Good morning.

Investigators in Clarion County are sharing new details on how advanced genetic genealogy solved the thirty-six-year-old mystery of "Penny Doe." District Attorney Drew Welsh says state police used federal grant funding to extract D-N-A and build a family tree, leading to a match with the sister of nineteen-year-old Windy Buchanan. Buchanan’s nineteen-ninety death in Monroe Township remains an active homicide investigation.

Clarion County will celebrate the completion of its historic courthouse renovations with an open house and rededication ceremony Friday afternoon. Commissioners approved a debt ordinance for long-term U-S-D-A financing to cover project costs alongside one million dollars in federal grant funding. The public open house begins at one p.m.

And a New Bethlehem man has been sentenced to six months of probation after fleeing police during a high-speed chase last November. Forty-two-year-old Michael Altman pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of fleeing law enforcement after leading officers on a pursuit through South Bethlehem.

For more local news, download the radioNOVO app. I’m Codi Gaboff, radioNOVO News, a service of Seven Mountains Media.

Good morning.

In Elmira, the former Italian American Veterans Club is continuing to support the local community following the sale of its Magee Street building. Former club members gathered this week to present donation checks to four local non-profit organizations: the Arctic League, Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter eight-hundred-three, the Chemung County Family Fitness Center, and Arnot Ogden Medical Center’s neonatal intensive care unit.

In regional court news, a Sayre man convicted on fifty-one felony counts of child sexual abuse will spend the rest of his life behind bars. A Bradford County judge sentenced forty-three-year-old Timothy Gainous to a minimum of one-hundred-one years to a maximum of two-hundred-seven years in state prison.

And in Steuben County, the Sonora Road Bridge over Mud Creek in the Town of Bath will close to all through traffic beginning September eighth. Public Works officials say the bridge is undergoing a complete nine-week reconstruction, and drivers should plan for alternate routes as no on-site detour will be provided.

For more local news, download the radioNOVO app. I’m Codi Gaboff, radioNOVO News, a service of Seven Mountains Media.

Good morning.

Cattaraugus County lawmakers have approved bringing the county museum under the Department of Economic Development, Planning, and Tourism ahead of hiring a full-time county historian. Legislators also voted to release nearly six-million dollars in county surplus funds to leverage almost twelve-million dollars in Medicaid funding for the county’s two nursing home facilities in Olean and Machias.

Meanwhile, a state Supreme Court ruling is expected next month in a lawsuit filed by former District Attorney Lori Rieman against Cattaraugus County. Rieman claims she is entitled to lifetime post-retirement health insurance after more than twenty years of service, while county attorneys argue she was no longer an active employee when her state retirement papers were finalized in January.

And near Wayland, the Loon Lake Wetlands Preserve will unveil its new "Nature’s Way Sculpture Garden" this Saturday afternoon. The community-crafted project features three totems designed by local artists to promote environmental stewardship, with Saturday's celebration featuring live music and interactive rock-painting stations starting at three p.m.

For more local news, download the radioNOVO app. I’m Codi Gaboff, radioNOVO News, a service of Seven Mountains Media.

Good morning.

Landmarks across New York are glowing pink in honor of country music icon Dolly Parton. Governor Kathy Hochul announced seventeen state landmarks—along with digital D-O-T highway signs statewide—are featuring special tributes to the late music legend. In Lower Manhattan, transit workers quickly removed an unauthorized subway sign that briefly renamed the Fulton Street station "Dolly Parton Street," while state highway signs now feature messages like "I Will Always Love Safe Driving."

In Western New York legal news, a federal bankruptcy judge is aiming to wrap up the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo’s six-year bankruptcy proceedings before the end of the year. Following a packed court hearing, the judge ordered updates to a proposed three-hundred-twenty-six million dollar child sex abuse settlement, clearing the way for hundreds of survivors to formally vote on the deal in the coming weeks.

At the state capital, law enforcement agencies across New York are joining an investigation into Albany County's former employee benefits administrator. County Executive Dan McCoy confirmed payments to Preferred Group Plans were frozen after county workers reported their pre-tax health cards were repeatedly declined for medical expenses. District Attorney Lee Kindlon confirmed state authorities are examining the company's financial operations.

In municipal action in the Southern Tier, the Olean Common Council voted four to two to ban camping and sleeping on public property. The new ordinance institutes fines ranging from fifty to two-hundred-fifty dollars for violations, aimed at directing individuals toward local social services—though critics argue the penalties fail to address the regional shortage of emergency shelter beds.

And the Great New York State Fair continues in Syracuse, drawing crowds to view the fifty-eighth annual eight-hundred-pound butter sculpture celebrating Empire State history. Southern Tier vendors are also front and center at the fair’s Taste N-Y showcase in the Horticulture Building, featuring regional favorites like Sidney’s Awestruck Ciders alongside local agricultural producers from across the state.

For more news from across the Empire State, download the radioNOVO app. I’m Codi Gaboff, radioNOVO News, a service of Seven Mountains Media.

Good morning.

Parkersburg City Council has approved the first reading of an updated recycling ordinance to comply with a recent court ruling. Under the proposed plan, all city sanitation customers will be charged a flat three-dollar monthly fee for curbside recycling, regardless of whether they opt to use a recycling cart.

In regional education news, Waterford Elementary School remains temporarily closed following the discovery of mold inside several classrooms. District officials have arranged for students to attend classes at neighboring facilities, including schools in the Fort Frye Local district, while remediation crews clean and re-test the building.

And in Belpre, emergency crews and gas utility workers responded to a major gas leak along State Route 618 on Thursday, forcing temporary road closures and traffic detours near the Belpre Church of Christ.

For more local news, download the radioNOVO app. I’m Codi Gaboff, radioNOVO News, a service of Seven Mountains Media.

Good morning.

At the state capitol, West Virginia has a new member in the House of Delegates. Republican Bill Vest of Fayette County was officially sworn into office after being appointed by Governor Patrick Morrisey. Vest, a public safety veteran with over four decades of experience, fills the legislative vacancy left by former Delegate Elliott Pritt following his resignation last month.

In economic news, layoffs are coming to the southern coalfields. Eagle Horizon Resources has submitted a state notice confirming it will permanently lay off seventy-one workers at its mining operation near Ashford in Boone County. The layoffs are scheduled to take effect October eleventh.

In healthcare news, Marshall Health Network has unveiled a major upgrade in Mason County, cutting the ribbon on a brand-new emergency department at Rivers Health in Point Pleasant. Backed by seven million dollars from the state’s Rural Hospital Grant program, the twelve-thousand-square-foot facility is more than double the size of the previous E-R and will officially open to patients on September first.

This comes as state transportation officials clamp down on administrative spending, canceling a sixty-three-and-a-half-million-dollar contract meant to modernize the Division of Motor Vehicles' computer infrastructure. Transportation Secretary Todd Rumbaugh says the initial bidding process lacked sufficient top-level oversight and led to inflated costs, prompting the state to restart the proposal process from scratch.

In North Central West Virginia, a former Marion County Board of Education president has filed a sworn affidavit in an ongoing lawsuit against the school district. Former board president George Boyles stated that Superintendent Doctor Donna Heston received a positive performance review prior to the board's contentious decision regarding her contract extension, alleging certain board members circulated false personal claims.

And in sports, the West Virginia University women’s soccer team is off to an undefeated start. The seventh-ranked Mountaineers carry a three-and-oh record into their weekend road trip against Princeton and Army, coming off back-to-back wins over N-C-A-A tournament contenders.

For more news from across the Mountain State, download the radioNOVO app. I’m Codi Gaboff, radioNOVO News, a service of Seven Mountains Media.

Good morning.

A Franklin man has pleaded guilty to murder and multiple assault charges stemming from a high-speed DUI crash on Scottsville Road that killed a two-year-old child in 2024. Thirty-five-year-old Jorge Lopez Iturbide reached a plea deal in Warren Circuit Court recommending a thirty-five-year prison sentence, with formal sentencing scheduled for October.

In economic development news, Air Hydro Power has officially broken ground on a new thirteen-million-dollar facility at the Kentucky Transpark. The sixty-thousand-square-foot motor and pump remanufacturing plant is expected to create fifty-two skilled technical jobs when it opens next summer.

And in regional court news, a Barren County judge has agreed to consolidate two lawsuits surrounding a proposed data center in Cave City. The court will first rule on whether the city's annexation of the land was legal before considering an injunction against Cave City's data center moratorium.

For more local news, download the radioNOVO app. I’m Codi Gaboff, radioNOVO News, a service of Seven Mountains Media.

Good morning.

Governor Andy Beshear is calling on state lawmakers to roll back tax incentives for data center developers across Kentucky. The governor argued that multi-billion-dollar tech companies do not require state tax exemptions to fund construction, aligning with growing bipartisan momentum in Frankfort to regulate the industry's impact on local power grids and taxpayer costs.

In college sports news, incoming Louisville basketball guard Seth Trimble has filed paperwork to join an ongoing eligibility lawsuit in Jefferson Circuit Court. Trimble is seeking a fifth year of college eligibility for the upcoming season, with a court hearing set for Monday morning.

And in nearby Louisville, one person was hospitalized Thursday afternoon after a car crashed into a house in the Newburg neighborhood. Emergency crews transported the driver with non-life-threatening injuries, while building inspectors evaluate the home for structural damage.

For more local news, download the radioNOVO app. I’m Codi Gaboff, radioNOVO News, a service of Seven Mountains Media.

Good morning.

Health officials are warning of an expanding public health concern across Kentucky, as the Department for Public Health confirms twenty-nine cases of measles statewide. Christian County leads the state with fourteen confirmed cases, alongside outbreaks in Washington and Jessamine counties. State health experts emphasize that none of the confirmed infections occurred in individuals who had received the M-M-R vaccine.

In judicial news, major developments have emerged surrounding school bus stop violence in Louisville. A judge has handed down a sixty-year prison sentence to Makhi Cable for his role in the twenty-twenty-one bus stop shooting death of sixteen-year-old Tyree Smith. Meanwhile, authorities across the border in southern Indiana have detained multiple suspects in connection to Tuesday morning's Louisville bus stop shooting that left a teenage girl in critical condition.

In law enforcement news, a Shively police officer is facing criminal charges for allegedly misusing law enforcement technology. Investigators say Officer Asad Zahir conducted more than two-thousand unauthorized searches on the Flock license plate camera system between January and May to track an ex-partner. Zahir has been suspended without pay and faces ten criminal counts, including official misconduct.

On the economic front, new data from the U.S. Department of Labor shows first-time unemployment filings across Kentucky dropped significantly last week. Meanwhile, in Northern Kentucky, the Boone County Fiscal Court voted to lower its property tax rate for the twelfth consecutive year, bringing the rate down to eight-point-two percent.

And federal agents at the Port of Louisville have intercepted a massive shipment of counterfeit luxury items. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers seized fake Rolex and Louis Vuitton watches along with knockoff Gucci footwear, with an estimated genuine value of over nine million dollars.

For more news from across the Commonwealth, download the radioNOVO app. I’m Codi Gaboff, radioNOVO News, a service of Seven Mountains Media.

Good morning.

In New Castle, city officials have agreed to give developer Ricky Trinidad sixty days to install more secure, permanent fencing around the blighted "downtown hole" on East Washington Street. The extension comes as the city prepares to set up the temporary ice skating rink next to the former G.C. Murphy site this winter.

Over on East Long Avenue, a court hearing regarding a blighted residential property owned by Stanley Booker has also been continued to late October. Booker and the city are currently discussing demolition options as he works to relocate remaining tenants.

And today marks National Petroleum Day, honoring Edwin Drake’s eighteen fifty-nine discovery of the world’s first commercially successful oil well in nearby Titusville. Emily Weaver, Executive Director of Friends of Drake Well, Incorporated, says the regional site's global legacy still amazes people today.

You can hear our full podcast interview exploring the history of Drake Well, here:
https://www.buzzsprout.com/2619137/episodes/19709565 

I’m Codi Gaboff, radioNOVO News, a service of Seven Mountains Media.