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Tax Holiday Slated For This Weekend

There will be a Sales Tax Holiday from Friday, Aug. 4, through Monday, Aug 7, at 11:59 p.m.

West Virginia families doing back-to-school shopping this weekend will save a little bit of money. There will be a Sales Tax Holiday from Friday, Aug. 4, through Monday, Aug 7, at 11:59 p.m.

During the holiday, certain back-to-school items are exempt from sales tax, such as clothing, school supplies, school instructional materials, laptops and tablets, and sports equipment.

To learn more about what can and cannot be purchased tax-free during this time and for additional information about the Sales Tax Holiday, click here.

The average customer will save at least 6 percent on every qualified purchase and up to 7 percent if they purchase the item in a municipality that has imposed a local sales tax.

During the holiday, the following items are exempt from Sales and Use tax:

Certain clothing with a purchase price of $125 or less
Certain school supplies with a purchase price of $50 or less
Certain school instruction material with a purchase price of $20 or less
Certain laptop and tablet computers with a purchase price of $500 or less
Certain sports equipment with a purchase price of $150 or less
Items purchased for use in a trade or business are not exempt under the sales tax holiday

National Program Offers School Prep Boost For Summersville Families

Children in Nicholas County can take part in the annual Save the Children Reading Campaign this Saturday. The program supports children in rural areas with summer learning activities.

Children in Nicholas County can take part in the annual Save the Children Reading Campaign this Saturday. The program supports children in rural areas with summer learning activities. The program serves communities most impacted by inequality.

“It’s a centralized location that will enable families from a number of the area communities to receive educational materials and school supplies to help them get ready for the next school year,” Cathryn Miller, Save the Children’s West Virginia state director, said, “and engage in learning these last few moments of summer.”

Summersville is one of 20 stops on the tour that serves communities most impacted by inequality.

“Since 2010, Save the Children has been working to support the most isolated and under-resourced communities in rural West Virginia,” she said. “Nicholas County, as well as a few of its surrounding counties, are among the eight counties in the state where we provide early learning programming and resources.”

The kids will receive books, food, and school supplies. The program was established to help students to enjoy reading while providing them with the necessary resources.

Students and families are encouraged to join the Save the Children’s summer reading campaign called 100 Days of Reading.

The event in Summersville will be on Saturday at the Nicholas County Veterans Memorial Park from 10 a.m. through 1 p.m.

Hillers & Creekers

Our cultural divides start early in America – some even in childhood.

As kids, we learn where we come from and where we belong. Those divisions can really run deep. When Us & Them host Trey Kay was a kid at George Washington High School in Charleston, West Virginia, you were either a ‘hiller’ or a ‘creeker.’ The sorting followed class lines and separated kids based on their family’s income.

Trey goes back to his old neighborhood to see if others remember it the way he does. Some of their differences were subtle while others were as basic as the clothes they could afford. But what he learned from these adult conversations is that they had a lot in common. They were all self-conscious and knew that even their shoes could define them.

Another thing they all share? The pain of those 40-year-old wounds can sometimes still sting.

This episode of Us & Them is presented with support from the CRC Foundation and the West Virginia Humanities Council.

Subscribe to Us & Them on Apple Podcasts, NPR One, RadioPublic, Spotify, Stitcher and beyond. You also can listen to Us & Them on WVPB Radio — tune in every fourth Thursday at 8 p.m., or listen to the encore presentation on the following Saturday at 3 p.m.

Randy Blake Thomas in 1977 as a sophomore at George Washington High School in Charleston, W.Va.

Joey Minardi in 1977 as a sophomore at George Washington High School in Charleston, W.Va.

Trey Kay in 1977 as a sophomore at George Washington High School in Charleston, W.Va.

Randy Thomas sporting a pair of his coveted Nike Cortez sneakers.

City of Spencer to Forgive Tickets in Exchange for School Supplies

The city of Spencer is offering to forgive unpaid parking tickets in exchange for school supplies.

Spencer, located in Roane County, announced the deal Tuesday on Facebook, according to the Associated Press.

The city will clear parking tickets for anyone who brings in items from a list of supplies, which includes crayons, pencils, pens, loose-leaf paper and cleaning wipes.

Supplies can be dropped off at the Spencer municipal building. Spencer city leaders are accepting one item per ticket.

Tickets issued through Friday are eligible for the program.

Spencer is no pioneer when it comes to this kind of trade — last month, Wheeling launched a Pencils (and More) for Parking program that will last until August 14, according to the Wheeling Intelligencer.