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Election night 2008 will always remain as one of the more interesting days in my career.
Outside of the actual presidential election taking place that evening, I had received an invitation earlier that day to meet privately with the then-members of the Ohio County Commission -- David Sims, Tim McCormick and Randy Wharton -- to discuss an important matter concerning The Highlands.
The timing of the meeting was less than two months after the U.S. housing market crashed in September 2008, and as I learned over an hour with the commissioners, the county was not spared.
There had already been talk in the community that contractors working at The Highlands weren't getting paid. Construction had nearly stopped at the site, just four years after Cabela's first opened its doors and while momentum was strong. The county, which was working with local banks on financing while also handling all the site's logistics, found itself pinched by the credit crunch taking place as banks simply stopped lending.
We published a story on the matter a few days later, which ultimately led this community to have a better understanding as to the real issues taking place at The Highlands. It helped push down rumor and speculation -- yes, that was happening in 2008, just as it is today -- and instead put real, verified facts into play.
I've been thinking about that meeting a lot this past week, after I spoke last Friday to current Ohio County Circuit Judge David Sims to help him announce his planned retirement at the end of this year from more than three decades of public service. Sims was a key player in The Highlands from its preliminary discussions in the late 1990s (does anyone remember the development's initial name, the Fort Henry Business and Industrial Centre?) to its purchase in the early 2000s. He was a key part of the team that helped reel in Cabela's and worked to see the site blossom.
Why it stands out most is that Sims, McCormick and Wharton understood in 2008 that instead of letting rumors and misinformation about The Highlands' future fester, it was best to get in front of the issue and inform the public of the truth. I worry that's missing today at many levels of government -- having the hard conversations and being honest with your constituents about all matters.
That's never easy -- particularly when the news is bad and the answers are incomplete. But the public deserves to know what its elected officials are facing, what went wrong and what they intend to do about it. In 2008, those three commissioners understood that explaining the problem was part of their responsibility to the people who elected them.
Another story involving David Sims that came to mind last week took place about 11 years later, after Commissioner Sims became Judge Sims.
The judge had just been granted oversight of the newly created Family Treatment Court here in Ohio County. I had reached out to do an extended interview, and spent more than an hour one morning learning just how much the opioid scourge had damaged families across our region. It was Sims' job to help, as best he could in his official role, reunite those families, and as he told me last week, it turned into one of the most fulfilling parts of his job.
As Sims prepares to retire from an impactful 32 years serving this community, those two events remain a meaningful part of how I remember his public service. Those interactions provided us the opportunity to explain challenging issues to our readers in a way that would raise public understanding. Those are lessons worth remembering for anyone entrusted with the public's business.
And as I noted last week, congratulations on your upcoming retirement, Judge Sims. Your service to this community has been exemplary.
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The 50th anniversary of Wheeling Park High School, being celebrated this weekend with homecoming festivities and other events, brings to mind a number of conversations I had over the years with the late Henry Marockie, longtime Ohio County and West Virginia public schools superintendent who led the charge to build a new high school here in the early 1970s.
Marockie was always so proud of Wheeling Park and its offerings, and fondly recalled how the county brought together three distinctly different high schools -- Wheeling, Warwood and Triadelphia -- and made it work for the students and the residents.
That continues today. Wheeling Park truly is an excellent school, with top-notch educators working daily to enlighten young minds. There are so many offerings -- I firmly believe if you have a motivated student willing to learn, the best education he or she can receive is at Wheeling Park. Strings, theatre, speech and debate, career and technical education programs and more. Park produces some extremely talented graduates in a wide range of fields. As we all work to improve education in our county, that fact must not be forgotten.
My two oldest children had wonderful experiences at Wheeling Park that prepared them well for college and beyond. My youngest, now in her senior year, is following that same path.
I do wish Henry Marockie could be here this weekend to see what the school he helped bring to life continues to mean to this community. Fifty years later, generations of students and families have good reason to share his pride.
As both a parent and also someone who was fortunate enough to call Dr. Henry Marockie a friend, I can think of no better tribute to his vision and his work than the young people who leave Wheeling Park prepared to make their own mark on the world.
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I learned something interesting the other day. While researching population trends in West Virginia, I realized that Ohio County -- all 109 square miles -- has the second highest population density in all of West Virginia, coming in at 388.6 residents per square mile. That is behind only Berkeley County (412.6 residents per square mile) and ahead of Hancock (339.1), Cabell (326.5) and Monongalia (298.4). On the opposite end in West Virginia are Pocahontas County with 8.3 residents per square mile, Pendleton County (8.6), Webster (14.5) and Tucker (15.8). Marshall County comes in at 95.8 residents per square mile.
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Early voting starts this coming Wednesday, Oct. 21, for those living in West Virginia, running through Saturday, Oct. 31. The 2026 general election is set for Tuesday, Nov. 3.
There are a number of important races on the ballot this year, which means there's no reason not to vote.
Get out and do your civic duty.
John McCabe is editor of The Intelligencer and Wheeling News-Register. You can listen to him discuss the most pressing issues in Wheeling from 9-10 a.m. each Friday on AM 1600 WKKX. He can be reached via email at jmccabe@theintelligencer.net.