With this post, The Observer introduces SIGHTLINE stories, in-depth explorations intended to engage and inform the community on key topics. Our first SIGHTLINE story explores the implications of large-scale solar development in Jefferson County. Read the Full Story >>
Economy & Environment
Keep Your Bird Feeders Clean
Feeding the birds has helped people young and old to get through this pandemic winter. For many home-bound Americans, this backyard hobby has helped lighten the loneliness and depression brought about by the isolation of the pandemic quarantine. But in recent months, all these bird feeders may have brought the birds an epidemic of their own. Thankfully, the solution to this problem is simple Read the Full Story >>
Family Hike At Cool Spring
Bring your family for an evening guided hike at Cool Spring Preserve and learn about these wondrous amphibians and listen for their unique symphony! Read the Full Story >>
Feeling The Heartbeat Of Spring Emerging
During my sixty-odd years as a naturalist, I’ve learned spring actually starts long before the first of March. I write this in mid-February as it seems winter has yet to loosen its grip, until you listen and look closely. Read the Full Story >>
Connecting Solar In Jefferson County
The Observer spoke with several energy industry professionals with experience in the development and management of utility-scale energy projects to understand the general context for the types of large-scale solar projects being proposed for Jefferson County. We also researched the specific topography of the local power grid and land to understand both the potential and constraints for these types of solar projects in Jefferson County. Read the Full Story >>
A Look At Rural Zoning In Jefferson County
While it’s common to think of land designated with rural zoning as reserved for agriculture, it’s really a category with many allowed uses, not all directly related to agriculture. Read the Full Story >>
Transportation Hub for the Eastern Panhandle
The question to ask is, “do you want to take advantage of economic development opportunities?” said Shane Farthing, Director of Economic and Community Development for the City of Martinsburg. He suggested that if the city did not have a train station and “we did a study on how to improve the economy, we’d ask how great it would be to have a train station. Sometimes it’s hard to recognize the good things you already have. Read the Full Story >>
Tracking the Train in West Virginia’s 2021 Budget Debates
The pandemic has strained the MTA’s workforce and put a dent in ridership and revenue. Discussions about West Virginia’s rail funding for the next fiscal year (from July 2021) will begin when the state Legislature receives the Governor’s budget proposal in early February. Read the Full Story >>
Taking Waters Into Their Own Hands
Concerned that West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) oversight is insufficient to protect the water underlying their property from the threat of pollutants from the planned nearby Rockwool factory, a group of local residents is hiring experts to test their water to establish a record to use in possible future legal action. Read the Full Story >>
The Flow Must Go On
No creatures on earth can change their environment more drastically than humans and beavers. In the natural world, beaver dams create new wetland habitat for a variety of wildlife. Fishermen, hunters, bird watchers, hikers and outdoor recreationists love to visit beaver dams. But when beavers cut down trees, obstruct and divert waterways, and flood fields, septic systems and basements, their “damming” activities place beavers in direct conflict with humans. Read the Full Story >>
Seeing & Hearing The Signs of New Beginnings
As a difficult and challenging year winds down and the pandemic shows new surges, I find much comfort observing nature. The transition from late fall into winter to me represents more of a beginning than an end. Read the Full Story >>
Counting on the Well Water
After the WV Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) issued a notice on November 5, 2020 that it was authorizing the Rockwool stone wool insulation manufacturing facility in Ranson to operate under a general water pollution control permit, the Jefferson County Foundation noted that the source water protection area map submitted as part of the facility’s application process marked only 4 drinking water wells within the one mile buffer zone. Read the Full Story >>
A Colorful Winter Ahead?
Last month I heard a different bird call coming from one of our tall arborvitae trees in the front yard. When I heard it again a few days later I recognized it—pine siskins! I was excited to see a flock of about a hundred land in the same tree. Read the Full Story >>
Sustaining Plastic Recycling
Updated March 5 2021 - The Berkeley County Solid Waste Authority has temporarily suspended drop-off acceptance of plastics (including bags) at both its Grapevine and Inwood locations. Read the Full Story >>
Sparking A Converstation: Local Farmers Discuss Large-Scale Solar Development
Pastoral landscapes may be easy on the eyes, but farming them is a hard life. Todd Hough of Oakwood Farm has been working the land since he was a child. He and his brother are the fourth generation to run the family farm in the Kabletown District of Jefferson County. Read the Full Story >>