radioNOVO News WV News Roundup for May 19, 2026

Good morning,State police investigators are on the scene in Parkersburg leading the probe into a weekend standoff that left two people dead. Parkersburg police officers and Wood County deputies initially responded to a twenty-fifth street apartment late Saturday night for an unknown problem when a suspect inside opened fire on them. Law enforcement returned fire, fatally wounding the individual. Inside the home, officers discovered a second body, which investigators believe was dead prior to police arriving on scene. Per standard protocol, a Parkersburg officer and a Wood County deputy have been placed on administrative duty pending the final review.Meanwhile, a Kanawha County couple is making it their mission to ensure West Virginia's first responder history is preserved. Dylan Hackworth and his fiancée Tamaria Cooper, who both work full-time as E-M-Ts for Kanawha County, launched the Hackworth Fire Collection earlier this year. Since January, the duo has already visited thirty of the state's four hundred and thirty-three fire departments to digitize and share historic photos. Local family members have even reported seeing old pictures of their ancestors in uniform for the very first time on the project's Facebook page. The couple hopes to eventually visit every department statewide and one day open a permanent West Virginia fire museum.In Charleston, demolition crews are officially tearing down a long-vacant landmark in Kanawha City. The old Kmart building, which has sat completely empty since 2020, is being leveled to make way for a major new development. GoMart purchased the property through an online auction and plans to construct a massive travel plaza on the footprint.Down in Wayne County, if you were planning a trip to the swimming beach at Beech Fork State Park to kick off the unofficial start of summer, you will need to find another option. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced that the beach at Stowers Branch Recreation Area will remain completely closed through the upcoming Memorial Day weekend. Officials say ongoing drought conditions have dropped water levels well below acceptable margins, and the area will stay closed until water levels return to normal and conditions are deemed safe for swimmers.And in sports, the Marshall University baseball team is headed south for postseason play. The Thundering Herd officially clinched a spot in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament over the weekend, entering the bracket as the number-ten seed. Marshall opens tournament play at four o'clock this afternoon in a single-elimination matchup against the number-seven seed Louisiana. The single-elimination battle will take place at D-A-B-O-S Park in Montgomery, Alabama.More news on our radioNOVO app -- Codi Gaboff, radioNOVO News, a service of Seven Mountains Media.