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Can We Stop Going in Circles Over the Homeless?

Letters to the Editor

Editor, News-Register: Nobody wants to see anyone sleeping on the streets, nobody wants to live in an unhealthy or unsafe city, and we certainly don’t want to become the “Mecca of the Homeless” in the Ohio Valley, as one councilman has stated. Yet here we are again. Wheeling once again closed a homeless encampment, and the reaction is exactly what it has been in years’ past. People are angry, rallies are forming, Facebook comments sections are exploding with some of people’s worst thoughts, and emotions are pouring into the City Council chambers. At the Nov. 4 Council ...

Congress Must Strengthen Health Benefits for All

Local Columns

Congress is finally getting back to work after the government shutdown, and it’s critical that lawmakers act on legislation to address the most significant financial burden facing West Virginia families: health care. Both parties agree this issue demands attention. With health care once again at the forefront of the national conversation, and with leaders searching for common ground, Congress should start by passing the Strengthening Benefits Plan Act of 2025. Few Americans realize that billions of hard-earned dollars are currently locked away in overfunded 401(h) accounts, sitting ...

Restoring a Government That Helps, Not Hurts: On Hunger, Housing and Health Care for the Holidays

Local Columns

Housing. Hunger. Healthcare. Across West Virginia and the country, a survival crisis is hitting us right at the winter holiday season. And instead of helping alleviate it, our government is making it worse. That must stop. This split between a government that helps versus a government that hurts is on full display in Morgantown and Wheeling. Morgantown is trying to help by opening an emergency winter-weather survival shelter. Wheeling, by contrast, is evicting more than 70 people from a city-established homeless camp, even though local shelters are already full and ...

Help Operation Toy Lift

Editorials

One of the Ohio Valley’s best holiday traditions returns to the Ohio Valley Mall on Saturday, and, as always, it can use residents’ help. “Operation Toy Lift” will be held from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday at the mall near Ulta Beauty and Ferguson’s House of Furniture. As is the case every year, local celebrities will be hoisted into the sky over the mall via lift to make shoppers aware of the event. Folks can stop by the lift to drop off a new toy for a child anywhere from infant to teen. A parade around the mall kicks things off at 9:30 a.m. and financial donations also are ...

Problems With System Must Be Addressed

Editorials

As the investigation unfolds into the attack on two West Virginia National Guard members in Washington, D.C., last month, Americans are getting a glimpse into some cracks in the system that must be addressed. Among them is the need to explore better mental health and community support programs for veterans and refugees. Suspect Rahmanullah Lakanwal has been described as a person who was radicalized after he came to the U.S. A volunteer who worked with him and other Afghan refugees said they believed that Lakanwal suffered a mental health crisis after years of likely suffering from ...

Keep Supporting Small Businesses

Editorials

If the opening hours of Small Business Saturday in Wheeling were any indication, Ohio Valley shoppers and Ohio Valley shops ended the day quite happy. The stores were filled with folks perusing clothing racks and eying furniture, antiques, art and other items for that perfect holiday gift. The city of Wheeling did its part to enhance the experience, offering free skating on a synthetic rink at Heritage Port, as well as shuttles between some of the bigger shopping areas. And those local businesses made sure to roll out the red carpet that day, offering specials, discounts and little ...