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Reporter's Notebook: Under Review

Local Columns

Once upon a time, the Legislative Auditor's Office used to release many reports under the leadership of former Legislative Auditor/Legislative Manager Aaron Allred. The office enjoyed decades of independence during Allred's tenure under both Democratic and Republican majority leadership. But in 2024, the Republican supermajority leadership largely clipped the wings of the legislative auditor's independent authority. Sometimes it is easy to forget that the Performance Evaluation and Research Division and the Post Audit Division still exist, because their work product has slowed. But ...

W.Va Sen. Randy Smith: Common-Sense Regulation Can Strengthen W.Va. Manufacturing

Local Columns

From the industrial history of the Kanawha Valley to the advanced manufacturing facilities operating across our state today, West Virginia has long played an important role in American manufacturing. Our skilled workers make many of the materials and products that keep our economy and supply chains moving. To keep West Virginia competitive, protect good-paying jobs, and encourage new investment and technology, federal regulations need to keep up with the real world. We can protect public health and the environment while also supporting American manufacturing and economic growth. Most ...

Sad Ending for Hospital

Editorials

It was of no surprise this past Wednesday when the final auction for the former East Ohio Regional Hospital property in Martins Ferry attracted no bidders. It now appears the site will be forfeited to the state of Ohio over past-due taxes. It is a seemingly sad final chapter for a hospital that served generations of Ohio Valley residents and once stood as one of Martins Ferry’s most important institutions. East Ohio first closed in 2019 after being purchased by Alecto Healthcare Services, the same company that acquired and then closed the Ohio Valley Medical Center. There was ...

Law Enforcement Deserves Our Praise

Editorials

Many of us went to bed Thursday night expecting Friday morning to arrive without incident. For a few dozen local law enforcement officers, there was nothing routine about the hours in between. Shortly before midnight Thursday, a West Liberty police officer responded to a report of an armed man at an apartment complex. What followed was an all-night standoff involving West Liberty, the Ohio County Sheriff’s Department and the Wheeling Police Department. The armed man reportedly pointed a semi-automatic rifle at West Liberty Police Chief Tristan Painter. Later, after retreating into ...

John McCabe: Doing the Hard Work To Protect Wheeling

Local Columns

Wheeling City Council did the hard thing Tuesday night, not the easy thing. In a 6-1 vote, council approved a memorandum of understanding with Silicon Foundry Energy for its proposed data center campus at the former Centre Foundry & Machine Company site. Dozens of residents packed the meeting to object. But when you boil it down to what is best for Wheeling moving ahead, council indeed made the right call. This is the choice those seven elected members of our community — Mayor Dennis Magruder, Vice Mayor Jerry Sklavounakis, and councilors Tony Assaro, Ben Seidler, Connie Cain, ...

Hoppy Kercheval: W.Va. Needs More Pathways To Prosperity

Local Columns

The U.S. Census Bureau has released new figures on poverty in America, and for West Virginia the findings are mixed. I’ll get to those numbers shortly, but first here is some context: The data come from the Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics. The agencies look at poverty two ways: The official poverty figure looks at pretax income. The supplemental poverty measure includes cash income as well as government benefits and geographic differences in housing costs. The state-by-state figures look at a three-year average of 2023, 2024, and 2025. In terms of straight poverty, ...