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Funding Freeze Bad

Ohio’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership is facing a sudden freeze on millions of dollars in federal funding after the U.S. Department of Commerce cited an ongoing federal review of the program. According to the Ohio Manufacturers Association, the loss of funding could mean several programs will be halted at the end of the year. At issue is the Commerce Department’s Office of Inspector General looking into allegations of fraud or misconduct — and deviating from its usual procedure because it has not filed a report on preliminary findings that would give administrators of the ...

Ohio Valley Shows Spirit of the Season

We saw some of the best of the Ohio Valley this past week. On Wednesday, the community room of the Salvation Army church on Eoff Street was covered in huge white bags, each one packed with toys, clothes and other items that hundreds of people bought for hundreds of children around the Northern Panhandle as part of the Salvation Army Angel Tree program. Those bags were distributed in Ohio County on Wednesday, Marshall County on Thursday and Wetzel and Tyler counties on Friday. On that same Wednesday, the Wheeling Police Department and United Way of the Upper Ohio Valley were at WVU ...

Bravo, Festival of Sound

Wheeling Park High School dazzled with yet another group of performances last weekend with its “Festival of Sound,” the annual holiday concert that brings together many of the components of the school’s performing arts department for one big spectacular. The school’s concert band, strings program, steel drums and choirs all combined for a wonderful display of their talents. While Mother Nature decided not to cooperate — bad weather cancelled the Sunday performance — everyone involved put everything they had into Friday and Saturday’s shows to give audiences a fantastic ...

Pats on the Back

- To the Marshall County Relay For Life, which was named the American Cancer Society’s Northeast Region Relay for Life Event of the Year for 2025. - To Ike Aderholt, who recently was named the Class AAAA West Virginia Boys Soccer Player of the Year. - To incoming Bellaire Mayor Robert Dodrill, who has already held a town hall meeting to hear the concerns of his fellow residents. It’s good to see him hit the ground running.

Roads in West Virginia Still Need Work

A gift of good news came for the state this week, in the form of the American Society of Civil Engineers “2025 Report Card for West Virginia’s Infrastructure.” The Mountain State’s grade has improved from the last grade it received, in 2020. Now the dose of reality: The grade improved … to a D+; and marks for bridges and wastewater have not budged. Category grades included a C+ for solid waste; a C- for aviation, public parks, rail and roads; a D+ for bridges, broadband, dams, drinking water, energy, levees and ports; a D for hazardous waste, inland waterways, transit and ...

Drive Carefully on Two-Mile Hill

Of the many winter traditions around the Ohio Valley, there’s one that I think we’d all like to see less of — traffic crashes on Two-Mile Hill along Interstate 70 in Ohio County. Long a problem spot on I-70 near The Highlands, we were reminded of just how much of a problem it could be on Monday, when a tractor trailer overturned on the curve at the bottom of the hill, choking traffic there for several hours. Thankfully, no one was hurt. The driver was able to walk away. Yet not every crash victim has been so fortunate over the years. In that area, injuries and deaths have ...