The Met Rocks | radioNOVO News WV News Roundup for June 15, 2026

Good morning,A former West Virginia police officer remains behind bars this morning after pleading not guilty to the high-profile kidnapping and murder of missing Parkersburg resident Gretchen Fleming. Fifty-eight-year-old Preston Pierce entered the plea in Wood County Circuit Court following his extradition from North Carolina. Fleming first vanished in late 2022, and a massive breakthrough in the statewide investigation occurred when her remains were discovered by a hunter in Wirt County. Pierce is currently being held without bail at the North Central Regional Jail.Turning to the state Capitol, political landscape shifts dominate the headlines in Charleston. State officials are reacting to newly released data showing that Boone County has officially flipped to a Republican voter registration majority for the first time in recorded history—leaving Democrats with a registration advantage in only four of West Virginia's fifty-five counties. Local leaders attribute the massive shift to the long-term decline of the region's coal industry.However, a massive injection of federal funding is aimed at revitalizing that very industry. Appalachian Power is preparing to deploy a piece of a seven-hundred-million-dollar federal investment to upgrade three of its West Virginia coal-fired power plants. Company officials confirm they received a fifty-one-million-dollar grant specifically for the Mitchell Plant in Marshall County. Rebuilding a cooling tower there is expected to increase efficiency and keep the coal fleet running well beyond the year 2040.A major piece of employment legislation officially takes effect across West Virginia today. The state’s new Youth Apprenticeship Program law is now active, allowing high school juniors and seniors to enter the workforce early to earn a postsecondary trade certification alongside their high school diplomas. Lawmakers hope the new educational pathway will directly combat West Virginia’s low workforce participation rate and fill a critical shortage of skilled local tradesmen.Meanwhile, a massive national sporting event rolls into Charleston this week. The U-S-A Pro Road National Championships kick off tomorrow, bringing hundreds of the country's elite, junior, and under-23 competitive cyclists to the capital city. Organizers note last year's races brought in a massive seven-million-dollar economic impact, and they are reminding local commuters to expect major closures along Kanawha Boulevard through June twenty-first.In regional safety news, Monongalia County authorities are searching for answers after a body was recovered from the Monongahela River. Emergency crews discovered the victim just before noon on Saturday near the community of Granville. Investigators have not yet released the victim's identity or a suspected cause of death.And in sports, West Virginia's historic run at a College World Series title hit a major roadblock last night in Omaha. The Mountaineers fell to North Carolina five-to-two, snapping their win streak. Now sitting at forty-six and sixteen on the season, WVU faces a do-or-die, win-or-go-home elimination game against Troy tomorrow.For more news, download the radioNOVO app. I’m Codi Gaboff, radioNOVO News, a service of Seven Mountains Media.