twenty-two, the new guidelines will set standards for nominations, selection, and induction into the hall, which currently honors Medal of Honor recipients Woody Williams and Phill Gene McDonald. Public comment remains open through September eleventh via the Department of Veterans Assistance.In law enforcement, license plate recognition technology is being credited with the quick recovery of a missing child in Monongalia County. Sheriff’s deputies say nine-year-old Jackson Blaney was taken by his uncle on Saturday, prompting officers to enter the suspect's truck into their Flock camera network. The system flagged the vehicle at the Suncrest Towne Center in Morgantown, allowing deputies to rescue the boy safe and unharmed within ninety minutes.In Charleston, a nearly sixty-year-old recovery home for men is undergoing a major expansion. The Kanawha Valley Fellowship Home is constructing twelve new sober-living apartments next to its Virginia Street facility using local opioid settlement funds. Officials say structured housing dramatically improves long-term recovery rates, and the expansion will allow the facility to serve over one-hundred-ten men annually.And in regional sports news, young athletes in Mason County are gearing up under the lights for the first time. The Mason Youth League installed new stadium lighting at its local fields, allowing night games for almost seven-hundred players across fifty-seven teams in Mason, Middleport, and Pomeroy.For more news, download the radioNOVO app. I’m Codi Gaboff, radioNOVO News, a service of Seven Mountains Media.