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The TikTok of the Clock

Local Columns

The news business is constantly changing and that means changing with the times. So, reluctantly, I have started a news TikTok. I’m not a fan of TikTok. I don’t like how the app is designed or how it’s meant to keep a user swiping for minutes and sometimes hours. I don’t like its connection to the Communist Chinese government and how it constantly scrapes information and data. The problem is that is where the young’uns are, and if you want the teens and young adults to read your news stories, you have to be where they are. And TikTok is where they are. I don’t know when ...

Electricity Prices Are Soaring — Coal Is a Key Solution

Local Columns

Electricity bills are climbing almost everywhere, and the reasons have little to do with ideology. Three forces are driving prices higher: massive new utility spending on infrastructure, rising natural gas costs, and growing capacity shortages in electricity markets as power demand soars from the AI revolution. In some states, prices have jumped more than 60% since 2022. The Trump Administration inherited this mess and now has its work cut out for it. The strategy the administration has embraced is built around reinforcing dispatchable power — the generating resources that ...

Just Who Is My Neighbor: Will We Show Mercy to Those in Wheeling Who Need It the Most?

Local Columns

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus tells the story of a traveler beaten and left for dead on the side of the road. Two respected men pass by without stopping. Finally, a Samaritan — a foreigner, an outsider — sees the man’s suffering, is moved with compassion, and kneels beside him. He tends the man’s wounds, shelters him, and ensures his recovery. When Jesus asks, “Who was his neighbor?” the answer is clear: the one who showed mercy. That ancient story is playing out again on the streets of Wheeling and in communities across West Virginia. Once again, people who have lost ...

Questions Need Answered

Editorials

Wheeling’s elected leaders made their thoughts known last week when they voted 6-1 to support the closure of the city’s managed homeless encampment. City Manager Robert Herron followed up with a notice posted at the camp that it would be closed, effective Dec. 1. Council made its wishes known and the city manager followed through. That’s how the process works. But there are questions that need answered over the coming five weeks. - Members of council called the camp, in operation for nearly two years, a “failure.” Is there data to back that assertion? - Council members ...

A Clearer View for a Revitalized Downtown

Editorials

Wheeling’s downtown has been remade over the past five years — not in small ways, but with big, bold strides. From major infrastructure investments to open and vibrant public spaces, the city is recapturing its historic heart. Now, leaders are setting their sights on something that doesn’t require a new building or ribbon-cutting, but likely will be even more impactful to the city’s overall health and image: giving residents and visitors a clearer view of the Ohio River. City officials are preparing a project to trim back trees and brush along the riverbank near the south ...

Be Careful With Bats

Editorials

Most Ohio residents are used to thinking about seasonal changes in the rules such as burn bans or parking in such a way that the snow plow can get through. Perhaps less familiar is Ohio’s fall bat exclusion restriction period — from Oct. 15 through March 31. No, it has nothing to do with baseball’s off-season. This is a requirement that residents obtain permits before removing or relocating bats from homes or buildings. When white-nose syndrome (a cave fungus) showed up several years ago, Ohio started protecting bats, especially during their overwintering period. Despite that ...