radioNOVO News WV News Roundup for September 10, 2026

 Good morning. Here is your West Virginia State Roundup.West Virginia is now officially in the running for a major federal energy initiative. Governor Patrick Morrisey announced the state has signed an agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy to be considered as a host site for a new Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campus. West Virginia is one of six states competing for the project, which aims to advance nuclear fuel recycling, energy technology, and advanced manufacturing.In statewide safety news, violent crime and drug overdose deaths both saw notable declines across the Mountain State last year. Governor Morrisey announced violent crime dropped over five percent, while fatal drug overdoses fell by twelve percent in twenty-twenty-five. State Police seized nearly eighty pounds of fentanyl during enforcement operations, while the West Virginia First Foundation has reinvested forty-million dollars into addiction recovery programs across local communities.Over in Kanawha County, eleven Mingo County parents are taking the state to court over the universal expansion of West Virginia's Hope Scholarship voucher program. The lawsuit challenges the expansion—which provides roughly fifty-four-hundred dollars per student for private education—arguing that public school funding cuts are forcing the closure of rural schools like Dingess Elementary, where families have no nearby private options. State Treasurer Larry Pack says his office will aggressively defend the voucher program.In Boone County, a new trial date of October thirteenth has been set for Donna Stone, who faces charges including murder by a parent or guardian and child neglect resulting in the death of her fourteen-year-old granddaughter, Kyneddi Miller, in twenty-twenty-four.At West Virginia University, leaders have named Kimberly Clark as the system's new chief information officer. Clark, who previously held senior technology roles at Twitter and Charles Schwab, will oversee cybersecurity, IT infrastructure, and artificial intelligence integration starting October twelfth.And in sports, Mountaineers head football coach Rich Rodriguez says his offense got too conservative after building an early lead in Saturday's season opener. Despite a second-half push by Coastal Carolina, West Virginia held on for a thirty-one to twenty-four victory to start the season.For more news, download the radioNOVO app. I’m Codi Gaboff, radioNOVO News, a service of Seven Mountains Media.