Stop the presses! A West Virginia lawmaker recently vacationed in England and visited Parliament. Yes, Senator Ryan Weld’s (R – Brooke) travels were featured at the top of the front page of this morning’s Wheeling Intelligencer by reporter Steve Allen Adams.

Is this news? I don't think it is. At best, it's a feature story worthy of an inside position. Weld, however, is an Ogden favorite and so he gets front page publicity anytime he does anything. When the legislature is in session, Weld and fellow favorite from the WV Senate, Ryan Ferns (R – Ohio), are regularly featured. Even after the session ends, they continue to get more than their share of coverage and pictures. (See here and here from last March.)

Some of the stories about Weld are simply non-stories. Last summer, for instance, the papers dedicated a front page article to telling us that Weld was working on legislation for the upcoming session which was five months away. And from last January:

Ryan Ferns, Ryan Weld Take Over New Roles in West Virginia Senate

in which we learned that both had additional senate duties.

Apart from the front page, Weld has also made it into Sunday’s News-Register opinion section. For example, here’s a hit piece by Weld on his opponent at the time.

New Ogden reporter Steven Allen Adams recently signed on to cover state politics for the chain and it appears that doing puff pieces on Ogden favorites must be part of the job description.