Author Steve Novotney

They are called, “edgers,” and yeah, there’s a reason. These people get on an elevator at the bottom of an eight-story building, and then walk through a maze of renovation to stairs that steeply lead...

Her mother-in-law requested something very unique one year for Christmas, but when Amber Masciarelli searched and searched, she didn’t care for what she discovered, so she decided to make it herself. And...

It’s about the mix for Bruce Wheeler, and that involves the artists performing and the vendors selling during the annual Yuengling Heritage Music Bluefest set for this weekend at Heritage Port. That way,...

On Sept. 17, 2004, Hurricane Ivan parked over most of the Wheeling area and dumped a little more than 10 inches of rain in less than half a day. There were washed-out roads, schools evacuated, cars in creeks,...

He knows no strangers and considers you and me a part of his family. And Bob Gaudio may not even know us, but it’s a mindset he learned while he was a youngster in Follansbee. His perspective on his...

Pat Clutter did not own a smartphone or an iPad, but he had heard of the coming of something called the World Wide Web before his passing in 1997. How he would have reacted to the sweeping changes that have...

It was a little more than four years ago when the conversation started about building a dog park in the Friendly City, and now the organizers are only a few months away from the ribbon cutting for the...

There are wives in this Upper Ohio Valley whose husbands have delved deep underground for 30 or 40 years, and along with their spouses, so have their fathers, their sons, and even their daughters,...

He’d never done it before, Philip Stahl thought. So why not, he thought. Stahl’s first day allowed him to determine he’d made a good career move, and then his second day arrived. “We had a bomb...

And a blown transmission is a part of it, too. Dean Barath found that out this past week, and consequently he will not have his planned presence for Ideal Provisions at this weekend’s Upper Ohio Valley...

He went there. He needed to see where Luigi Gentile grew up. What he encountered when visiting the Molise region of Italy, the youngest in the country, was something that reminded this grandson of the Upper...

It was a special evening for most people when they had the opportunity to dine there because the décor was elegant, the etiquette was classy, and the menu offerings were top shelf. But the decline of...

Plateaus. That’s how he views his career, and on Thursday, Joe Zelek will reach another after taking some time off, a few years anyway, from pushing performances so he could work on his music. In his...

There are a lot of numbers to consider here. $6 billion: The price tag on the cracker plant that has been proposed by PTT Global, a petrochemical company based in Thailand, in the Dilles Bottom area of...

He played in THE Super Bowl, and yes, he watched as a 21-3 halftime lead eroded into a 34-28 overtime defeat to New England, but C.J. Goodwin shed that sorrow as soon as he boarded the team’s charter flight...

The youngest ever. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That’s how Brian Wilson now feels. At first, yup, it was an intimidating little piece of Wheeling’s modern-day history, but these days, following his first year...

There are problems, and there are issues, no doubt, and no one is denying that fact. And no one is ignoring any of it either. Not the drugs; not the out-of-towner criminal influence; not the crumblings...

Literally, it is down on Main Street past the Eckhart House and Uncle Pete’s and Happy Goat Yoga and the Wilson Playground, and the legendary tavern has re-opened after a brief closure with new ownership in...

It’s the word. “Grease,” that is. John Travolta as “Danny,” and Olivia Newton-John as "Sandy”? Yes, that “Grease,” and the movie will play Friday evening drive-in style beginning...

Kayaking local creeks is an activity that has picked up in popularity during recent years, and that is why Lou Vargo and Jesse Mestrovic wish to remind enthusiasts to take every safety precaution and to employ...

It would have been only two years had he not been unopposed and re-elected in June. Now, it will be four years and only four years that Tim Bishop will serve as the mayor of the village of Bethlehem, a...

Anyone who knows Centre Market even remotely well is aware of the large, purple garage door that stands next door to the Wheeling Brewing Company and across Lane B from Coleman’s Fish Market. For years,...

Vacant. That is how this historic North Wheeling building located at 650 Main St. has rested for more than a decade, and now, in order to save and restore the structure, an amputation is needed before...

Candidates running for public office usually make promises they fail to keep once their successful campaigns are complete, but Ohio County Sheriff Tom Howard seems different following his first six months in...

It is a public school system that begins working with children as early as age 3, and it is a district that educated a little more than 5,300 students during the recently completed academic year. Along with...

Noel Clarke will turn 50 years old in 50 days, but he’s not counting on a calendar because, frankly, he does not know how many days remain. He has served as the chief of the Moundsville Fire Department...

He thought he hated it. He believed he would be happier with a “real job” instead. David Comack was really wrong. And that is why downtown Wheeling now welcomes its newest eatery in Tacoholix at...

She owns a perspective not too many young people possess, and that’s because she fully intends to return to the Wheeling area after she has earned her physician assistant graduate degree from Seton Hill...

She wanted to serve the public, so that’s what Ginny Favede did first as a member of St. Clairsville City Council and then as a one of three members of the Belmont County Commission. After eight years as...

In his position as student body president at West Virginia University, Blake Humphrey represents more students than there are people who live in this Friendly City. That’s right. Place that fact into...

New trees, painted benches, spruced up parks, and the installation of a disc golf course are all planned during the “Pride in Wheeling” community event set to take place Friday, June 2nd, at three...

Student athletes at Wheeling Central Catholic High School have collected a lot of hardware this spring, and now the Maroon Knights are set to begin their quest for their first state baseball championship since...

Up and down a tall ladder with a high-rise pack on your back that weighs more than 30 pounds. Check! Then into a ventilation room before dragging a 160-pound human dummy 150 feet. Check! Check! Of...

He grew up here. Most of his family has always lived here. And, now, after three decades, he lives here again. Thomas Wharton, brother of long-time Ohio County Commissioner Randy Wharton, returned to...

Johnny Cash and Billy Joel and Willie Nelson and thousands of local residents all have graced the stage of the Capitol Theatre, and that is one of the reasons why the employees of Kalkreuth Roofing and Sheet...

When he was a kid, he was usually the muddiest ballplayer on the field who couldn’t wait to get back to fishing after the game, and he continued his athletic career at Wheeling Park High School. And then...

Retention. It’s a term most people hear often during conversations about the future of the Upper Ohio Valley. Retention. How do we create a better economic atmosphere so younger citizens will not be...

It’s right there in the Tremont neighborhood of Cleveland, in the shadows of the area’s steel district at 3159 West 11th St. just 165 miles from downtown Wheeling. Ralphie Parker’s house. The...

It was in late 2015 when she first presented during a “Show of Hands” event, and she pitched to the crowd the need for a glass-cutter do-thingy that would allow Cat’s Paw Arts Studio to better streamline...

(Editor’s Note: This chapter is the fourth entry of a series of stories that will focus on the history of the game of baseball in the Wheeling area.)   “It’s Because He Smiled A Lot” It...

There’s a big difference between living with “no evidence of disease” and enjoying remission from cancer, and that is something the Rotriga family tries to convey when they get the chance. Their son,...

It gets darker, cooler, and the air thins with each step toward the section of Mount Wood Tunnel that has collapsed, and when you reach it, the darkness is so dense that you can’t see your hand can’t in...

It says what it says above the main door into the Unity Center in Center Wheeling – “Leave Your Ego at the Door” – but by the time people seek the help that’s inside their self-esteem is the lowest...

It is about a change in the mindset of local government that alters the citizen experience because people are treated more like people. Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliott joined a number of Wheeling area...

One housed a mega-popular retail store and the other was so industrial a train traveled through it when necessary, and what took place in both buildings many years ago helped sustain the people of the Upper...

Once upon a long time ago the Buch & Donavan Drug Store, the Rose Bowl, the Minute Market, and Ye Olde Alpha were on one side of it, and on one the other side Wheeling College, the Pleasanton ball field...

It is a swath of acreage most know nothing about and nearly no one has ever seen because it’s a tucked-away, municipal garbage dump the city of Wheeling has blockaded for good reasons since the early...

It is an event that represents a chance for enthusiasts of the local arts scene to gain an insider perspective of a dozen Wheeling area artists. On April 29, 12 different painters, writers, jewelry...

It was The Windmill, and it will be The Windmill once again. That means its four unfurled sails will rotate once again if Dan Millhouse has anything to say about it. “So far, we’ve managed to get the...

(Editor’s Note: This introduction is the third entry of a series of stories that will focus on the history of the game of baseball in the Wheeling area.)   “Belle Isle was Yankee Stadium” There...