Wheeling Rewind: Four stories that defined the Friendly City in 2024
From poverty to politics, funding to flooding, and construction to convictions, the city of Wheeling’s 2024 saw a whirlwind of newsworthy events.
The past year has seen a whirlwind of newsworthy events nationwide–the city of Wheeling included. Whether it be issues regarding homelessness, opioid settlements, or election drama, among others, the city had an eventful 365 days.
With 2024 in the rearview mirror and 2025 looming on the horizon, now is a good time to reflect on the biggest stories Wheeling Free Press covered throughout the year.
4. Historic back-to-back flooding
April saw back-to-back floods strike the Ohio River Valley after a month’s worth of rain fell in the matter of days. The first, and highest, flood crested on April 5 in ‘major flood stage’ reaching 41.49 feet. This event left houses and roads on Wheeling Island, Center Wheeling, and South Wheeling inundated. On April 13, a second flood crested at 37.8 feet.
The storms that flooded Wheeling spawned landslides throughout the region and closed roads and damaged an historic cemetery, caused barges in Pittsburgh, Penn. and Parkersburg to strike bridges, and led to roughly a dozen tornadoes striking southern West Virginia.
The worst of the damage occurred at the city of Wheeling’s wastewater treatment plant when, after the second flood, debris caused an intake gate to break flooding the building’s technical ‘dry pit’ with 30 feet of water. Over $2.5 million, and millions of gallons of untreated sewage dumped into the Ohio River, later, the plant is back to full functionality with repairs expected to be covered by the city’s insurance and FEMA reimbursements.
3. Opioid settlement funding reaches Wheeling
The City Council of Wheeling began approving requests for opioid settlement funds in May. Since that time, five local requests have been approved. On May 21, the city’s police and fire departments saw funds first, with $113,936 and $421,834, respectively. On June 4, $150,000 was approved for an eight-member collaborative to support needy households. On Nov. 19, the city’s police department saw a second award for $40,000. And, on Dec. 3, WTRF-7 News received $5,500 for their September special “Saving a Generation.”
On Dec. 23, the Wheeling Police Department received a further $463,634 in opioid settlement funds from the West Virginia First Foundation, a non-profit tasked with disbursing funds. Combining local and state funding, $617,569 has been awarded to the police department.
Citizens expressed concern about that amount of money going to the police department. No formal application process exists where organizations can seek opioid settlement funds from the city. And, despite May guarantees by councilors, no task force exists to facilitate the funds.
The city’s police department used their May disbursement of funds to purchase, among other items, a K9 unit, a utility terrain vehicle (UTV), a UTV trailer, and covert cameras. One resident, Kenneth Powell, III, expressed his concern at a public meeting saying these funds “didn’t come out of nowhere…It’s a settlement [for] victims.”
2. Election shenanigans and a Friendly City first
A tight, six-person race to become the city’s next mayor devolved into mudslinging after an anonymous, and likely illegal, mailer campaign attacked several candidates just days before the May 14 election. While an investigation by the West Virginia Secretary of State’s office was initiated, no report has been released nor have charges been filed.
Wheeling Free Press published an exclusive investigation regarding the mailer campaign, identifying a suspicious user on freelance website ‘Fiverr’ named “anandpatel421” who publicly thanked roughly fifteen creators for their work on direct mailers, graphic design, political caricatures, video editing, voiceovers, and 2D animations. In one comment, user “anandpatel421” thanked creator Jonathan A. for a caricature depicting mayoral candidate JT Thomas, who was attacked in a mailer containing a different drawing resembling his person.
User “anandpatel421” appears to be Wheeling resident Anand Patel, as the user thanked website designer Imtiazul Salkat for their work on firewpdchief.com, a since deleted site that targeted Chief of Police Shawn Schwertfeger for his department’s involvement at the Wheeling Inn, owned by Patel. Patel admitted in court to his involvement in the website and several ads related to the site.
Despite the last-minute attack ads, Wheeling’s municipal elections appeared to occur without a hitch. 75-year-old Denny Magruder was elected as the city’s mayor, a mostly ceremonial role. Connie Cain was elected to represent Ward 3 by just three votes, making her the first Black woman elected to the city council. Four other members of council were reelected to their positions.
1. The politics of poverty in Wheeling
In January, the city of Wheeling began enforcing its ban on urban camping, which prohibits people from sleeping or storing property in public. A Jan. 18 demolition of an East Wheeling camp displaced a dozen individuals and saw many of their belongings, including at least one man’s birth certificate, be destroyed. By March, the city had spent an average of $5,500 to demolish camps since September 2023.
City officials then moved its homeless citizens to an exempted camp underneath the US-250 overpass on 17th Street. By April, that camp was dismantled and again moved to an area roughly 40 minutes walking distance from service providers. In November, the city moved its exempted camp–for a fourth time–to an area where city sanitation vehicles deposit municipal waste at an impromptu transfer station. The area is allegedly plagued with rats and frequent dust clouds have caused concern for the health of the residents.
On Nov. 6, the Wheeling City Council adopted a “Pedestrian and Vehicle Safety” ordinance, which is largely seen as a panhandling ban in all but name. The ordinance, effective on Jan. 1, 2025, bans the exchange of items between motorists and vehicles. Councilors cited anecdotal evidence of “near misses” where panhandling occurs, but provided no data to substantiate the claims. The Wheeling Police Department announced in Dec. that they would enforce the ban on every city street beginning in the new year.
*Honorable mentions*
At Wheeling Free Press, our goal is to cover stories in a unique way compared to our friends at other media organizations. Still, many other stories defined 2024 for the Friendly City.
Demolitions dominated the year with dozens of buildings being torn down including the former Ohio Valley Medical Center, the Wheeling Inn, and the historic Clay School slated for demolition in the new year. City officials used local, state, and federal funds to demolish houses throughout the city as well, including numerous blighted properties neglected by their owners.
Infrastructure upgrades were a wide, and often heated, topic for residents to discuss. The city’s downtown streetscape project saw Main Street completed with new sidewalks, rain gardens, parking, and crosswalks built. The city opened its Market St. parking structure with room for up to three retail spaces on the ground floor. Construction of a WODA housing complex in downtown completed, while infill construction of condominiums down the road made substantial progress. An eye-boggling, and arguably questionable, $63 million hotel concept was unveiled that would see historic buildings near the WesBanco Arena torn down. Questions regarding how the project will be funded remain largely unanswered.
Disgraced entrepreneur Jeffrey Morris was sentenced to five years in federal prison in September after a lengthy investigation. Morris and his company, Roxby Development, defrauded investors by making “materially false and fraudulent pretenses and promises.” Morris also failed to pay taxes and his employees. Roxby Development acquired several properties from 2019-2021 in the city promising to restore them.
A personal note from your editor: As a largely self-funded, one-man operation, Wheeling Free Press can often be daunting. The longer this project has gone on–almost two years now–the more pressure I feel to do a good job. It’s not a negative pressure, though. Many members of this community have expressed their support and appreciation for the work I do, and for that I am deeply humbled and honored.
Looking at the numbers, 2024 has been a big year for Wheeling Free Press. We published 100 stories this year, or nearly two per week. These stories garnered 59,000 total views. We started the year with just over 100 subscribers and are ending it with over 500. 62 lovely individuals have decided to give me some of their money to continue this project. I am truly grateful for the outpouring of support Wheeling Free Press and, by extension, I have received over the last year.
To say less, it has been an incredibly eventful 2024 for the city of Wheeling, and there is no doubt 2025 will prove to be just as newsworthy. I have big plans for the new year, but before we leave 2024 let me thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Happy New Year!
— Justice Hudson