Today, Antonia Capriotti’s bright, intricate illustrations form entire exhibitions in West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle. But years ago she was only just discovering her love for art as one of the first two students to receive a specialized curriculum for their Autism in Jefferson County Schools.
Paintbrush in hand, Antonia Capriotti is busy at work at a kitchen table in Ranson. Today is Wednesday morning, which is when Capriotti joins Gary Bergel — an artist himself, and a professor at Blue Ridge Community and Technical College — for one-on-one art instruction.
Capriotti pulls out a storybook and flips to a page depicting the panels of a roof. She begins painting over it in green, as if using art to retell the story from her own point of view.
“When a human being starts unfolding creatively, they will use materials differently than a trained artist,” Bergel said, seated beside her. “Antonia, you can’t predict how she’s going to use a given art material.”
Capriotti has Autism, and was one of the first two students to receive a specialized curriculum for her Autism in Jefferson County Schools.
“We didn’t have a place for her to go, and that’s when the program was started,” said Capriotti’s mother, Terri White. “Her aide had to hold the pencil in her hand and help her to write.”
“100 MERMAIDS” by Antonia Capriotti (colored pencil).
Photo Credit: Jack Walker/West Virginia Public Broadcasting
“100 CLOWNS” by Antonia Capriotti (colored pencil).
Photo Credit: Jack Walker/West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Capriotti began to draw the things she learned about in school. That is how her mother and teachers began to realize Capriotti had a knack for art.
“She loves Paul Bunyan, and she took a crayon … and she dotted [an outline] of Paul Bunyan, the whole thing,” White said. “Someone saw it, and they said, ‘Well, that’s pointillism.’”
Caproptti has some difficulties communicating verbally. But discovering art in the classroom helped Capriotti later take classes at Blue Ridge CTC and Shepherd University, introducing her to people like Bergel.
“In my classroom, I don’t view any human as not creative. I believe we were conceived creative,” Bergel said. “Your creativity will be different than mine.”
Capriotti’s unique artistic perspective has caught the eye of her community, too. From March to April, more than 20 of her illustrated pieces are on display at the South Jefferson Public Library, located in the nearby neighborhood of Summit Point.
Each colored-pencil drawing crowds the page with bright, intricate shapes. One piece, entitled “100 Mermaids,” depicts faces stacked from the bottom to top edge — some connected to bodies and mermaid tails, others left afloat in flowing, yellow hair with seashells tucked inside.
Three illustrations by Antonia Capriotti hang at an exhibition in the South Jefferson Public Library, located in Summit Point.
Photo Credit: Jack Walker/West Virginia Public Broadcasting
And Capriotti’s path to higher education offered encouragement to her mother, too. As a first-time college student herself, White said entering the classroom with her daughter felt like something they were accomplishing together.
“I didn’t realize it at the time, but the same year that she took her college classes there and got credit was the same year that I took my first classes there for credit,” White said. “So I was like, ‘Oh my God, I can’t believe we both did it at the same time.’”
Along the way, Bergel says Capriotti’s growth has not been limited to her art skills, either.
“At first, she really [almost] did not speak,” Bergel said. “But by the end of our time and semesters together there, if you walked in … she’d come out and poke you in the chest, just like she did here this morning, and say, ‘What’s your name? What’s your favorite Walt Disney movie? What’s your favorite musical piece in that movie?’”
Antonia Capriotti’s exhibition at the South Jefferson Public Library will be on display during library hours through the end of April. For more information, visit the library’s website.
The South Jefferson Public Library will display Capriotti’s artwork in its gallery room through the end of the month.
Photo Credit: Jack Walker/West Virginia Public Broadcasting
On this West Virginia Morning, an Eastern Panhandle artist communicates through her art, and how children get exposed to high levels of lead.
On this West Virginia Morning, Eastern Panhandle artist Antonia Capriotti creates paintings and illustrations that are full of life. Her journey as an artist began in Jefferson County’s public schools, where special education classes helped her discover a lifelong passion.
And The Allegheny Front is based in Pittsburgh and reports on regional environmental news. Their latest story looks at the findings of a study into how infants and young children get exposed to dangerous levels of lead – and what happens when they do.
West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting, which is solely responsible for its content.
Support for our news bureaus comes from Shepherd University and Marshall University School of Journalism and Mass Communications.
Eric Douglas produced this episode.
Listen to West Virginia Morning weekdays at 7:43 a.m. on WVPB Radio or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode. #WVMorning
WVU Medicine has opened a new hybrid operating room for cardiovascular procedures at the Berkeley Medical Center in Martinsburg.
A new hybrid operating room in West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle seeks to expand local options for cardiovascular care.
WVU Medicine has opened a new hybrid operating room at Berkeley Medical Center, its hospital based in Martinsburg. Surgeons from the WVU Heart and Vascular Institute have already begun performing procedures in the facility, WVU Medicine shared in an April 10 press release.
The operating room can conduct advanced imaging, which is especially helpful for patients with “complex conditions and multiple comorbidities,” according to the release. Hybrid operating rooms offer advanced tech like this alongside traditional surgical services to eliminate the need to transfer patients across departments for care.
The hybrid operating room “enables us to perform complex vascular procedures with greater accuracy, in a safer and more efficient environment,” said Omar Nadra — a vascular surgeon who conducted the first procedure in the center. “Our patients now have access to some of the most advanced surgical technologies available, right here in Martinsburg.”
Located in Martinsburg, the Berkeley Medical Center is operated by WVU Medicine.
Photo Credit: Jack Walker/West Virginia Public Broadcasting
The operating room will offer several vascular procedures like angiograms, fistulograms, aortic repairs, carotid stenting, artery revascularization, carotid endarterectomy and arterial bypasses, according to the press release.
“This milestone reflects our continued commitment to expanding access to advanced healthcare in the Eastern Panhandle,” said Mark O’Hern, CEO of WVU Hospitals East, in the press release. “The new hybrid OR represents the future of surgical care and reinforces our investment in bringing high-quality heart and vascular services closer to home for our patients.”
The space will also host thoracic surgery and pulmonology services, with tomography imaging technology. That allows doctors to locate pulmonary tumors, enabling them to conduct diagnostic or therapeutic procedures.
WVU Medicine did not immediately respond to requests for comment on this story.
The Senate Economic Development Committee approved House Bill 2014 on Tuesday after a three and a half hour meeting with testimony from several witnesses.
The bill would expand the number of microgrids in the state to support AI and data centers. It’s one of Gov. Patrick Morrisey’s top priorities.
Multiple county officials came before the committee on Tuesday to oppose the diversion of local property tax revenue to state coffers in House Bill 2014.
The objections came from two Eastern Panhandle counties, Jefferson and Berkeley, as well as Greenbrier and Putnam Counties.
Eddie Gochenour, president of the Berkeley County Commission, called it “overreaching.”
“When the governor was the former Attorney General, he fought back against over regulating from the federal government and on the local level. We feel we’re doing the same thing,” he said. “But the truth is, we want to be a partner. We want to be a partner in the growth of West Virginia.”
Morganne Tenney, executive director of the Putnam County Economic Development Authority, said the legislation would discourage communities from seeking data center projects.
“Our sole purpose as a local development authority is to create jobs and increase the tax base,” she said. “What incentive do you have as a local development authority or a local county leadership to bring in a data center if you don’t see the tax benefits from that?”
Pasha Madji, president of the Jefferson County Commission, said the reallocation of tax revenues would strain county services.
“These commercial property tax revenues are a key tool used by county commissions to balance the budget and pay for our emergency services, such as ambulances, police and first responders,” he said. “This leaves counties with fewer resources and limited options to fill the resulting gap and making it harder to maintain county services.”
The committee amended the bill so that 30% of property tax revenue stays with the county. Most of the balance of that revenue will go to the state for further reductions in the state income tax.
The committee then approved HB 2014 and sent it to the Senate floor.
Proposed changes to nutrition assistance in West Virginia could have implications for the state’s rural community and the nation as a whole.
A single road connects Shannondale and its roughly 3,000 residents to the rest of Jefferson County. The rural community flanks West Virginia’s easternmost border, fixed between the Shenandoah River and the Blue Ridge Mountains. That makes for breathtaking waterside vistas, but one heck of a grocery commute.
Shannondale is home to just two convenience stores, neither of which regularly sells fresh produce. For low-income residents, the terrain and limited local options can exacerbate barriers to food access that affect the state at large. Even in the state’s wealthiest county, many folks in rural communities struggle to foot their grocery bills.
That is where the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) comes in. The federally funded program lets states subsidize food purchase costs for residents in need. Last year, roughly one-sixth of the state’s populace bought food using SNAP dollars.
But the state and federal governments are currently weighing tweaks to the program, and say it is just the beginning. That could change who qualifies for the program, what they can buy and the wider face of food access in small-town West Virginia.
Todd Coyle, owner of the Bushel & Peck grocery store in Charles Town, sorts through a selection of fresh basil.
Photo Credit: Jack Walker/West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Finding meals in a food desert
Since founding the Blue Ridge Food Pantry in 2023, Susan and Ray Benzinger have seen barriers to food access in Shannondale first hand.
“We have talked to people. Some people fish to supplement, because they can’t get across the river all the time,” Susan Bezinger said. “Some people garden. Of course, that would be your summer months.”
Twice a week, the food bank provides residents jars of peanut butter, canned vegetables and other shelf-stable food products. Susan Bezinger says people often miss the food bank and drive past it because of its unusual location: an old, white chapel.
When the church fell into disuse, the Benzingers got permission from the Episcopal diocese to convert it into a food bank. Walk inside and you will find the same old pipe organ and pulpit, but with pews covered up and pushed to the walls, shelves of packaged food in their place.
Last year, Susan Benzinger said the pantry fed roughly 2,000 people, serving 15 tons of food.
“They’re just regular people that need a boost, and that’s what we’re here for,” Ray Benzinger said.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) designates Shannondale a low-income, low-access area, colloquially known as a food desert. That means household revenues in the community skew low, but the distance to grocery stores is high, making it harder to access healthy foods despite resources like the food pantry.
“We have a lot of people who do not have transportation. We actually have people who walk here, or their neighbors bring them,” Susan Benzinger said. “So that’s a hard thing.”
The Blue Ridge Food Pantry is entirely free, so it does not accept SNAP dollars. But across the Shenandoah, Bushel & Peck does. The Charles Town retailer hums with refrigerators chock full of local produce, meat and dairy.
Todd Coyle, who runs the store, says SNAP spending makes up a small amount of daily business, partly due to ease of access. For low-income residents outside Charles Town proper, visiting the brick-and-mortar can be trickier than a run to the dollar store.
“There is accessibility to these foods, but you’re going to have to get somebody to bring you here,” he said. “You’re going to have to walk a block, you know?”
Gov. Patrick Morrisey speaks with members of the press after a media event in Martinsburg March 28.
Photo Credit: Jack Walker/West Virginia Public Broadcasting
United States Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. talks health policy at a press event in Martinsburg.
Photo Credit: Jack Walker/West Virginia Public Broadcasting
SNAP under review
But residents using SNAP dollars may soon have additional restrictions to worry about. On March 26, members of the West Virginia Senate passed Senate Bill 249, which would expand work or education requirements for residents to qualify for the program.
Plus, Gov. Patrick Morrisey announced plans last month to ban West Virginia residents from using SNAP dollars to buy sugary beverages like soda. And he brought those ideas directly to the federal government himself during a March 28 media event with the nation’s highest-ranking health official, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Kennedy visited Martinsburg to show support for health policy changes Morrisey has championed in his first few months as governor. Key among them was Morrisey’s belief that using SNAP dollars to purchase unhealthy foods is a waste of program funds.
“When people are asserting that SNAP shouldn’t be about nutrition, I take issue with that,” Morrisey told members of the media after the event. “If you have the nutrition assistance program, it needs to be about nutrition.”
Morrisey asked Kennedy and the Trump administration to let West Virginia ban the purchase of sugary drinks using SNAP dollars.
Kennedy does not oversee the program. But he suggested the wider Trump administration is already on board, including U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, who has authority over SNAP.
“The message that I want to give to the country today and to all the other governors is: Get in line behind Gov. Morrissey,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy said tweaking SNAP benefits to eliminate junk food purchases aligns with Trump’s “Make America Healthy Again” initiative — a policy agenda that broadly focuses on individual, rather than institutional, approaches to health.
“We all need to stand up for ourselves and take care of ourselves. It’s an act of patriotism,” Kennedy said. “If you love this country, you need to start taking care of yourself.”
And the move toward state-by-state discretion over SNAP could have implications extending beyond West Virginia.
The Blue Ridge Food Pantry is located in a refurbished Episcopal chapel in Jefferson County, just north of Shannondale.
Photo Credit: Jack Walker/West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Bushel & Peck is a brick-and-mortar grocery store located in downtown Charles Town that specializes in local produce.
Photo Credit: Jack Walker/West Virginia Public Broadcasting
A broader effort
States administer their own SNAP benefits, but with federal funds. The program is authorized by the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, which sets defining standards for the program nationally.
West Virginia may be leading the way toward SNAP reform. But White House advisor Calley Means told members of the press at the event in Martinsburg that the Mountain State is not alone in seeking change; similar talks are underway across the U.S., from Arizona to Arkansas.
One critic is Seth DiStefano with the research nonprofit West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy. He says support for Morrisey’s plan could indicate the Trump administration is open to expanding state discretion over SNAP — even without the congressional approval to change the law.
“This would be very, very much outside of the mainstream as to how a program such as this is administered, specifically SNAP,” DiStefano said.
Morrisey and Kennedy argue that eliminating junk foods would bring public benefit, lowering costs to health infrastructure. Meanwhile, DiStefano is also worried the changes could impose unnecessary hurdles while shopping on SNAP dollars, plus risk losing customers on border towns to stores across state lines.
“You don’t really know what you’re trying to restrict, and you end up kind of sticking your nose into free market commerce principles that ends up having consequences,” he said.
While her work does not focus on SNAP specifically, back at the food bank Susan Benzinger said key to expanding food access is giving people autonomy. The Blue Ridge Food Pantry lets visitors customize their food pantry requests.
“I think it just makes people feel a little more in control, too. ‘Okay, I picked what I want.’ We do run out of stuff, but we ask them then to substitute,” she said. “It not only saves on waste, but most importantly makes people feel good about picking stuff up.”
Two Berkeley County deputies face criminal charges after they were arrested for an altercation that occurred at a local rec center in March.
Two Berkeley County deputies face criminal charges after they were arrested for an altercation that occurred last month.
The Berkeley County Sheriff’s Department confirmed in a press release Wednesday that two off-duty sheriff’s deputies had been arrested by the Martinsburg Police Department and placed on administrative leave “pending a complete investigation of this incident.”
Deputy Bryant Andrew Snapp faces a felony charge for malicious wounding. Deputy David Allen Knotts faces a misdemeanor charge for disorderly conduct. Kaylyn Snapp, who is married to Deputy Bryant Snapp, was also arrested following the incident.
The arrests follow a physical altercation that broke out at a local recreation center event on March 14, according to local newspaper The Journal.
Witness accounts reported by the Panhandle News Network allege that Knotts threw a beer can toward other attendees; that Deputy Snapp physically assaulted another attendee, breaking their chair in the process; and that Kaylyn Snapp put the same attendee in a chokehold.
One individual was admitted to the emergency room and reported a mild brain injury and concussion from the incident, the network reported.
Both deputies appeared before the Berkeley County Magistrate Court on Tuesday and were released on bond, The Journal reported.
In its press release, the sheriff’s department said it would follow standard state procedures while investigating the incident, but that it would not release any “further information … at this time.”
