The Inspiration, Wisdom, And Courage Of Ann Thomas Steve Novotney June 3, 2020 8 Editor's note: This week, Weelunk will pause our normally scheduled programming to highlight stories that feature Black narratives. We have chosen to take this time to amplify those voices that are so often sil...
Kellas III Continuing Family Legacy Steve Novotney June 8, 2018 1 It depends on a person's age, really, as far as which "George Kellas" he or she remembers or knows today. And it is the family of young George Kellas that owns a legacy of working to make the Wheeling community...
Playground Facelifts Continue in Wheeling Steve Novotney May 25, 2018 Many children and parents in the city of Wheeling were pleasantly surprised during their first trip to their neighborhood playground this spring because several of the facilities were refurbished with brand new...
Addict Now Addicted to Motherhood Steve Novotney May 13, 2018 This mother stole her daughter’s piggy bank and the savings inside. The paper and coins totaled about $100, enough to chase those dope-sick days away for a week, and those seven “good” days were rare for Bel...
Chef Shares Recipes for Succcess Steve Novotney May 1, 2018 Chef Chris Kefauver won’t fib. He makes visits to local middle and high schools in order to recruit students to the Culinary Arts Program he chairs at West Virginia Northern Community College’s Wheeling camp...
Miller on ‘Band-Aids and Buckets’ and School Bond Issue Steve Novotney April 18, 2018 1 Ohio County Schools Superintendent Dr. Kim Miller views the proposed 15-year, $42 million bond issue that will appear on the ballot on May 8 as an opportunity, and she’s happy to explain her reasons why. “Wh...
Spaghetti Dinner Is About Service Steve Novotney April 11, 2018 Smothered in homemade spaghetti sauce and garnished with sausages or meatballs or both, the noodles that will be devoured at Catholic Charities’ 18th Street Neighborhood Center this weekend serve as symbols of ...
They Marched Steve Novotney March 28, 2018 4 They didn’t mind the hours of travel or the protesters who were protesting against them. They had something to do, and that was the March for Our Lives event in Washington, D.C., this past Saturday. Two of t...
Prietsch’s Brick-and-Mortar World Steve Novotney March 26, 2018 1 People. They are the common denominator, as far as Wheeling resident Jennifer Prietsch is concerned. She’s been the general manager of the Macy’s at the Ohio Valley Mall for nearly a year after she and her h...
Changes to Two-Mile Hill? Steve Novotney March 16, 2018 1 The far left of the three lanes along Interstate 70 would become the “slow lane” on the climb up Two-Mile Hill if Ohio County Sheriff Tom Howard gets his wish. Howard, now in his second year of a four-year t...
Perils of War Real for Women, Too Steve Novotney March 14, 2018 They come home, too, except for, of course, more than 500 of the 280,000 women who have been deployed to war zones and killed in action over the past 17 years. They are medics, nurses, pilots, judge advocate...
The Crest That Didn’t Flood Steve Novotney March 7, 2018 1 Devastation. That’s what Lou Vargo with the Ohio County Emergency Management Agency thought would take place. He admits he envisioned a disaster comparable to the damage that occurred in mid-September 2004, ...
#55Strong Returns to Classrooms Steve Novotney March 6, 2018 They had to research a mineral, any one of the 3,800 or so that exist on Earth these days, and they also had to prepare to educate their classmates on it when, finally, an acceptable deal was made to return the...
A Divided Peninsula of Souls Steve Novotney March 3, 2018 4 It is one of the silent cities of the dead in Wheeling, but this one was split, and one half has been forgotten. The Peninsula Cemetery, once the third largest in the state of West Virginia with more than 1,...
Gideon and the Governor Steve Novotney February 27, 2018 2 “If you put money in schools, you’re making smart people. And if you have smart people, then you can make more smart investments.” That’s what Gideon Titus-Glover said to Gov. Jim Justice during a town hall ...
WLU Student Leads Radio Station Steve Novotney February 23, 2018 The original transmitter back in the early 1990s appeared to be from the 1970s, actually, but that’s what Chris Lee had to settle for when optimizing his TV and radio budget at West Liberty University. On th...
Memories of Mac’s Club Steve Novotney February 16, 2018 13 There was a time before Roberto’s Bar became Figaretti’s, before a La-Z-Boy showroom was transformed into TJ’s Sportsgarden, prior to when the Swing Club became Generations Pub and before the Owl’s Nest became ...
A Teacher’s View on Issues Steve Novotney February 13, 2018 He knows he does not speak for all educators and that his words do not carry the weight of 37,000 state public employees, but educator Eric James does know how he feels after nearly 20 years as a teacher and a ...
Medal of Honor Recipient Woody Williams Appreciates City’s Respect Steve Novotney February 12, 2018 2 It was heads. For the first time in five years the individual tossing the coin prior to the kickoff of the Super Bowl turned over a “head” just as West Virginian Woody Williams promised he would. The 94-y...
An Answer to ‘What’s Next?’ Steve Novotney February 4, 2018 3 The answer to, “What’s Next?” may soon come into focus for downtown Wheeling, but what maybe-could-might happen within the vacant lots along Main Street remains a literal mystery. The Health Plan headquarter...
It Still Stands Steve Novotney January 31, 2018 7 No one knows about it these days because the signage has been removed, chains block the old access points, and Oglebay officials do not promote its existence in their lodging pamphlets or related material poste...
Harry Hamm’s Plate and His Plan Steve Novotney January 30, 2018 3 No one has ever found it, but there were a few moments when Wheeling resident Chris Hamm thought he may have. It was completely possible that his father may have somehow come into ownership of it since he wa...
Connors Part of Downtown Growth Steve Novotney January 27, 2018 Dean Connors once was best known in the Wheeling area as the wig-wearing, head-bangin’ drummer for the local tribute band “Tongue-n’-Cheek,” but these days he has shed the fake locks for a businessman’s attire ...
Memories of The Eagle Inn Steve Novotney January 19, 2018 3 You could already hear the music as you walked toward the front door from the always-packed parking lot, and immediately you were met by the bouncer who, you knew, would need to see your ID. Once you were gr...
The I-68 Energy Corridor- Part 2 Steve Novotney January 18, 2018 1 (Editor’s Note: This is the second of two reports that will update Weelunk readers on the current status of the proposal to extend U.S. Interstate 68 from the Morgantown area to Moundsville.) There are obsta...
The I-68 Energy Corridor- Part 1 Steve Novotney January 17, 2018 1 (Editor’s Note: This is the first of two reports that will update Weelunk readers on the current status of the proposal to extend U.S. Interstate 68 from the Morgantown area to Moundsville.) Bob Miller was r...
Zende Predicts Downtown Growth Steve Novotney January 12, 2018 Can growth spread? The economic development specialist for the city of Wheeling believes it can, and after more than five years as the manager of Centre Market, Kurt Zende insists what has taken place inside...
Wheeling 2018 – Part Three Steve Novotney January 5, 2018 1 (Editor’s Note: This story is the third and final of a three-part series that will examine the potential that exists in the Wheeling area as we enter a new year.) It seems simple. It’s a bus stop, after all,...
Wheeling 2018 – Part Two Steve Novotney January 3, 2018 (Editor’s Note: This story is the second of a three-part series that will examine the potential that exists in the Wheeling area as we enter a new year.) Is it difficult to believe there are more people work...
Wheeling 2018 – Part One Steve Novotney January 1, 2018 2 (Editor’s Note: This story is the first of a three-part series that will examine the potential that exists in the Wheeling area as we enter a new year.) Believe it or not, the coming of The Health Plan headq...
Novotney’s Top 10 in 2017 Steve Novotney December 28, 2017 As Weelunk ingrained itself in our community, many more folks forwarded their story ideas to me far more often than during our first two years of operation. And many of those suggestions did come to fruition...
Christmas Memories at the Mall Steve Novotney December 24, 2017 It was similar to shopping in, say, downtown Wheeling, but with two very notable exceptions. There was that roof, of course, and the warmth, too, inside those glass doors of the Ohio Valley Mall. Once it ...
Tunnels? Under Downtown Wheeling? Steve Novotney December 23, 2017 2 Pinched off water lines and undiscovered water and sewer lines have been the primary cause of the delay involved with the storm sewer separation project along Main Street in downtown Wheeling, but has a tunnel ...
‘It’s a Regional Thing’ Steve Novotney December 20, 2017 The Health Plan employees now moving into the insurance company’s new headquarters in downtown Wheeling reside in three different states, and that’s because the compensation is worth it. The same is very tru...
Medical Cannabis – Part Two Steve Novotney December 16, 2017 1 It was an unexpected but welcome development for many when a legislative side road was navigated to get a vote on medicinal cannabis on the floor of the West Virginia House of Delegates. It was late March, a...
Local Families Offered Second Chance Steve Novotney December 14, 2017 Too many children do not have access to an internet-capable computer at home in the Upper Ohio Valley region, but one Wheeling couple hopes to change that reality for families without the means to purchase the ...
Remembering B.E. Taylor at Christmas Steve Novotney December 7, 2017 7 He was a sick kid one year in Aliquippa, PA and ordered to remain home by doctors after he was diagnosed with a kidney disease, so he asked his parents for a guitar and then taught himself how to play it. Th...
Recollections of Rax Steve Novotney December 1, 2017 4 It was our social network before the public release of the Internet. It mimicked those Park Dances because there were people there from everywhere, and it was the place to go for a first date, every date, and e...
It’s About the Grooves at Nail City Steve Novotney November 29, 2017 C’mon! This 26-year-old is just a kid, right? What could he possibly know about vinyl records or the history of music? When he was born, country music had overtaken the forefront from rock n’ roll, and rap m...
‘It’s About Opportunity’ Steve Novotney November 27, 2017 This 20-year-old could do this or do that, but there’s also a chance, too, that Andrea Walton could return to her hometown after earning a pair of degrees at Kent State University. “Could” is better than nev...
Midshipmen Thankful To Be Home Steve Novotney November 23, 2017 And they are home, back with their families in their hometowns and away from the rigors of a Midshipman at the U.S. Naval Academy. Linsly graduate Colin Kelly is near the middle of his third year, and Wheeli...
Medical Cannabis – Part 1 Steve Novotney November 18, 2017 1 (Editor’s Note: This is the first story in a series that will examine medical cannabis and the programs that are under development in both West Virginia and Ohio.) Dana Kovach was raised in Toronto, Ohio, bu...
Respect Doesn’t Fade in Wheeling Area Steve Novotney November 15, 2017 2 When he first returned to American soil nearly 50 years ago, people looked the other way because they did not want to see someone connected to the unspeakable horrors about which they had heard so much. They...
American Veteran Moving Home to Wheeling Steve Novotney November 10, 2017 2 He didn’t leave here because of a lack of options. In fact, he loved his life in Wheeling after being graduated from Wheeling Park High School in 1978. Employment was easy to find, the camaraderie among the ...
Sports Complex Addition for The Highlands Steve Novotney November 9, 2017 5 A goal adopted by the Ohio County Commission a decade ago will finally be realized at The Highlands when a multi-purpose sports complex is constructed and opened to the public in late 2018 or early 2019. Orp...
Peek Inside The Health Plan Impact Steve Novotney November 4, 2017 It’s been referred to as a number of different things. The “game changer.” The “difference maker.” The “cracker plant of downtown Wheeling.” And, well, as “new.” The Health Plan Headquarters, nearly co...
Creek Debris Soon to Be Cleared Steve Novotney November 1, 2017 Receiving approval to clean creeks of flooding debris is very rare, and he will admit it, but the clearing of affected waterways in Ohio County should be completed by the end of the year, according to Emergency...
Knox and His New Fort Steve Novotney September 30, 2017 “Tom Beck.” Those were the first two words Kyle Knox blurted after being asked how he has found himself as the production manager of the Capitol Theatre. Beck served as the venue’s production manager from...
Tunes Set for Inaugural Oktoberfest Steve Novotney September 28, 2017 Even polka found a place at No. 4 in the entertainment lineup for Saturday’s inaugural Oktoberfest at Centre Market, and that’s because, well, it’s polka. “It’s tradition, so I believed it would be great to ...
McLain Flats Adding to Downtown Living Steve Novotney September 24, 2017 She was involved in a conversation that concerned living in the downtown Wheeling area and whether or not the potential would be realized someday in the future. Then the 16 Stone Lofts on Main Street opened ...
