If you think news should be current and important, don’t bother with the front section of today’s Wheeling News-Register (called with unintended irony, the “news” section). For the most part, the eight-page section includes dated PR releases, rewritten old articles, lots of near life-size pictures, and huge ads – but very little news.

At the top of the front page is

Rate Increase Pending for Appalachian Power Users

At first glance, this looks to be an important news story for the area. Except that it is a rewrite of Appalachian Power’s May 9 press release and Casey Junkins May 11 story. There is nothing new in the story – it even uses the same quotes from the May 11 story.

Also, on the front page is a feature story about a long-time area soccer coach, Jay Adams, who will receive an award from the Chambers YMCA. Is it news? I don’t know. The story doesn’t give us many specifics about the award including when the award was decided and like a good feature story, it does tell us a lot about Adams.

On the left side of the front page, we finally get a news story. Wheeling Jesuit University recently fired their successful basketball coach and on Friday he talked to the sports editor. Also, in the middle of the page is an Associated Press article on the immigration issue. Unfortunately, the last one-third of the original article has been cut.

At the bottom of the front page we actually have coverage of a story that happened yesterday:

Firefighters Rededicate World War I, Korean War Monuments

Reporter Alec Berry, who may have been the only one working yesterday, wrote a story about the monument rededication.

In the rest of this 8-page section, we learn that WV Republican Delegate (and Ogden favorite) Patrick McGeehan is feeling better and will soon return to work. We also get two AP stories on page 8. The rest is filler. Pages A4 and A5, for example, are filled with very old press releases and oversized pictures. How old?

WVU Medicine Reynolds Memorial Hospital Holds Scholarship Tea

was held on May 25.

Harvey Goodman Opens Doors in Moundsville

occurred on June 6.

And on Page A5, we learn that

Wheeling Hospital Auxiliary Awards Annual Scholarship

(I could not find an exact date, but it obviously occurred before May 31 when the info was released.) These stories all include pictures. Even larger pictures and half-page ads are found on pages 6 and 7.

For the Wheeling News-Register, it’s all filler when “newspapers on the cheap” is your business plan.