Local Columns

It’s Time for Wheeling to Stand Behind New Mayor

A recent opinion piece in The Intelligencer about Wheeling Mayor Denny Magruder left me scratching my head, so much so that I felt compelled to respond. It took an unusually aggressive tone and read as the grievance of someone still disgruntled over the outcome of Wheeling’s recent mayoral election. At the risk of drawing attention to something that lacked depth and insight, I’d like to offer a different perspective on the issues raised. The piece began by stating that it was not a personal attack on the mayor, but it proceeded to do just that. The writer raised concerns ...

Marshall Memo: Upcoming Trip to Dallas; Festival of Steel; and Charlie Brown

The “George Drinks Water” robotics team from John Marshall High School—Sophie Cunningham, Lilly Bergen, and Knox Wilson—took home the Design Award at the West Virginia High School Robotics State Championship this past Monday at Fairmont State University. That win punched their ticket to the VEX Robotics World Championship in Dallas, Texas. Coach Cole Simms said, “I’m so proud of everything these students have accomplished this season. The dedication and drive to spend long hours studying, building, coding, and testing their robot is amazing.” The trio will head to the ...

What World Needs Is Forgiveness — and Love

On July 5, 2016, officers responded to a convenience store about 12:35 a.m. after an anonymous caller indicated a man selling music CDs and wearing a red shirt threatened him with a gun, Baton Rouge police have said. Two officers responded and had some type of altercation with the Black man in the parking lot, and one officer fatally shot the suspect. This resulted in the death of Alton Sterling, age 37. The U.S. Justice Department said the FBI’s New Orleans Division, the Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Louisiana have opened a civil ...

Coverage of Riley Gaines Act Wasn’t Just ‘Clickbait’

Last week, we had the first of Gov. Patrick Morrisey’s bills be signed into law. Senate Bill 456, the Riley Gaines Act that defines “male” and “female” in State Code, is now the law of the land. We in the media are sometimes criticized by lawmakers for focusing on the social conservative bills over the other work that lawmakers are doing during the legislative session. And no doubt, some in the media do focus on bills with no chance of being taken up that are easy clickbait for people who wish to be outraged. But it is very hard to say that the press are unfairly shining a ...

City of Wheeling Must Do Its Part To Help Those in Need

The acrimony in the continuing debate about people who are unhoused in Wheeling and the region showed up in a recent editorial in the Sunday News-Register. This mirrors what is happening in many communities across the country. The problem is that we only want to treat the symptom rather than the cause. And we seem to share the naive assumption that the easy answer will work. There are many ways people can become unhoused. Severe medical issues, low wages, burgeoning health care costs (where the working poor pay far more than insurance companies or the insured for the same medical ...

Plug Data Centers in W.Va.’s Coal Power Grid

A major driver of the recent surge in electricity demand is the explosion of energy-intensive data centers and artificial intelligence systems. These massive operations are rapidly approaching saturation in our neighboring state of Virginia. This presents a golden opportunity for West Virginia. Our state generates more electricity than it consumes and has the capacity to accommodate new growth. Large-scale data centers require land, water, and—most importantly—reliable and adequate power. West Virginia has all three. Yet, instead of taking full advantage of our existing, proven ...