radioNOVO News WV News Roundup for June 17, 2026

 Good morning. Topping our West Virginia statewide roundup, a major battle is brewing over how the state funds local classrooms. Financial officers from multiple county school systems took to the floor at legislative interim meetings in Canaan Valley, issuing a stark warning to lawmakers that the state's current school aid funding formula is broken. Local officials argue the seven-step formula is far too reliant on student enrollment numbers, which have dropped over fifteen percent statewide since 2015. Education leaders say while student populations decline, rigid operational costs like school bus routes, aging facilities, and utilities remain exactly the same, leaving local districts facing a massive funding gap for special education and critical staff. House Education Chairman Joe Statler says lawmakers plan to turn over every stone to find a legislative solution before next session.Meanwhile, West Virginia’s Corrections Commissioner is making a multi-million dollar push for advanced technology inside state prisons, despite massive up-front costs. Commissioner David Kelly informed the Joint Committee on Finance that excessive use-of-force lawsuits brought by inmates are currently costing taxpayers roughly three and a half million dollars every single year. Kelly is prioritizing a one-point-eight million dollar purchase of correctional body cameras to mitigate those legal costs, stating the technology will protect good officers, expose bad ones, and provide definitive evidence in court.Turning to economic development, state officials say West Virginia’s business pipeline is surging with seventy-eight active deals currently on the table. Deputy Secretary for Economic Development Christina Davies told lawmakers that while national deal flows have slowed, the Mountain State is averaging ten new business prospects a month, with advanced manufacturing leading the short-term charge.And finally, a massive shift in West Virginia gun laws is officially in effect across the state. Under House Bill Forty-One-Zero-Six, eligible residents aged eighteen to twenty can now legally carry a concealed handgun without a permit, provided they do not have a disqualifying criminal history. State authorities remind gun owners that firearms remain strictly prohibited on school grounds, inside courthouses, at airports, and on most federal properties.For more news, download the radioNOVO app. I’m Codi Gaboff, radioNOVO News, a service of Seven Mountains Media.