Opinion

‘Coach A’ a True Light of the Valley

Editorials

As person after person stepped to the podium Wednesday to laud longtime local basketball coach Gene Ammirante — this year’s winner of the Wheeling YMCA’s Dr. Lee Jones Patron of Youth Award — it became more and more evident how deserving he was of the honor. Ammirante has spent nearly all his life in the service of Ohio Valley youth, in both big measures and small. It was the bus trips from Bellaire to Columbus for his young players to watch Ohio State men’s basketball games at St. John Arena. It was him approaching kids at the YMCA just to help them improve their jump shot. ...

Cut The Nonsense With Federal Funds

Editorials

The story is becoming too familiar. Lawmakers who support spending cuts, then call for their reversal. Lawmakers who want to eliminate fraud, waste and abuse, just not in the program that is politically beneficial to them. U.S. Sen. Jim Justice, R-W.Va., has joined several Senate colleagues in a letter that seeks the disbursement of already-approved Community Development Financial Institutions funds. To be fair, some of the federal actions seem designed to force elected officials to beg for the help they pledged to their constituents. In this case, $324 million from the fund was ...

New Center a Boon for Pediatric Health

Editorials

It is extremely important that the people of the Ohio Valley, especially the children, have every opportunity to lead healthy lives. The region’s children ­— and their parents — will soon find that easier with the latest announcement from WVU Medicine. The health system on Tuesday broke ground on the new Robert Sonneborn Family WVU Medicine Children’s Outpatient Center, which will sit on the campus of WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital. The center will serve as a “one-stop shop,” according to WVU Medicine Children’s Hospital Chief Administrative Officer Amy Bush, for Ohio ...

Serve Ohio’s Children Well

Editorials

Buckeye State residents generally think of Ohio as being a fantastic place for children to grow up. But perception does not always match reality, as WalletHub’s “2025’s States With the Most Underprivileged Children” suggests. Believe it or not, Ohio is ranked 18th on the lists of states with the most underprivileged children. Many of us might not have expected the state to crack the worst 25, let alone be ranked that poorly. But a look at the metrics tells the tale. Ohio is 16th for the percentage of children in households below the poverty line, 26th for the percentage of ...

Rail Safety Reform Cannot Be Ignored

Editorials

With Congress on its August break, there are a number of important things not getting done. A couple of recent incidents in West Virginia remind us rail safety reform continues to be one of them. Last month, a minor train derailment in downtown Parkersburg closed a street, and had residents asking questions about the contents of the tanks that were leaning. Belpre Industrial Parkersburg Railroad officials responded quickly with information (the tanks were safely sealed and empty), and a crew to get the train back on track. There were no injuries. On Aug. 3, the St. Albans Fire ...

Keep Voting Rolls Correct

Editorials

While some states are fighting back against U.S. Justice Department requests for access to their voter registration lists and other elections information, Ohio has begun the four-year process of ensuring voter rolls here are as clean as they can be. Among the states that have received requests from the federal government so far, Minnesota, New Hampshire and Wisconsin have simply said “no.” Officials there say they have questions about the legality of the requests and how the information will be used. After all, state (and, really, county) elections officials are responsible for ...