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Opinion

Watch Out For Squatters

Editorials

A recent house fire in the Wolfhurst neighborhood in Belmont County has shined more light onto a concerning issue in the Ohio Valley. The house on Beal Street where the fire happened last week allegedly was occupied by squatters. “It’s not a registered occupied house, but people are living there and it’s questionable how they got there,” Wolfhurst Volunteer Fire Department Assistant Chief Kevin Roberts said. Beal Street resident Bethany Wallace told our reporter that she had attended several Bridgeport Village Council meetings to discuss those alleged squatters, but lamented ...

The Health Plan Steps Up To Help

Editorials

The Ohio Valley once again showed this week that, when a neighbor is in need, we roll up our sleeves and help. Bishop Darrell Cummings, lead pastor of Wheeling’s Bethlehem Apostolic Temple, recently let it be known that he had lost the lead sponsor for his annual Easter giveaway. It’s a very important event, helping struggling community members provide a full Easter meal for their families, while offering nice Easter clothes for children. He said he would be dipping into the church’s own funds and using credit to pay for the items. But employees at The Health Plan, after ...

Salute Our Volunteers

Editorials

April is National Volunteer Month, a period to honor those who graciously give their time every day to help others. It’s one of the younger of such celebrations, established by President George H.W. Bush in 1991 as part of his 1,000 Points of Light initiative, but youth doesn’t take away from its importance. Because there’s no taking away from the importance of volunteers in our communities. They’re in our churches, our schools and our nursing homes. Nonprofit organizations couldn’t exist without them, as their compassion and call to serve provide essential assistance and ...

Job Fairs A Big Plus

Editorials

School districts around the Ohio Valley have done well for their older students in holding job fairs over the past month. Both Wheeling Park and John Marshall high schools have hosted such events, which give their students a closer look at potential jobs and careers. “The beautiful thing about this event is that we have businesses and organizations that have opportunities for volunteering, for internships, for apprenticeships, full-time jobs, part-time jobs, summer employment, year-round employment,” said Julie Schultz, Wheeling Park High Schools innovation coach and graduation ...

WPD Gives City Good Image Through Show

Editorials

Here’s a case in Wheeling of boring being something good. REELZ has the Wheeling Police Department among its filming subjects for its “On Patrol: Live” program, where camera crews follow officers and broadcast real-time interactions. The network hasn’t filmed in Wheeling since the start of the year. Wheeling Police Chief Shawn Schwertfeger surmised part of that had to do with film crews focusing on warmer climates during the winter. But he added that those crews weren’t seeing as much action in the Friendly City. “There wasn’t always as much activity in Wheeling as ...

Bringing Down The Gavel

Local Columns

The two leaders of the West Virginia Legislature came under scrutiny last week for different issues, though one is being more transparent than the other one. First, my friend Brad McElhinny with West Virginia MetroNews reported last week that a political action committee connected to Senate President Randy Smith, R-Preston, began putting up ads attacking a rival, state Sen. Tom Takubo, R-Kanawha, as he faces a contested GOP primary. The PAC, Mountaineer Conservative Coalition, pushed an ad taking Takubo to task for a 2021 vote on the bill now called the Save Women's Sports Act. That ...