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Real ID Goes Into Effect

Starting Wednesday, all those flying domestically will only be able to board an airplane if they have a Real ID or a valid passport. It’s been 20 years since Congress passed the Real ID Act. It’s been delayed numerous times but is now set to take effect this week. If you don’t have one, and you don’t have a valid passport, it’s simple: you won’t be able to fly. With only days remaining, DMV offices are busy getting people signed up. In West Virginia, the Division of Motor Vehicles offers a couple of options. Those who are ready to hop online to start the process can go ...

Time To Address City’s Population

Population growth. For years, this issue has been one of our region’s biggest challenges, yet also one most elected officials are unwilling or unable to discuss. Consider these numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau: - The Wheeling Metropolitan Statistical Area — Ohio, Marshall and Belmont counties — had a population of 152,850 in 2000. At the end of 2024, those same three counties had a combined population of 135,136 — an 11.6% decrease in residents in 24 years. - The city of Wheeling, this region’s economic hub, had 31,382 residents in 2000. Today, the estimate is ...

Have Tariffs Sunk Trump’s 2nd Term?

Presidential second terms are rarely successful, and on the evidence of his first 100 days Donald Trump ’s won’t be different. The president needs a major reset if he wants to rescue his final years from the economic and foreign-policy shocks he has unleashed. There’s no denying his energy or ambition. Trump is pressing ahead on multiple fronts, and he has had some success. His expansion of U.S. energy production is proceeding well. He has ended the border crisis in short order. He is also rolling back federal assaults on mainstream American values. Trump was elected to counter ...

Progress Brings New Challenges

Progress is never easy — particularly when it impacts our residents and how they live. As we noted this past weekend, the Wheeling Planning Commission’s attempt to halt business development in a properly zoned location on Mount de Chantal Road over fears of what might happen is unfair, both to the business and also to the owner of the property. On the flip side, the area’s extraction industry — coal and natural gas — impacts many residents every day. Whether it’s sitting in traffic on Interstate 70 as a coal seam is mined below, or heavy truck traffic is traversing ...

Moving Past Hate In Ohio

If it seems as though in recent years the atmosphere has become more charged with hate and division — perhaps even to the point of being dangerous — you’re not imagining things. Hate crimes are on the rise. To examine one category, the FBI reports anti-Jewish hate crimes increased by 63% between 2023 and 2024. It seems as though the trend is not letting up. Earlier this month, an Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill and Bar in Miamisburg, Ohio, had to shut down for part of a weekend after it was tagged with anti-semitic graffiti, according to a report by WLWT. Some of the language ...

Be a Hero – Become an Organ Donor

Most of us have the luxury of not thinking much about organ donation. But we should. “It’s one of the most profound gifts we can give, that transcends all boundaries and … saves lives,” said Brenda Hooper, intensive care unit clinical nurse manager at WVU Medicine Camden Clark Medical Center and the hospital’s organ donation liaison. During an event at the hospital with Lifeline of Ohio, Ben Burns recounted his own realization after learning of the difference his father’s donation had made for a single mother in Texas. Now, he is an advocate — mentioning organ ...