Editorials

Get Out and Take a Hike This New Year

If you’ve already gotten far enough ahead of the game, it’s just about time to relax, enjoy some time with friends and family while celebrating Christmas and maybe even start making plans for New Year’s Day. West Virginia State Parks has an idea — 21 parks will host 24 First Day Hikes on Jan. 1. Tomlinson Run State Park in New Manchester is among them, with Audra, Beech Fork, Blackwater Falls, Bluestone, Cacapon, Canaan Valley Resort, Cass Scenic Railroad, Cedar Creek, Elk River Trail, Little Beaver, Lost River, North Bend, Pipestem Resort, Tu-Endie-Wei, Twin Falls Resort, ...

Good News for Nature

Ohioans got an early Christmas gift this year, as the state Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife announced this week it can confirm the sighting of a fisher — the weasel-like animal, not a person in hip waders — caught on a wildlife camera in Cuyahoga County. Fishers have not been seen in Ohio since about the mid-1800s, according to the ODNR, until recently. They were run out because of unregulated harvest and loss of habitat. But this latest sighting joins 40 others in Ashtabula, Columbiana, Geauga, Trumbull, Mahoning, Portage, Lake, Jefferson, Harrison, and ...

Bring West Virginia Foster Children Back Home

State officials have come up with a creative way to address one of the challenges in West Virginia’ foster care system, with Gov. Patrick Morrisey and state Department of Human Services Secretary Alex Mayer proposing a revolving investment fund to renovate state-owned foster care facilities and improve treatment capacity. Change is necessary because of the volume of West Virginia children in foster care who end up in out-of-state placement — 543 of the 5,960 children in state custody. For each of those children placed somewhere else, the cost is an average of $156,000. “What we ...

Funding Freeze Bad

Ohio’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership is facing a sudden freeze on millions of dollars in federal funding after the U.S. Department of Commerce cited an ongoing federal review of the program. According to the Ohio Manufacturers Association, the loss of funding could mean several programs will be halted at the end of the year. At issue is the Commerce Department’s Office of Inspector General looking into allegations of fraud or misconduct — and deviating from its usual procedure because it has not filed a report on preliminary findings that would give administrators of the ...

Ohio Valley Shows Spirit of the Season

We saw some of the best of the Ohio Valley this past week. On Wednesday, the community room of the Salvation Army church on Eoff Street was covered in huge white bags, each one packed with toys, clothes and other items that hundreds of people bought for hundreds of children around the Northern Panhandle as part of the Salvation Army Angel Tree program. Those bags were distributed in Ohio County on Wednesday, Marshall County on Thursday and Wetzel and Tyler counties on Friday. On that same Wednesday, the Wheeling Police Department and United Way of the Upper Ohio Valley were at WVU ...

Bravo, Festival of Sound

Wheeling Park High School dazzled with yet another group of performances last weekend with its “Festival of Sound,” the annual holiday concert that brings together many of the components of the school’s performing arts department for one big spectacular. The school’s concert band, strings program, steel drums and choirs all combined for a wonderful display of their talents. While Mother Nature decided not to cooperate — bad weather cancelled the Sunday performance — everyone involved put everything they had into Friday and Saturday’s shows to give audiences a fantastic ...