After the past year of 24/7 political and pandemic coverage, it might seem odd to hear David Welch say “we need to talk more about politics, not less.” The director of the Stubblefield Institute for Civil Political Communications at Shepherd University is quick to point out that he means being able to have constructive conversations. Read the Full Story >>
Steve Pearson
Talking Across Time & Space
Adam Booth credits a course he took with Rachael Meads in the Appalachian Studies department at Shepherd University for starting him on the path to becoming a professional storyteller, a passion he has pursued as a career for the past fifteen years. Read the Full Story >>
Time To Share A Story
When I interviewed professional storyteller Adam Booth for the Speak Stories article in this month’s issue, one of the topics we touched on was the role of storytelling in the community and his experiences traveling the country to speak. He noted how during his visits, people often seek him out asking, “do you have time to hear a story”? Read the Full Story >>
Jefferson County is Horse Country
Driving around, it’s easy to see the agricultural activity that surrounds us in Jefferson County, but it often seems at a distance. As part of a planned series of articles looking at the activities that have defined Jefferson County across several centuries, The Observer recently visited one of these operations — the Blue Spruce Farm in Kearneysville WV. Read the Full Story >>
Local Superheros
In the stories we feature in this month’s issue, we hear the echoes of Cliff’s comment about his effort — “I was surprised that I was able to do so well. But it was my friends and family who really carried me over the finish line.” Despite the unsettling times of the past year, we see a determination, resolve, and optimism in our community that inspires us as well. Read the Full Story >>
Music Performance Transposed for COVID-19
The Music School at Shepherd University makes a point to be a highly personalized experience for its students. In contrast to many programs at larger institutions, Shepherd is focused on undergraduates and emphasizes the opportunities for its students to study directly with faculty. Unfortunately, the very adjectives that one would use to describe music programs in general and Shepherd’s program specifically — intimate, group, performance, together — also describe the activities the health department advises against during the pandemic health crisis. 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 >>
Taking Time To See The Beauty
A lot of what happens in county government focuses on daily operations but the long term payoff comes from educated citizens who have the skills to participate in a twenty-first century economy that is both local and global in the same place. Read the Full Story >>