In 1995, Garth Janssen found an opportunity to realize his own vision when he saw a space being vacated by another shop-keeper and opened the Lost Dog. For 25 years, that vision was his life, his family, his community, his art. Read the Full Story >>
Shepherdstown
Online, Distant, Together, Ready
Shepherd University is moving forward with virtual and in-person instruction starting August 24, with an accelerated semester that reclaims Labor Day and Fall Break as instructional days and ends just before Thanksgiving. Read the Full Story >>
Perspectives from a Local Solar Professional
For the first article in this series, we invited Danny Chiotos to research and address some questions about the nature of the specific solar generation project that initiated the request for proposed zoning amendment ZTA 19-03. Read the Full Story >>
Honor D Fine Shoes & Hats
March was planned as a grand opening for a new street-front space on German Street in Shepherdstown. Honor Thomas had orders for spring merchandise being delivered to the freshly-painted shop and plans for an event-filled spring for her regular customers. “When the shut-down restrictions hit I stayed home for a week. I have a daughter who lives in Queens, in New York City, and hearing the stories from there, it seemed frivolous to be thinking about my hats and shoes.” Read the Full Story >>
CATF UnMuted: A New American Theater Experience for 2020
If the CATF team found themselves lost in the woods, they wouldn’t just look for the signs to get back on the old road -- they’d figure out how to blaze a new trail. We’ve all learned a lot over the past four months, enough to know that the CATF organization made the right decision to postpone the summer season. While the community has been mourning the loss, the team got to work at what they do best -- being creative. Read the Full Story >>
Why Would a Woman Hike the Entire Appalachian Trail at 50? Why Not?
In the spring of 2012, Shepherdstown resident Annie Wisecarver decided to celebrate a milestone event—her 50th birthday—by setting off on a six-month, 2,000-mile-plus hike. You might have heard of the place: the Appalachian Trail. Read the Full Story >>
Jefferson County Magistrate Race Heads into the Final Turn
Though none of us are exactly sure how we will do it, statewide primary elections have at least been pushed to June 9 in West Virginia. Additionally, West Virginia Secretary of State’s Office (Mac Warner) is allowing ALL West Virginians to vote absentee. Read the Full Story >>
Sobriety Nuts and Bolts
Reading a book on addiction recovery is not as daunting as recovery itself, but it can be a difficult task for numerous reasons... Read the Full Story >>
Medical Marijuana Loses Traction in Charleston
The West Virginia Legislature passed a bill three years ago legalizing the use of medical marijuana. But that law has never really taken effect. Read the Full Story >>
How Will We Vote During Corona?
Given the current COVID-19 situation across the country, a recent press release from Washington Monthly stated: The 2020 election is at risk. Short of significant reform, voter participation is expected to plummet. Read the Full Story >>
CEG Receives $500K Grant to Bolster HIV Fight in West Virginia
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 >>
Wake Up: It’s Later Than You Think.
March sneaks up on me. I still consider it the beginning of nature’s year when the earliest spring birds and flowers appear. But now there’s a somber side to nature’s awakening—an odd, empty feeling, like waking up to discover I forgot to set the alarm clock. Time has passed while I’ve been snoozing. What did I miss and why is it so quiet? Read the Full Story >>
Appalachian Noir – ‘Coal Black,’ by Chris McGinley (Shotgun Honey, 2019)
In one of the most searing dialogues of Chris McGinley’s debut short story collection Coal Black, an eastern Kentucky drug dealer known as Hellbender asks a sheriff who’s been pursuing him: “Why do you think people around here are so addicted to drugs?” He answers his own question: “It’s because of depression. There is a streak of fatalism in Coal Black that is not just informed by the trappings of the crime fiction genre, but by the socioeconomic devastation of its rural Kentucky setting. The survivalist outlook of the characters in these stories is its inevitable consequence. Read the Full Story >>
Shepherdstown Community Club Moves Forward on Strength of 75-Year History
There is a sense of community in Shepherdstown that exists in a swirling pattern focusing first on the vibrant heart of the city’s German Street before moving outward to neighborhoods both old and new. The city’s heartbeat plays its rhythm softly in the background for times gone by, and ever more strongly today. Read the Full Story >>
I Think I May Be the Luckiest Man Alive
Dow Benedict, former faculty member and Dean of the School of Arts and Humanities at Shepherd University, looks back on 48 years of service as a mentor, artist, and leader. Read the Full Story >>