Opinion

Helping U.S. Break Free From Government Dependence

Local Columns

Americans are the most generous people on Earth. Yet in Ohio and across the nation, well-intended government programs often trap our fellow citizens in poverty instead of providing a path to upward mobility. Current federal assistance laws create what’s known as a “benefits cliff.” This occurs when someone receiving public assistance loses a significant amount of support — or all of it —due to just a small increase in income. This system creates a perverse incentive to say no to a raise, promotion or extra hours, because saying yes could trigger a loss of benefits that can ...

Let Coal and Free Markets Power the United States

Local Columns

When ordinary, hard-working men, women, and families invest their savings, they expect something simple and straightforward: that the people managing their money are focused on one thing, delivering the best possible returns. What they don’t expect is for those investments to become political footballs or ideological experiments, especially when those choices threaten the very industries that keep their communities alive. Yet that’s exactly what we’re seeing today. In November 2024, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and 11 other state officials filed a deeply misguided lawsuit ...

Wheeling Police Earn Praise for Overdose Stats

Editorials

It wasn’t long ago that Wheeling was deep in the throes of the opioid crisis. In 2021, the city experienced all-time highs in drug overdoses and overdose deaths. According to data from the Wheeling Police Department, there were 210 overdoses that year and 28 overdose deaths. Yet over the next five years, the outlook has changed drastically, both statistics are at lows not seen in a decade. That’s thanks to the approach that Wheeling Police and Chief Shawn Schwertfeger have taken since his arrival in the Friendly City, a combination of diversion and discipline, enforcement and ...

Pats on the Back

Editorials

- To leaders of the Ohio District Council of Pentecostal Churches, which spent the week in Ohio County for its January Conference. That week including helping serve meals and donating care packages and clothing to those in need at the Soup Kitchen of Greater Wheeling. - To former Intelligencer sports editor Doug Huff, who was recently included in MaxPrep’s list of the top 25 most influential people in high school football history. He joined a list that included President Teddy Roosevelt, Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, football legends Red Grange and Jim Thorpe and ...

Tax Cuts Should Come Cautiously

Editorials

Gov. Patrick Morrisey is right to note West Virginians are “feeling the impact of inflation,” as he pointed out Monday. “People know that groceries cost more. Gas has (cost) more. Utilities have (cost) more,” he said. It is easy, then, to understand why he wants to find a way to do something about that by speeding up the state’s path to already approved cuts, and is proposing reducing the state’s personal income tax rates by between 5% and 10%. It’s exciting talk, but once lawmakers dig into the idea, they will likely have to pump the brakes. Revenue from the personal ...

A Good Use Of Airport

Editorials

The Ohio County Commission got some good news this week for the Wheeling-Ohio County Airport, as Marshall University has agreed to offer aviation classes for the general public at the airport. Ohio County Commission President Zach Abraham said the goal of the new program is to bring more takeoffs and landings of planes to the airport, he explained. This should also result in a greater sale of fuel there and use of mechanic resources on site. When Marshall and West Liberty universities originally agreed to put a branch of MU’s Bill Noe Flight School at the airport, this is exactly ...