Dear reader,

I’ve opened up a blank google doc countless times over the last several weeks and just stared at it. I’m doing it again now. Hopefully, this time, words will fall from the sky and land on the page so I don’t have to keep agonizing over its blankness and what it says about me – Am I blank? Google: is “blank” an adjective I can use to describe a person? Have I already emptied out all of my thoughts? Will they ever replenish? 

Dear reader,

There’s a certain kind of magic in Wheeling during the summer. The way the lush, green hills cascade around The Ohio; the way the city comes alive with outdoor music and festivals; the way the air becomes heavier and hazy yet everything feels a little lighter.

But it’s important to note that this summer hasn’t been easy for some of our neighbors. When the Valley was hit with a dangerous heatwave over the Fourth of July weekend, little to no efforts were made on the part of the city to provide cool, safe spaces for unhoused people. There is actually no city emergency plan for extreme weather for unhoused individuals. 

Dear reader,

After a two-year hiatus, I am SO excited to say that Mustard Seed Mountain, West Virginia’s first Street Paper, is back! 

My name is Niamh Coomey and I ended up in Wheeling a year and some odd months ago through a series of pretty random circumstances and decisions – just as any of us end up anywhere, I suppose.