Tag: Martinsburg

Lane, Sign Improvements Aim To Reduce Traffic In Eastern Panhandle

Lane and signage improvements in Berkeley County aim to reduce traffic congestion in West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle. The Department of Transportation project was announced Tuesday.

In recent years, West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle has experienced population growth and undertaken new development projects. While this provides economic benefit, it also creates a new problem: traffic.

West Virginia Route 9, which stretches from Morgan County to Jefferson County, has become increasingly prone to traffic congestion, Gov. Jim Justice said Tuesday.

Justice — alongside West Virginia Department of Transportation (WVDOT) Secretary Jimmy Wriston and West Virginia Senate President Craig Blair, R-Berkeley — visited Martinsburg Tuesday to unveil a new WVDOT project that aims to improve travel on the highway.

“It’s a growing area,” Wriston said. “We got some inefficiencies in the way traffic moves through the area on Route 9, and we want to address some of those things.”

The fifteen-step project includes adding new turn lanes, improving major intersections and enhancing lane signage over 10 to 15 miles of the highway in Berkeley County northwest of Martinsburg.

Currently, an average of 24,300 vehicles travel on portions of the highway each day, according to a press release from Justice’s office. Crash rates on the highway are roughly double the state average, the release said.

Blair said that improving transportation infrastructure in the Eastern Panhandle is important to sustain local growth.

“It’s about getting the work done,” he said. “It’s about stepping forward and getting things right.”

Justice echoed Blair’s sentiments, and said infrastructure plays an important role in attracting new residents.

“If we’re wanting to recruit more and more and more folks here and all of a sudden they’re sitting in traffic all day long … are they really going to come?” he asked. “We have got to absolutely market ourselves.”

History Of Martinsburg Mural Coming To Berkeley County, This West Virginia Morning

On this West Virginia Morning, Berkeley County in 2022 celebrated its 250th anniversary. Now, the county is looking back at its history through a public art lens. By early June, a mural will be on display in the heart of Martinsburg tracing the history and culture of Berkeley County over the years.

On this West Virginia Morning, Berkeley County in 2022 celebrated its 250th anniversary. Now, the county is looking back at its history through a public art lens. By early June, a mural will be on display in the heart of Martinsburg tracing the history and culture of Berkeley County over the years.

Jack Walker spoke with Lea Craigie, the artist behind the new mural, about her public art piece so far.

Also, in this show, we listen to the latest story from The Allegheny Front – a public radio program based in Pittsburgh that reports on environmental issues in the region. Their latest piece looks at proposals to place chemical plastic recycling centers in our region.

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.

Emily Rice 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

Martinsburg Physicians Develop New Approaches To Rural Veteran Health Needs

A program at the Martinsburg VA Medical Center trains medical providers to better serve rural veterans, who often face a number of barriers to accessing health resources.

The Martinsburg VA Medical Center (VAMC) serves veterans across county and even state lines.

With such an expansive patient base, the medical center’s health care providers not only have to consider veteran needs, but also disparities in rural health care access — and the ways these experiences overlap.

That is where the VAMC’s local chapter of the national VA Rural Interprofessional Faculty Development Initiative (RIFDI) comes in. The voluntary program trains medical professionals to better serve rural communities, and the veterans who call them home.

Over a two-year period, the program provides physicians lectures, group discussions and project-based learning on rural health care.

So far, three cohorts have completed the program, and RIFDI is still admitting new cohorts of health care providers.

VAMC Deputy Chief of Staff Michael Zapor began the Martinsburg RIFDI program, and said that it helps fill gaps where disparities in veteran and rural health care access overlap.

Veterans living in the rural United States often have less access to stores, transit options and the internet, which limits the health care resources at their disposal, he said.

“When you’re talking about … ‘We’re going to leverage telehealth.’ Even that is not a silver bullet for everybody, because we’ve got some veterans who don’t have computers,” he said.

This requires health care providers to consider the needs of rural veterans across the region and develop strategies to better provide them with health services.

In response, RIFDI considers “innovative ways” to serve the local veteran community, Zapor said. This includes educating veterans on proper nutrition, and offering a mix of in-person and telephone-based services so veterans can choose the resources best suited to their lifestyles.

In developing these strategies, physicians also learn about the health care experiences of the patients they serve.

“We leverage all kinds of ways to be able to project that care out to the more rural remote veterans who may have more difficulty accessing it,” he said.

For more information about RIFDI, visit www.ruralhealth.va.gov.

**Editor’s note: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that Michael Zapor founded the VA Rural Interprofessional Faculty Development Initiative (RIFDI). Instead, he launched Martinsburg’s local RIFDI program. The story has been updated with the correction.

WVU Medicine Reopens Diabetes Self-Management Program In Martinsburg

WVU Medicine is accepting new applications for its diabetes self-management program based in Martinsburg at the Berkeley Medical Center. The program runs for six weeks in February and March.

WVU Medicine is accepting new applications for its diabetes management program based in Martinsburg. The program helps participants learn strategies for independently managing their condition.

During the program, participants will explore topics like healthy eating, exercise, stress management, meal preparation, nutrition and healthcare access, according to a press release.

Dana DeJarnett, health promotion coordinator for WVU Medicine, said the self-management program also helps participants develop problem-solving and action-planning skills, which makes program lessons more effective.

“It may not sound like anything specific to diabetes, but it really helps you focus on what are the most important things you need to take care of,” she said. “The things that you need to know to manage your health on a day-to-day basis.”

As part of the program, participants will develop action plans each week, incorporating new habits they hope to implement and community resources they are going to integrate into their daily routine.

WVU Medicine’s Berkeley Medical Center and Jefferson Medical Center assumed oversight of the program last year, running it in partnership with Quality Insights.

But originally the program was overseen by the Berkeley-Morgan County Health Department, funding it through a state grant beginning in 2013.

From DeJarnett’s perspective, the program is valuable as a supplemental resource for individuals already receiving primary care for their diabetes.

“It helps you take control of your health. It helps you learn that there are steps that you can take, and that you can have control of,” DeJarnett said. “And it doesn’t take away from what you’re doing what your physician tells you to do.”

WVU Medicine’s new program will run six weeks, meeting every Thursday from 9 to 11:30 a.m. from Feb. 22 to March 29 at the Dorothy McCormack Center, located at 2000 Foundation Way in Martinsburg.

The program is free but requires advance registration. Individuals living with or caring for someone with diabetes are eligible to apply for the program through Feb. 14.

Prospective participants can register or seek further information by contacting DeJarnett at dana.dejarnett@wvumedicine.org.

Berkeley County Sheriff Announces Plans To Resign 

The sheriff’s voluntary decision to resign on Dec. 26 is part of a plea agreement over an investigation into a car crash that involved his daughter on January 12 near Martinsburg.

Berkeley County Sheriff Nathan Harmon plans to step down from his position later this month. 

The sheriff’s voluntary decision to resign on Dec. 26 is part of a plea agreement over an investigation into a car crash that involved his daughter on January 12 near Martinsburg.

In October, a Berkeley County Grand Jury handed down four indictments against Harmon; two counts for obstruction and two counts of providing false information to a state trooper about a breath test at the scene of the crash. He was also accused of erasing or concealing GPS tracking data from his daughter’s vehicle and lying about it.

In a plea deal, the sheriff agreed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor offense of obstructing a law enforcement officer. In return, the three additional misdemeanor charges filed against him, including providing false information to a state trooper, will be dropped. 

Harmon also faces a $500 fine. 

GM Union Agreement Could Put Martinsburg Facility Back To Work

Though it wasn’t official Monday, various news organizations reported a tentative agreement between GM and the United Auto Workers.

A tentative agreement between General Motors and its workers union could put an Eastern Panhandle facility back to work.

GM and the United Auto Workers reached a tentative deal on Monday to end a nearly six week strike that idled a distribution center in Martinsburg.

The GM deal is expected to be similar to ones reached with Ford and Stellantis, the parent company of Chrysler.

About 100 employees in Martinsburg have been part of the strike for five weeks.

Workers at all three companies would have to ratify any agreement, which is expected to include a pay increase and more generous retirement contributions.

GM’s largest plant in North America, in Spring Hill, Tennessee, joined the strike on Saturday.

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