Editorials

Wheeling Park High School Students Preserving History

One great way to get young people interested in Wheeling history is to make them an active participant in preserving it. Wheeling Park High School’s machine tool technology class is currently refurbishing the “OVGH” letters that hung on the old Ohio Valley General Hospital/Ohio Valley Medical Center building for decades. Those letters were taken down and preserved as the old OVMC was torn down to make room for the upcoming WVU Cancer Institute St. Joseph Regional Cancer Complex. The WPHS students are making those letters look the best they can, as they will be displayed ...

Give What You Can Today

You’ve made it through Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Artists Sunday and Cyber Monday. It’s a long series of days on which businesses big and small and even some individuals are hoping you’ll be spending some (or all) of your holiday shopping budget with them. Now we have reached Giving Tuesday, a day organizers say “unleashes the power of radical generosity around the world.” Sure, there’s a financial component to this, too. Those who have the resources should, indeed, take advantage of today to give what they are able to nonprofits that support the most ...

Department of Education Fails in What It Calls ‘Professional’

U.S. Department of Education officials missed the mark badly when they decided, purportedly in a revision that is part of the Big Beautiful Bill, to eliminate nursing, physical therapy, public health and other fields from those graduate study fields in which students are able to borrow loans up to the cost of their degree. Those programs are not, in the opinion of bureaucrats in Washington, D.C., “professional.” In fact, only the following fields are now defined as professional programs, according to the Education Department: pharmacy, dentistry, veterinary medicine, chiropractic, ...

West Virginia on the Board in Economic ‘Backyard Brawl’

For nearly all of 2025, West Virginia has been standing on the sidelines, biding its time while our border states marched into the end zone in Gov. Patrick Morrisey’s “Economic Backyard Brawl.” That’s come to an end. The recent announcements Morrisey — from investments here in the Northern Panhandle to the broader energy arena — signals that West Virginia is finally stepping onto the field, racking up yards and even scoring a couple touchdowns. We noted a few months back that, midway through the first quarter, the score was 49-0, in favor of our neighboring states. Now, ...

A New-Look Downtown

It’s hard to deny the positive feeling surrounding downtown Wheeling. The new streets and sidewalks were one piece — an important piece — in what appears to be a renaissance on Main and Market streets. But don’t dismiss the private investment that’s taken place. For many, the buzz downtown is stronger than it’s been for the past two decades. What used to be a vacant downtown after 5 p.m. now is showing real signs of life. Restaurants are open; shows are taking place; live music has returned. The best part? The public has noticed. Head down to the waterfront on a ...

Support Small Business Saturday

Those who have endured the madness of Black Friday and still have plenty of holiday shopping to do should consider using this Small Business Saturday to explore retailers (and gift ideas) that will help add a personal touch to your giving. Since 2010, the annual event has celebrated small, independent businesses in our communities. American Express estimates as much as $22 billion was spent on Small Business Saturday in 2024. For the 99.9% of businesses in the U.S. that qualify as “small,” according to Forbes, that kind of spending is essential. It helps employ more than 62 ...