Editorials

Discussions Needed on Region’s Future

Numbers always tell an interesting story. When it comes to Wheeling’s population, a topic we plan to expand upon in this space in the coming months, the numbers paint a picture local leaders need to better understand if they do, indeed, want the city to grow and thrive in the future. Consider: Wheeling’s population as of July 1, 2024, according to estimates released last month by the U.S. Census Bureau, is 26,060. That’s the lowest level for the city’s population since — think about this — prior to the 1880 census, when Wheeling registered 30,737 residents, up from the ...

Right-Sizing School Budget

It’s only been a handful of years ago that Ohio County Schools spent $65 million in a year to educate students and operate facilities, school buses and the other items necessary for a public school district. That was 2017. This year, that same budget is $89.3 million. During that span, the number of students in Ohio County decreased by 550. In 2017, to educate 5,269 students, the county spent $12,336 per student. In fiscal 2025, that cost increased to $18,923.50 per student for the 4,719 children enrolled in the system. What changed? For one, property tax valuations on ...

Happy Birthday, Wheeling Park!

Wheeling is a special place. Its history, its role in serving as a gateway to America’s westward expansion, its Victorian-era architecture, and so much more factor in to making this such a unique spot. At the top of that list has to sit the city’s incredible public parks system. Wheeling Park, nestled in a quiet neighborhood along U.S. 40, is part of a parks system for the people built and maintained by the people that, frankly, is unmatched across the nation. Wheeling Park today officially marks 100 years of operation. In the past century it truly has grown to become the ...

Center Wheeling Project a Priority

City leaders in Wheeling have a upcoming decision that will be imperative to the growth and development of what soon will be the city’s hotbed of economic activity. City Manager Robert Herron recently informed members of City Council that he soon will be seeking developers to consider just what is the right use for the property that previously housed the Center Wheeling Parking Garage and the Wheeling Fire Department headquarters. The site has been leveled and cleared over the past year and with the WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital Regional Cancer Center being planned just across the ...

Broadband Delay Not Good for State

U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., and Kelly Workman, director of West Virginia’s Office of Broadband, are right to keep up the pressure on federal officials over the pace of their review of grant funding for high-speed broadband. “As we have discussed, I am concerned that West Virginia may be told to move back from the 1-yard line to the 40-yard line after the review concludes,” Capito wrote in a letter to U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. “I urge you to expedite not only the review and release of updated guidance but the program as a whole.” The ...

Improve Dental Health in W.Va.

We’ve all heard the jokes about West Virginians’ dental health that plenty of us rushed to call unfair and untrue. They’ve been around for generations. The problem is, there is some truth to the idea that we’ve got a problem here. WalletHub’s “States with the Best and Worst Dental Health (2025)” notes the Mountain State is not quite dead last, but close. We are 49th, ahead of only Mississippi and Arkansas. We are 38th for dental habits and care, and dead last (51st) for oral health. West Virginia is 50th for the percentage of adults who visited a dentist in the past ...