Ohio Valley Digest — Wednesday, May 13, 2026

Your daily brief for the seven counties.

The Northern Panhandle wakes up to a new political map. West Virginia’s primary night swept three of Gov. Patrick Morrisey’s own picks off the state Supreme Court and Intermediate Court of Appeals, took out his House Finance Chairman, and ended Hancock-Brooke Delegate Mark Zatezalo’s career on the Senate Energy Committee — even as his picks for state Senate District 1 (Chapman) and District 2 (Heaney) won going away. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito heads to November with two-thirds of the GOP primary; she’ll face Morgantown attorney Rachel Fetty Anderson, the first Black woman to win a major-party WV US Senate nomination. In Steubenville, the Fort Steuben Mall got no extension. In Wheeling, a $122 million regional cancer center cleared its last hurdle. And with WTI crude back over $100 and the US-Iran ceasefire on what Trump called “massive life support,” the West Virginia state treasurer asked the legislature to come back into session and suspend the gas tax.

What happened this week

The Northern Panhandle’s new state delegation. Sen. Laura Wakim Chapman dispatched former Eagle Manufacturing CEO Joe Eddy in WV Senate District 1 and faces Del. Shawn Fluharty in November. Toby Heaney took the open Senate District 2 (Marshall to Monongalia). Weirton newcomer Tony Viola unseated Del. Mark Zatezalo in House District 2. Derek Ennis won House District 4 (Bill Flanigan’s seat — Flanigan’s now on the state Supreme Court). Don DeWitt took House District 6 from incumbent Jeff Stephens. Three Morrisey-appointed or backed jurists — Justices Ewing and Titus and Intermediate Court Judge Dan Greear — all lost.

Hancock County voters said yes to both levies. The new $300,000-per-year animal-shelter levy passed 68.55%. The library levy renewal — which funds Mary H. Weir in Weirton, Swaney Memorial in New Cumberland, and Lynn Murray Memorial in Chester — passed 71.73%. Ronnie Jones, the former Weirton councilman who worked 40 years for the Weirton water board, takes the County Commission seat from Eron Chek. Three new BOE members will be seated July 1.

Brooke, Marshall, Wetzel, Tyler all called. Commissioner Stacey “Hukill” Wise survived her Brooke Co. primary 601–564 and faces no Democrat in November. Marshall and Wetzel reelected most of their BOE incumbents with one new face each; the Wetzel schools levy passed. Tyler County passed all three levies — fire, schools, and EMS — and seated Jeff Davis on the Commission.

Fort Steuben Mall stays condemned. City Manager Mike Johnson denied owner Total Finance’s requests to double or quadruple the 30-day deadline, citing roof leaks, mold odor, displaced glass, and concrete heaving. Seven freestanding stores — Walmart, J.C. Penney, Texas Roadhouse, Eat’n Park, The Shoe Department, Aspen Dental, Dunham’s, and 7 Ranges — are exempt from the closure ultimatum. Councilman Royal Mayo, who voted with the city, warned 30 days isn’t enough time for shopkeepers to relocate, and that demolition costs would fall to Steubenville.

Wheeling’s $122 million cancer center is moving dirt next month. The Planning Commission unanimously approved the final site plan for the WVU Cancer Institute’s St. Joseph Regional Cancer Complex on the former Ohio Valley Medical Center site in Center Wheeling. Four floors, 122,477 square feet, 130 jobs, completion December 2028. Architect Bruce Knepper said the goal is “everything you need is in the building” so patients don’t have to drive to Morgantown. Rycon of Pittsburgh is the construction manager. The Wheeling-Ohio County CVB also picked Stonemile Group LLC’s $25.9 million bid for the Gateway Center.

What might cost you more (or less) this week

At the pump, more. The US-Iran ceasefire has collapsed. WTI crude is back over $100, and Brent topped $107. Average West Virginia gasoline is up more than 50% since late February. State Treasurer Larry Pack — a Republican — joined House Democrats Wednesday in asking the legislature to come back into session and pause West Virginia’s 35.7-cent state gas tax. Georgia, Indiana, and Utah have already paused theirs.

Your electric bill, watching closely. AES Ohio is asking the Public Utilities Commission to approve a transmission-cost-recovery update that adds about $2.98 to the typical 1,000 kWh monthly bill starting June 1. Ohio Consumers' Counsel Maureen Willis is fighting it, arguing data-center customers should bear those costs — not residential ones. The same question is in front of the PA Public Utility Commission on the western Pennsylvania side. The PJM regional capacity-price increase (set at the cap of $329.17 per megawatt-day) takes effect the same day, June 1, and will show up in AEP, FirstEnergy, and Mon Power bills over the coming year.

Propane, expensive. Mont Belvieu propane is up 16% from a year ago and 11.5% in the last month — that shows up in fall heating bills for households on bottled propane.

Names to know this week

• November ballot taking shape. Chapman vs. Fluharty (WV Senate D1); Capito vs. Anderson (US Senate); Carol Miller vs. Vince George (WV-1); Heaney vs. Claypole (WV Senate D2); Viola vs. Day (WV House D2); Ennis vs. Jividen (WV House D4); DeWitt vs. Cumpston (WV House D6).
• Andy Wilson becomes Ohio attorney general June 7, replacing Dave Yost, who’s leaving for Alliance Defending Freedom. Wilson prosecuted the Pike County massacre case and was on the ground at East Palestine. Asked whether he’d retry former FirstEnergy executives Chuck Jones and Mike Dowling in the Randazzo bribery case: he wants to review the file.
• Ohio’s property-tax repeal campaign has 305,000 signatures and needs roughly 620,000 by July 1. President Brian Massie says repeal would force spending cuts: “We’re not going to. Start a DOGE in Ohio.” Shadyside Mayor Mike Meintel cited the initiative this week as the reason a 1.35-mill village levy is hard to plan around — and is now weighing a wage tax that doesn’t require ballot approval.
• The ARC POWER FY26 grant pot. $65 million for coal-community projects. Letters of intent due May 22 — nine days. Every POWER-eligible county in the Valley should have a project in the pipeline.

This weekend in the Valley

• Police Memorial Day — Thursday 9 a.m. in front of the Steubenville Municipal Building. Chief Ken Anderson, in his last public appearance before retirement, reads the names of 10 fallen Jefferson County officers. FOP Lodge 1 fundraiser concert with Akron oldies band Impulse, Saturday 7–9 p.m. at the Berkman Amphitheater.
• Margaret Manson Weir Memorial Park rededication — Saturday noon-3 p.m. in Weirton, at the former Marland Heights Park, honoring the mother of Weirton Steel founders Ernest T. and David M. Weir.
• Pizza Party Day — Friday May 15, hosted by Easterseals Rehabilitation Center in Wheeling. Eight local businesses and seven pizzerias participating.
• Smoot Theatre Vocal Ensembles — Sunday May 17, 3 p.m., free at the Smoot Theatre in Parkersburg. American Made program in celebration of America’s 250th.

Got a tip, an obituary, or something we should know about? Reply here or send an email to tips@ohiovalleydigest.org — it goes straight to Jeremy.

The Ohio Valley Digest covers Belmont, Jefferson, Harrison, Columbiana, Monroe, Noble, Morgan, Guernsey, and Washington (OH) counties; Marshall, Wetzel, Ohio, Brooke, and Hancock (WV).