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Protect Yourself This Tax Season

Editorials

As “political season” ramps up, election filings begin, tax preparation is underway, and any number of 2026 tasks come to mind at the start of the year, state officials are warning residents to beware of phishing campaigns and other cyber crimes in which deceptive website addresses and other techniques lead people to believe they are dealing with a state agency when they are not. Generally, the goal is to gain login credentials or other personal information — maybe even money. Criminals do so by creating web addresses that LOOK as though they came from state agencies, or send ...

Upward Mobility Act Sound

Editorials

Working families who are supported by federal benefits can sometimes find themselves in a difficult spot when a potential promotion or raise at work is not cause for celebration, but sparks worries about falling off the benefits cliff. Those receiving federal public assistance can see a complete loss of federal resources after even a small increase in income. But the Upward Mobility Act, introduced by U.S. Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, is meant to change that. Better still, it would help streamline some of the bureaucracy that feeds off such programs. It would create a five-year pilot ...

Lions and Lambs of the Senate

Local Columns

The West Virginia Senate is losing two giants with the resignation of Senate President Pro Tempore Donna Boley, R-Pleasants, and the retirement at the end of 2026 of Senate Minority Leader Mike Woelfel, D-Cabell. Boley, 90, has been a state senator since her appointment by the then-Gov. Arch Moore in 1985 and has remained there for 41 years and through 11 elections. She has been a force in West Virginia Republican politics and played a large role in slowly turning West Virginia into a red state. She’s the longest serving state senator in West Virginia history and at one point was ...

Helping U.S. Break Free From Government Dependence

Local Columns

Americans are the most generous people on Earth. Yet in Ohio and across the nation, well-intended government programs often trap our fellow citizens in poverty instead of providing a path to upward mobility. Current federal assistance laws create what’s known as a “benefits cliff.” This occurs when someone receiving public assistance loses a significant amount of support — or all of it —due to just a small increase in income. This system creates a perverse incentive to say no to a raise, promotion or extra hours, because saying yes could trigger a loss of benefits that can ...

Let Coal and Free Markets Power the United States

Local Columns

When ordinary, hard-working men, women, and families invest their savings, they expect something simple and straightforward: that the people managing their money are focused on one thing, delivering the best possible returns. What they don’t expect is for those investments to become political footballs or ideological experiments, especially when those choices threaten the very industries that keep their communities alive. Yet that’s exactly what we’re seeing today. In November 2024, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and 11 other state officials filed a deeply misguided lawsuit ...

Wheeling Police Earn Praise for Overdose Stats

Editorials

It wasn’t long ago that Wheeling was deep in the throes of the opioid crisis. In 2021, the city experienced all-time highs in drug overdoses and overdose deaths. According to data from the Wheeling Police Department, there were 210 overdoses that year and 28 overdose deaths. Yet over the next five years, the outlook has changed drastically, both statistics are at lows not seen in a decade. That’s thanks to the approach that Wheeling Police and Chief Shawn Schwertfeger have taken since his arrival in the Friendly City, a combination of diversion and discipline, enforcement and ...