A bird's eye view of a town. — The incident in Moundsville claimed two lives, according to the Moundsville Police Department. (Image: Google Earth)

An OPEN LETTER to … Those Asking ‘WTH Is Going on Around Here?’

By Steve Novotney

September 25, 2021

Dear Confused and Concerned:

Murder in Mozart. Shooting in South Wheeling. Double murder in Belmont, Ohio.

And now a double stabbing and shooting in Moundsville that has resulted in two fatalities?

What. Is. Going. On?

It is the question we’ve all been asking ourselves the two past weeks because, thankfully, those kinds of stories are very rare here in our valley. But during the past two weeks, it’s been one after another and today’s incident in Marshall might not be the end of it.

But why? Is it because these days people now take guns and knives to a fistfight? Is it pandemic-induced anger? Do we respect human life anymore? Is the ongoing drug epidemic somehow at the root of these crimes?

What we do know is some of us have lost friends and family members and we don’t know why.

So, again, WTH?

Sincerely,

We’re Confused and Concerned, too.

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Steve Novotney

Steve Novotney has been a professional journalist for 33 years, working in print for weekly, daily, and bi-weekly publications, writing for a number of regional and national magazines, host baseball-related talks shows on Pittsburgh’s ESPN, and as a daily, all-topics talk show host in the Wheeling and Steubenville markets since 2004. Novotney is the co-owner, editor, and co-publisher of LEDE News, and is the host of “Novotney Now,” a daily program that airs Monday-Friday from 3-6 p.m. on River Talk 100.1 & 100.9 FM.