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Latest Stories

Route 340 Closure Begins Early In The Morning On September 12

Route 340 Closure Will Affect Traffic For Three Months

Route 340 Closure Traffic Will Hit Jefferson County And Surrounding Region

Childcare Options Needed In Jefferson County

Appalachian Heritage Festival At Shepherd University To Highlight Family And Community

School Attendance Matters For Academic Skills

State Legislature Meets For Special Session In August

West Virginia Legislature’s Meeting Schedule

Hammerhead Worm Has Odd Habits

Moulton Family Transfers 82 Acres To Expand Local Park

Grandparents Day Has West Virginia Roots

Making Connections To Overcome Roadblocks

Read all stories

In Print

Observer 2023-08 cover

Public Health

It’s OK to Ask for Help

August, 2020 Tagged With: American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, Brian O’Neill Jr Foundation, run for a cause, suicide prevention

promotional flyer for ONeill Foundation 5K run to support suicide prevention programs.

The Brian O’Neill Jr Foundation has a simple mission: to empower individuals and their families to help prevent suicide in youth and young adults. For Lee O’Neill, the president of the foundation, this mission is personal. Read the Full Story >>

Pandemic in the Panhandle

August, 2020 Tagged With: Berkeley County Health Department, COVID-19, Dr. Terrence Reidy, Jefferson County Health Department, Morgan County Health Department

two people standing 6 feet apart maintaining social distance. illustration.

Reidy observes that there is sometimes almost too much news coverage. “Every little new suggestion gets equal weight because it’s new — every drug that might work or something that might work. With new treatments, it takes time to find out what really does work — things like antibody testing and how long people are immune. It’s hard because we want answers now.  Read the Full Story >>

From This Point Forward

April, 2020 Tagged With: substance use disorder

a white wolf stalks towards the camera, walking through a field of hummocky dead grass.

My name is Josh. I’m 39. I’ve been sober just about nine months. I live in Chicago. I know the editor of this paper, Mike, and he encouraged me to write this—for various reasons, many of which you probably already know. Mainly because, apparently, this publication works hard to help addicts and their loved ones Read the Full Story >>

CEG Receives $500K Grant to Bolster HIV Fight in West Virginia

April, 2020 Tagged With: Gilead Sciences, HIV, opioid epidemic, Shepherdstown Community Education Group

Community Education Group.

A new $500,000 grant will support CEG’s efforts to improve HIV prevention, testing, screening, and treatment in the state. Read the Full Story >>

Understanding the Connection Between Loneliness and Addiction

March, 2020 Tagged With: opioid epidemic, substance use disorder

The black silhouette of a woman looking towards the sky as she stands in front of a vivid pink and purple sky.

I couldn’t move. I had reached the point where I could no longer continue living a life marred in addiction. It wasn’t simply a matter of being sick and tired of being sick and tired—I was, in a tangible way, killing myself. I laid on the floor of my wretched trailer apartment under a blanket, Read the Full Story >>

WVU Medicine Lands Facility in Shepherdstown

February, 2020 Tagged With: healthcare, primary care, Shepherdstown, WVU Medicine

WVU Medicine building.

WVU Medicine plans to build a 10,700-square-foot medical office building (MOB) located on Route 45 west of downtown Shepherdstown near Sheetz, which will house two physician’s office suites—one for primary care and one for specialists.  Read the Full Story >>

Addiction and Emotional Trauma in Childhood

January, 2020 Tagged With: substance use disorder

Billy Manas

The dynamic between my father and me was distant and unpalatable on so many levels—not the least of which was our contrasting physical statures. He was over 350 pounds for as long as I remember and I, having topped out in adulthood at 5’ 6” and 130 pounds, was always minuscule in his presence. Instead Read the Full Story >>

Charles Town Comes to Terms with the Loss of Justice Taylor   

December, 2019 Tagged With: Charles Town, Jefferson County Community Ministries

JCCM

In the early hours on October 5, as the morning sun emerged through the clouds on an overcast fall day, the body of Justice Taylor was found in the loading area at the rear of Jefferson County Community Ministries (JCCM) on West Washington Street. Slumped in his wheelchair, it was a harsh end to a Read the Full Story >>

Observer Contributor Co-Develops Memorial Site for Opioid Victims

December, 2019 Tagged With: All Our Hearts, opioid epidemic

All Our Hearts

If you or someone you love has lost someone to the opioid crisis, then it’s worth your while to check out "All Our Hearts"—an online memorial project developed in part by Observer contributor and Jefferson County native Lena Camilletti. Read the Full Story >>

Wellness Center at WVU Medicine Celebrates 20 Years

November, 2019 Tagged With: active adults, Berkeley Medical Center, fitness, WVU Medicine

WVU Medicine Wellness Center

The Wellness Center at WVU Medicine Berkeley Medical Center (2000 Foundation Way, Martinsburg) is celebrating its 20-year anniversary. Since opening its doors in the fall of 1999, it has doubled in size and expanded services to meet the needs of the community. The Center, located in the Dorothy A. McCormack Center on the Berkeley Medical Read the Full Story >>

Substance-Use Disorder & Person-First Language: Why It Matters

October, 2019 Tagged With: National Treatment Quality Initiatives, opioid epidemic, substance use disorder

substance abuse

How we perceive and treat people with substance-use disorder has a direct impact on access to treatment and long-term recovery for this community. The language we use to identify this disease is crucial in addressing solutions for people experiencing it. Read the Full Story >>

Understanding Mental Health by Tearing Down Some Walls

October, 2019 Tagged With: Gun Control, Mental Health

Carol Williams

Diagnosing mental health disorders isn’t one of those easy professions, like, for example, brain surgery or rocket science. Enviably, those two specialties have clear and visible parameters for measuring success and failure, whereas defining “mental health” is fluid and debatable, at times dependent on functional and social norms. The diagnostic manual that defines criteria for Read the Full Story >>

A Deep-Dive Into Anger, Abuse, and Resurrection with Debut Author Timothy J. Hillegonds

October, 2019 Tagged With: opioid epidemic, substance use disorder

Tim Hillegonds

A Chicago native, author Timothy J. Hillegonds stepped foot in Shepherdstown for the first time in 2012, and found himself smitten from the start. Seven years later, he readily calls Shepherdstown his second home, and by getting to know West Virginia’s oldest town as intimately as he has, he’s also become familiar with the Mountain State’s unfortunate connection to the nationwide opioid epidemic. Read the Full Story >>

Shepherdstown Farmers Market Benefits Entire Community with SNAP Program

October, 2019 Tagged With: food insecurity, nutrition, Shepherdstown Farmers Market, SNAP, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program

Shepherdstown Farmers Market

According to the Farmers Market Coalition (FMC), the USDA partnered with them to provide eligible farmers markets and direct marketing farmers with the equipment necessary to accept Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits—formerly known as the Food Stamps Program. Read the Full Story >>

The Sobriety Hype

August, 2019 Tagged With: substance use disorder

addiction

What does it mean to be sober? Do you have to be serious all of the time? What about fun—can you have any fun? There is a stigma surrounding addiction, recovery, and sobriety that has not been fully dealt with in our society. If, as a society, we are unable to talk about something, then Read the Full Story >>

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