radioNOVO News WV News Roundup for May 21, 2026

Good morning, I’m Codi Gaboff with your morning West Virginia State Roundup.We begin right here in Wood County, where a Parkersburg man has been officially indicted by a grand jury in connection with a tragic off-road vehicle accident last year. Authorities have arrested Edward McComas the Third on severe charges of driving while impaired causing death. Investigators state that McComas was operating a side-by-side UTV in the Mineral Wells area in February of twenty-twenty-five when it crashed, claiming the lives of twenty-two-year-old Chloe Barre and twenty-three-year-old Joseph Lowers the Second. McComas is currently being held at the Northern Regional Jail on a two-hundred-thousand-dollar bond.Meanwhile in Washington, federal officials are defending proposed budget cuts to the Mine Safety and Health Administration. Acting U.S. Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling told West Virginia Senator Shelley Moore Capito that a proposed ten percent funding reduction is aimed at increasing agency efficiency rather than reducing critical safety protections for miners. Sonderling noted that the implementation of cutting-edge artificial intelligence helmet technology could soon make mine inspectors thirty percent more efficient. While the House proposal drops funding to three-hundred-forty-eight-million dollars, the Senate version aims to keep current spending levels intact.Turning to utility concerns, Appalachian Power is pushing back against a newly filed legal appeal challenging its recent rate increase. The state Public Service Commission previously approved a forty-million-dollar inflationary rate hike in a deal that prevents the utility from pursuing a larger base rate increase for at least a year. While a Beckley attorney appealed the decision on behalf of frustrated customers, APCo President Brian Abraham publicly defended the measure, stating the compromise actually protects consumers by creating more predictable and stable monthly power bills.And finally, West Virginia is getting ready to throw a massive party for America's two-hundred-fiftieth birthday. Governor Patrick Morrisey has announced a major four-day, family-friendly celebration scheduled to take over the capital city of Charleston from July second through July fifth. The massive event will feature live music, local vendors, and a towering two-hundred-thirty-foot Ferris wheel. Additionally, a nightly Liberty and Light show will project three-dimensional historical stories directly onto the iconic gold dome of the state Capitol building.For more news from across the Mountain State, download the radioNOVO app. I’m Codi Gaboff, radioNOVO News, a service of Seven Mountains Media.