EXHIBIT 99

NEWS RELEASE
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                    Contact: John W. Conlon
---------------------                             Chief Financial Officer
November 14, 2002                                 (740) 373-3155




                            PEOPLES BANCORP DECLARES
                             FOURTH QUARTER DIVIDEND
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         MARIETTA,  Ohio - The Board of Directors of Peoples Bancorp Inc.
(Nasdaq: PEBO) today declared a quarterly  dividend of $0.15 per share.
         The fourth quarter dividend payout of approximately $1.2 million on an
estimated 7.9 million shares is payable January 2, 2003, to shareholders of
record at December 13, 2002.
         Peoples Bancorp Inc., a diversified financial products and services
company with $1.4 billion in assets, offers a complete line of banking,
investment, insurance, and trust solutions through Peoples Bank's 45 sales
offices and 30 ATMs in Ohio, West Virginia, and Kentucky. Peoples' common shares
are traded on the NASDAQ national market under the symbol "PEBO" and Peoples is
a member of the Russell 3000 index of US publicly traded companies. Learn more
about Peoples or enroll in Peoples' award winning Internet banking product, at
www.peoplesbancorp.com.

                                 END OF RELEASE