Author: Liz McCormick

Liz is WVPB's Webmaster/Digital Coordinator and Eastern Panhandle Bureau Chief, based in Shepherdstown, WV on Shepherd University's campus. Liz is a native of Charleston, West Virginia. She received a M.A. in Strategic Communication from American University in 2022 and a B.A. in Communication and New Media from Shepherd in 2014. Prior to her role as webmaster, Liz was WVPB's Eastern Panhandle reporter from 2014-2022, the House of Delegates reporter on "The Legislature Today" from 2015-2017, and she covered K-12/higher education from 2020-2022. Liz has also worked as a technical assistant and associate producer on "The Legislature Today."

Jefferson County Celebrates Addition of 40th Protected Farm

Earlier this week, the Jefferson County Farmland Protection Board celebrated the addition of 76.5 acres of protected farmland. Jefferson County’s Protected Farmland now expands to 4,038 acres with the addition of their 40th farm.

The property, owned by William and Deloris Nicewarner, includes more than 93% prime and statewide important agricultural soils. The farm supports grain crops, hay production, and beef cattle.

John Reisenweber is the executive director of the Jefferson County Development Authority. He says, although it may seem like protecting farmland would limit production of other developments such as housing and other structures, for Jefferson County and most of the eastern panhandle, protecting farmland helps economic development.

“There’s intrinsic value to having green space in a community. You’re talking to a guy who loves to backpack and hike and mountain bike, and you know, be outdoors. So it’s important to protect green space, and farmland protection does that, and we’re starting to see the growth of micro-farming, smaller agricultural businesses in the community, and if we can protect farmland and allow our farmers to make a profit, then that’s good for the economy, and that’s good for economic development.”

The addition was made possible with the recent $290,640 bargain sale purchase of an agricultural conservation easement for the Circle N Farm in the Charles Town District. The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Jefferson County Farmland Protection Board provided matching funds to make the purchase possible. The Land Trust of the Eastern Panhandle is the co-holder of the easement.

An “agricultural conservation easement” is a voluntary, legally-recorded deed restriction that is placed on a specific property used for agricultural production. It enables landowners to permanently protect the agricultural, historical, and scenic values of their property.

Unmanned Aircrafts Prohibited on Appalachian Trail Grounds

The National Park Service is prohibiting the use of unmanned aircrafts on the Appalachian National Scenic Trail grounds.

The National Park Service issued the new policy this week for the Appalachian Trail. Park officials say it will remain in effect until they can determine that unmanned aircraft landings, launchings, or operating will not result in any negative impacts to the park grounds.

The policy was issued due to complaints from visitors and staff, as a drastic increase in noise disturbance and even harassment from those operating the unmanned aircrafts occurred.

Wendy Janssen, the superintendent of the Appalachian National Scenic Trail, stated that not only would this policy affect the Appalachian Trail, but would also affect all 401 National Park Service units. The policy will be in effect for at least 18 months, and then a future policy may be discussed.

An unmanned aircraft is any device used or intended for flight without direct human intervention from within or on the aircraft. Examples include model airplanes, quadcopters, and drones used for either recreation or commerce.

The park service has not yet identified, analyzed, or examined how the unmanned aircrafts would affect the Appalachian National Scenic Trail. Officials say they are working to determine the most appropriate policy to protect park resources and ensure visitors have a rich experience.

Berkeley County Sheriff's Dept. Says Residents Are Properly Disposing of their Pharmeceutical Waste

Courthouses and police departments across the state have been collecting prescription drugs for a few years now. The idea is to cut down on waste in the streams and keep unused prescriptions out of the hands of drug abusers. The Berkeley County Sheriff’s Department says collections have almost doubled in the past 5 months.

Since the Berkley County Sheriff’s Department moved last March to its new office in Martinsburg, Chief Gary Harmison has seen an increase in residents properly disposing of their pharmaceutical waste.

Harmison says that before their move, the Sheriff’s Department only needed to empty the drop box once every four months. He has now seen the result double having to empty the drop box twice every three to four months. Harmison suspects the proximity to several residential areas helped increase the rate. The Department’s previous location could only be reached by most via car.

Chief Harmison says the Department is excited to offer the residents of the area an opportunity to properly dispose of their medical waste and help protect the environment, as septic and sewage treatment do not break down most drugs, and can greatly affect groundwater.

This effort is intended to bring local focus to the issue of increasing improper disposal of pharmaceutical waste and drug abuse.

Libraries in the Eastern Panhandle Say They Need More Funding

As the demand for Internet resources increases, libraries are the starting place for free information. However, budget cuts have forced libraries across the state to scale back drastically on operating hours and access to services, just when it seems those resources are most needed. The Jefferson County branch of the League of Women Voters hosted a public forum on ways the community in the Eastern Panhandle can support the public libraries in their area. These libraries say they have much to offer the public but need more funding.

At the public forum, five directors of the Berkeley and Jefferson County libraries gave insight on the services their particular library provides. From delivery services, to early literacy programs, to collections of distinctive Eastern Panhandle history, all five libraries spoke on the uniqueness of what their library has to offer. Gretchen Fry, the director of the Bolivar Harpers Ferry Public Library, argues that while online bookstore rentals may seem great, they can’t compete with what a library can do for its patrons.

“Libraries are able to provide a large selection of eBooks because of the fact that they actually have access to a number of vendors,” said Fry, “whereas Amazon actually is more restricted in what vendors they can provide, because a lot of them won’t sell to Amazon, so we actually can purchase a larger variety of eBooks.”

Fry says some publishers of certain bestsellers choose to sell to libraries over resources like Amazon. Because of this, libraries tend to provide a larger amount of online and physical collections.

“People would prefer to actually go to their library, because they can get a wider selection and it’s free–they don’t have to pay anything.A nd the way the current situation actually with libraries is set up, they don’t have to pay fines either for library books, like a traditional library book. What happens is after you check out the book, it just expires, you don’t have to pay a fine.”

Pam Coyle, the director of the Martinsburg-Berkeley Public Library, spoke on the upcoming November 4^th levy in Kanawha County. If the levy would pass, the libraries in the county would receive over $3 million for five years sponsored by the Board of Education. While the pass of the levy would not directly affect the libraries in the Eastern Panhandle, Coyle does think it could send a very prominent message throughout the state.

“Kanawha County has its own levy that’s going out. That’s not, other than interlibrary loan, will not affect us, but it will affect the attitude of, when we have to go out probably for our own levy, which may or may not happen in the future, depending on what happens with the school board, and libraries across the state. Because if it can get passed in Kanawha County, then it can hopefully pass in every county that they could have their own levy, that’s dedicated specifically to the library and not dependent on any other agency,” noted Coyle.

With big dreams of expanding, the Jefferson and Berkeley County libraries hope to receive more funding in the near future. And if the November 4^th levy passes in Charleston, they hope it will provide a ringer to the rest of the state that libraries need help.

Blackwater Falls State Park Will Host a Free Viewing Event of the Perseid Meteor Shower

Blackwater Falls State Park is hosting a free viewing of an annual meteor shower Monday, August 11th and Tuesday, August 12th.

On clear nights from mid-July to late August, meteors from the Perseid meteor shower can be seen in the night sky, but the peak show happens around August 11th and 12th.

Meteors can be observed in the early evening sky after darkness falls; however, the number of meteors increases after midnight.

Staff members at Blackwater Falls State Park say the park is one of the darkest areas in the east and provides the perfect setting as Earth passes through the debris of Swift-Tuttle – a comet discovered in July 1862.

The free event at Blackwater Falls will begin indoors both nights at 7:30 p.m. at the Harold Walters Nature Center, and then move outdoors for the viewing. It will include a presentation with guest interpreter, Dan Costanzo, a scientist with the National Air and Space Museum with more than 40 years of experience watching meteors and the night sky.

The nature center area will be free of artificial lighting during the viewing, and it’s encouraged to bring your own lawn chairs or blankets to sit back and watch the show.

Capitol Market Celebrates National Farmers Market Week

It’s National Farmers Market Week, and USDA Acting Under Secretary for Rural Development, Doug O’Brien, visited the Capitol Market in Charleston to help celebrate.

A number of USDA officials are visiting farmers markets around the country this week to highlight opportunities and community benefits farmers markets provide. Doug O’Brien, USDA Acting Under Secretary for Rural Development came to celebrate with West Virginians at Charleston’s Capitol Market.

“This really is a unique market. It’s been here for nearly twenty years, and the vision of the community coming together, and using this great historic space for this great community benefit, I mean I think it pays dividends in so many ways. I think it’s really fantastic that a community the size of Charleston can support a seven-day market like this.”

The Capitol Market is a big part of West Virginia’s local food economy, generating an estimated $7.5 million in annual sales and attracting more than 500,000 visitors annually.

“Farmers markets provide a lot of community benefits. They provide an outlet for small entrepreneurs who grow food and plants. They provide a great meeting space, a community space for people to come together. They provide access to healthy, nutritious food for the community.”

Kelli Melton, daughter of Rita Lovejoy, an owner of a small business called, Granny’s Greenhouse, says she and her family have been holding up their business at the Capitol Market for fifteen years. Melton says the Market had been a huge impact on her family. She hopes more people take advantage of what farmers markets have to offer.

“I think people need to be more active in farmers and local people growing their own food and growing their own stuff and help populating the Earth with trees and shrubs, and just doing more growing. I like it, I love this. There’s nothing else better.”

The Capitol Market is one of 8,268 farmers markets listed in the USDA National Farmers Market Directory, and the number of farmers markets listed in the Directory has increased 76% since 2008.