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Bellaire Moves Forward

Editorials

If the acrimony that surrounded Bellaire Village Council and Mayor Robert Dodrill late last week and earlier this week is what led to the conciliatory tones that group ultimately took with each other, then the earlier chaos might have been worth it. Dodrill shocked his constituents last week by announcing he would resign as mayor just three months after taking the oath of office, following former village fiscal officer Ginny Favede out the door. Among the reasons he offered were concerns over the village’s finances with the previous administration, as well as a feeling that other ...

WVU Medicine Shows Belief In Ohio Valley

Editorials

WVU Medicine’s belief that the Ohio Valley is worth investing in was reinforced earlier this week with the announcement of multi-million-dollar projects approved for the region. The health system announced that it will build a new community hospital in St. Clairsville, as well as a new cancer center at WVU Medicine Weirton Medical Center. The two projects will total $76.1 million — $56 million for the St. Clairsville hospital and $20.1 million for the Weirton cancer center — as part of $350 million in investments approved by the board. The board has approved projects over the ...

New Tech Program A Great Addition

Editorials

The most effective school districts are the ones that make sure the needs of every student are met, not just the highest academic achievers or the most athletically talented. Ohio County Schools is showing its mettle in that regard with a new program for its career and technical education students at Wheeling Park High School. The school is starting a program where students can earn certification in building automation systems while in high school. It’s a partnership with West Virginia Northern Community College. Students who complete the program exit high school with a capstone ...

Working Together To Address Affordable Housing

Editorials

Bipartisan efforts to address housing accessibility and affordability are becoming more common, though many are at the state level. Now federal legislation introduced by U.S. Sens. Jim Justice, R-W.Va., and Peter Welch, D-Vt., could help increase home ownership in rural regions by expanding eligibility for credit through farm credit institutions. “This bill is a result of Senator Welch and me working across the aisle to get a result for our rural communities because, at the end of the day, they matter more than party lines. When you do that, you can get good things done for the ...

Ohio Breathes Easier

Editorials

There are still environmental worries to be addressed, and policymakers must not lose momentum on that front. But there was good news this week as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Ohio is no longer on the list of states that do not meet clean air standards. “The air is cleaner. What that means for families in Ohio: Your children are healthier. What it means for businesses in Ohio is that they are more competitive,” said U.S. EPA Region 5 Administrator Anne Vogel. This is not only a success to celebrate, it could also mean a change for Ohio drivers one day. Because ...

To The Moon

Local Columns

If you're reading this today, I am in George Town, the capital city of the Cayman Islands in the middle of my third Royal Caribbean cruise. I'm writing this column before shipping off from Port Canaveral in Florida along the Space Coast, a short drive away from the launchpad where the Artemis 2 mission to orbit the moon took off. It seems every time I leave for my annual vacation, which sometimes is a cruise but usually is a week’s stay at my mother-in-law's timeshare in Kissimmee, I miss witnessing a rocket launch of some sort. These days, it's usually a SpaceX launch. In fact, ...