For decades, skateboarding in Martinsburg meant risking financial penalties. But times appear to have changed.
During its regular Thursday meeting, the Martinsburg City Council voted unanimously to repeal a no-skateboarding ordinance passed in February 1991.
“No person shall ride a skateboard on any public road, street or alley, pedestrian plaza, public park or municipal park, or any public parking lot owned by the City,” read a now-defunct ordinance of the Martinsburg Municipal Code.
Violators of the decades-old policy were subject to fines ranging from $20 to $100. The city was also permitted to seize the skateboards of those accused of violating the ordinance “until time of adjudication.”
Thursday’s unanimous vote brought no in-meeting discussion. But it comes as city officials — plus the Berkeley County government — continue months-long discussions on plans for a potential skatepark in Martinsburg.
No date or location has been finalized, and the construction of a skatepark is not yet guaranteed. But city and county officials have said sports and recreation infrastructure like a skatepark benefits the local community, and keeps youth away from unsafe pastimes.
In the United States, former military service members are more likely to die by suicide than their non-veteran peers.
While the number of suicides among veterans decreased in 2020, advocates in West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle say keeping this momentum going requires new conversations about mental health.
Mark Mann serves as chief of staff for mental health services at the Martinsburg VA Medical Center. Before that, he served in the Vietnam War.
In working with veterans, Mann said he sees firsthand how societal stigma around discussing suicide can make it harder to seek help. For him, a first step toward better supporting veterans is being proactive in discussions about mental health.
“It’s about not being scared to ask the question when you see somebody struggling,” he said. “We know from the research and the literature and even folks that have survived very serious suicide attempts that if somebody had stopped and asked and took the time that it could have interrupted that.”
Raising awareness and understanding around suicide in the veteran community is what brings more than 600 people to the hospital campus every September.
On Wednesday, the facility hosted its eighth annual suicide prevention walk. The event began as an effort to honor those veterans who have died from suicide and raise awareness about the issue.
Each year, community members walk a loop around the facility to show veterans how many people are ready and willing to support their mental health needs. The event also features booths with informational resources and educational pamphlets.
Yul Song, chaplain at the Martinsburg VA Medical Center, passes out merch and informational materials to an attendee at the suicide prevention walk Wednesday.
Photo Credit: Jack Walker/West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Jill Finkle, suicide prevention coordinator at the hopsital, organizes the event. She described it as a way to physically embody the network of support available.
“It’s part of that stigma reduction,” she said. “Addressing that and normalizing that we’re together, we’re connected.”
Mann, Finkle and the staff at the hospital also know addressing suicide among local veterans takes more than talk. The annual walk is just one part of the facility’s broader mental health programming, Finkle said.
The hospital also offers outpatient services, on-site therapy, residential mental health treatment and specialty services for individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder, military sexual trauma and substance use disorder.
A recent surge in resources like these can be traced back to 2007, when the position of suicide prevention coordinator was created at every VA medical facility in the United States, Finkle said. Having a staff position dedicated to suicide prevention helped establish a more intentional approach to mental health care.
Expanding mental health resources for veterans in the Eastern Panhandle has also included out-of-facility, community-focused programming, according to Jennifer Kelley, community engagement and partnership coordinator at the hospital.
Not all veterans are willing to visit the hospital in person to access mental health services, Kelley said. But hosting less formal programming out in local towns can help establish networks of support for veterans to lean on. Recently, this has included coffee socials led and attended by veterans.
Individuals “who are volunteering their time, they’re connecting with each other,” she said. “They’re building social support networks with each other, and many of them are veterans.”
This year marks the eighth annual suicide prevention walk hosted by the Martinsburg VA Medical Center.
Photo Credit: Jack Walker/West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Addressing suicide among veterans has also meant looking at related mental health challenges that can harm veteran wellbeing, like substance use disorder, according to Brigit Kirwan, substance use disorder pharmacist at the hospital.
Kirwan said staff at the hospital often encourage patients to take small steps toward improving their situation, rather than making sweeping changes. This can be more sustainable and lay the groundwork for healthier habits, a practice known as “harm reduction,” she said.
This entails “small steps to meet patients where they’re at, what they’re comfortable with and reduce any type of harm,” she said. “Medication isn’t the only way.”
In recent years, there has been a national push to make veterans and the public at large aware of the suicide prevention resources available, Mann said. This includes the 2022 creation of a 988 suicide and crisis hotline.
By dialing the hotline, callers can get connected with support and mental health resources.
Mann said he hopes that the growing number of resources like these can strengthen mental health nationwide, especially among veterans.
But he also hopes to see barriers to accessing help reduced even further. It is why he and hundreds of members of the community gather on the grounds of the hospital every September.
“As a community, I think we really have to lean into that if we’re going to stop this,” he said. “Because it’s not just veterans.”
Three attendees at a Martinsburg High School football game were injured in a shooting Friday evening. One bullet traveled through the stadium and struck a fan in the bleachers, and two other fans were struck with shrapnel.
Updated on Monday, September 9, 2024 at 3:30 p.m.
Three attendees at a Martinsburg High School football game were injured in a shooting Friday evening, according to the Martinsburg Police Department.
A shooter fired from outside the stadium around 7 p.m. One bullet traveled into the stadium and struck a fan seated in the bleachers, causing injuries that were not life threatening. Two other fans were struck with shrapnel, causing superficial injuries.
After the incident, police and school officials resumed the game. Local police “determined that it was safe to keep attendees inside the secured area of the stadium and for the game to proceed,” Principal Trent Sherman said in a press release Saturday.
“We are saddened that one spectator in our stands was struck … and two others were hit by shrapnel,” he said. “Thankfully, this outcome was not worse, and our thoughts and prayers are with those who were injured, their families and all members of our community affected by this act of violence.”
Sherman said that police have not found any reason to believe the shooting was “related to or targeting” the sports event. As of Saturday no suspects had been arrested. Local police are still investigating the incident.
**Editor’s note: This story was updated to include information from a press release written by Martinsburg High School Principal Trent Sherman.
Kentucky and West Virginia reported 113 dog bites last fiscal year. This year, that number rose to 119. The United States Postal Service wants to better prepare workers.
This year, the number of dog bites on mail carriers in West Virginia and Kentucky is on the rise, according to Alan Lewis, United States Postal Service (USPS) safety manager for the two states.
The states reported 113 dog bites last fiscal year, which ended in September 2023. This fiscal year, that number has risen to 119, with more than a month to go.
“I need the customers to know that we’re providing a service for them,” Lewis said. “The only way we can provide that service is to be safe.”
For USPS, part of keeping workers safe is training them for the reality of encountering aggressive pets on their delivery routes.
This week, USPS brought trainer Hector Hernandez and his dog Chankla to post offices across the Mountain State to teach them the best practices for handling dogs.
During a Wednesday training session in Martinsburg, tens of Berkeley County mail carriers recounted experiences of being chased or bitten by aggressive dogs.
Robert Miller, a rural mail carrier who delivers to the greater Martinsburg community, said he’s been bit by three separate dogs at three separate households.
“No matter how much you train or try to prepare yourself, what I’ve learned from this experience is it happens so quick,” he said. “Most of the time you don’t have time to think.”
But Hernandez said it is important for mail carriers not to panic and take steps to keep themselves safe.
This includes not turning one’s back to an angry dog or putting an alternative item — like a hat or carrier bag — in their face to bite instead. As a last resort, mail carriers are also equipped with pepper spray and horns, which can be used to scare a dog away.
A volunteer demonstrates how to free up a hand and use pepper spray on an attacking dog during Wednesday’s training session.
Photo Credit: Jack Walker/West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Still, Hernandez said the issue often does not end with a dog. Pet owners, even those who let their dogs out unsupervised, can be protective over their animals, and even hostile to mail carriers who take steps to keep themselves safe.
During the training, Hernandez showed several videos of mail carriers getting violently confronted by residents for warding off angry dogs, even as they attempted to bite the workers.
Hernandez said mail carriers should not engage in altercations with residents, keep distance from angry pet owners and contact their supervisor or animal control to report instances where they feel unsafe.
“If ever you have to use pepper spray, make sure you have the supervisor, animal control or the police make contact with the owner so they do not retaliate against you,” he said. “That’s number one issue.”
Ultimately, Hernandez said it can be hard to train mail carriers for every possibility out there. Residents can own multiple dogs, or even be away from their homes when their dogs attack.
He said the most effective way to prevent injuries like these is by requiring residents to be more responsible over their pets. And, when a moral responsibility does not change a resident’s behavior, being notified of their legal liability in the event of a dog bite can also be effective.
“We have to manage and control them for the safety of not just the letter carriers, [but for] anyone who can go onto their property without permission — utility workers, police,” he said.
When a storm hits, some rainfall enters the soil, but a lot of it collects pollutants and ends up in waterways. By installing rain barrels, farmers and gardeners can collect rainwater and ensure it goes directly to their crops.
Earlier this month, Tropical Storm Debby brought heavy rainfall to the Mountain State. Some rainfall enters the soil, but a lot of it collects pollutants and ends up in waterways.
By installing rain barrels, farmers and gardeners can collect rainwater and ensure it goes directly to their crops. Eastern Panhandle Reporter Jack Walker spoke with Colleen Seager, a stormwater technician for the City of Martinsburg, about how to install and use rain barrels.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Walker: What are rain barrels, and how do you use them?
Seager: So rain barrels, you can buy them at Lowes or Home Depot. Even Tractor Supply has barrels and kits that you can get. But it’s essentially like a food-grade barrel. You can buy a kit for it and cut holes in it and install it yourself in your home. It attaches to your gutter and collects any of the water that hits your roof that would go into the ground. You can just keep it in. I’m not too sure how big these barrels are. I want to say they’re about 50 gallons, and it stores the water there for you. You can use it to water your garden whenever you need it. Also, if it gets full, it has an overflow. So it infiltrates through the ground instead of turning into runoff, which can pick up pollutants. We try to avoid any unnecessary stormwater runoff.
Walker: Can you expand on that? What are some benefits of using rain barrels in gardening and agriculture?
Seager: Sure. So rain barrels, you can use them for watering your garden. They can be really good for collecting rainwater so that [it doesn’t] go down our stormwater infrastructure. It’s basically a great way to keep your garden and our watershed healthy. So, not only can it help lower the cost of your water bill, but it can also benefit you and your community in tons of ways. Collecting rainwater, it reduces the amount of stormwater that enters the storm system, and that can decrease the burden on the infrastructure, which minimizes risks of a combined sewer overflow, which can obviously be bad for our watershed. Letting it infiltrate the ground instead of turning into runoff will minimize pollution. That’s always appreciated.
From a stormwater perspective, if it turns into stormwater it can pick up trash, oil and other toxic pollutants before it reaches our stream. We have Tuscarora Creek and Dry Run in the city of Martinsburg, so we primarily try to protect from pollutants from getting into them. Any time rainwater is collected, it’s slowed down and it can prevent pollutants entering the stream. Whether it’s sediment and nutrients or oil and heavy metals, we want to try to keep that stuff out of our creeks. So collecting it not only helps prevent pollution, but you can also use it to have a really healthy garden. It’s the purest form of water, so it doesn’t have any added chemicals or anything like that. That’s exactly what your plants want to thrive. Say you have water coming down from your roof and it’s infiltrating down into the ground and causing some flooding issues in your basement. If you have a rain barrel, it can fix that for you. Also, you can have a garden that’s nice and lush and beautiful.
Walker: How has the City of Martinsburg been spreading awareness about rain barrels and their benefits?
Seager: So the city of Martinsburg typically hosts two workshops a year at The Martinsburg Roundhouse or the farmers market, where [residents] that live within the city limits can get free rain barrels if they sign up. We typically have someone reach out to the local newspaper. Or on social media we’ll post that there, or on our website. We’ll update that whenever we have rain barrel workshops. The county also often will raffle off free rain barrels. The [Berkeley County Public Service Storm Water District], they often raffle off their rain barrels. You can give them a call if you don’t live within city limits. Eventually, one day, we would like to have the city and the county work together for an event where we can have folks come out and paint rain barrels. It’d be like a really fun community activity where people can come out and learn about how they work, how to install them, how to keep them safe during the winter time and make them last as long as you possibly can. So we’ll try to have more events in the future so people can come out and do that or just learn about it. They don’t have to sign up for a rain barrel. They can just come out. Anybody can come out and learn about what they’re good for and how to make them work for whatever they need them for, whether it’s their garden or if they’re having some damp basements or anything like that. We typically try to host those events twice a year.
For more information on stormwater education and rain barrel workshops in West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle, visit the Martinsburg Stormwater Management website.
Marshall University has expanded its degree program for professional pilots into the Eastern Panhandle. This fall, students can pair online classes with in-person training at an airport in Martinsburg.
Marshall University has expanded its degree program for professional pilots into the Eastern Panhandle. This fall, students can pair online classes with in-person training at an airport in Martinsburg.
Eastern Panhandle Reporter Jack Walker spoke with Nancy Ritter, director of Marshall’s Bill Noe Flight School, about the program expansion and efforts to recruit new pilots more broadly.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Walker: What led Marshall University to expand its academic program for pilots into Martinsburg?
Ritter: Marshall University entered the aviation space for three reasons. The first is to produce the highest quality aviation professionals in the industry. The second is to grow and develop Marshall University’s educational mission. And the third is to provide line-of-sight opportunities to the citizens of West Virginia in the field of aviation.
The way that the university is approaching that is that every part of this state has an opportunity to have either its young individuals or career-changing individuals enter aviation. For many families and many individuals, they don’t really understand the opportunities that are available to them.
So the more places that we can expand to and provide training about the aviation industry and the different careers open to people and the opportunities that exist right now — because of a pilot shortage and a mechanic shortage and every other kind of personnel shortage — the closer we can be to those communities, and the easier it is to serve them.
Walker: What are some of the careers that people in the aviation industry can pursue?
Ritter: So the Marshall degree that we’re starting first in Martinsburg is the professional pilot program. So the students that are starting this fall in Martinsburg are doing a four-year degree that includes all their licensing to be a professional pilot inside of that degree. It’s the one that Marshall started with, and it’s probably the need we as citizens know about. Everybody’s been at an airport now and had our flight delayed because there’s not enough crew, so it’s really on the forefront of everybody’s list priorities. We started our expansion in Martinsburg with professional pilot, because we’ve gotten so many requests for information about that program from the Martinsburg area. So that’s the easiest one to talk about.
However, Marshall has several different career opportunities in Marshall aviation. So there’s an opportunity to become an airframe and powerplant mechanic or an aircraft maintenance technician. We do that currently in Huntington, and eventually will lead to Martinsburg this fall. We start UAS, our unmanned aircraft training here, which will also be offered in Martinsburg. Coming very quickly following that is flight attendant and dispatcher, which are certification programs.
Walker: You mentioned that there’s been a shortage of pilots. Can you speak to how that impacts rural and smaller airports, and what role it plays in pilot recruitment efforts like these?
Ritter: It’s really numbers. I don’t think these shortages are focused on rural areas. I think that the areas with the least population suffer the most because they don’t have a lot of flights going in and out. I think it’s more dramatic. If you have a pilot shortage in Atlanta, there’s so many flights that go in and out of Atlanta that it’s less perceivable to the individual passenger. When you have one flight going in and out of an area, and that [has] a shortage of pilots, obviously it stops the transportation in its tracks, so it becomes a much more magnified problem.
A lot of the West Virginia airports that only have one or two flights daily, if there is an overall pilot shortage, they may feel more of that impact than say, if you were very close to Atlanta’s airport, where you had thousands of flights to choose from every day if one flight was canceled. So I think that’s perhaps the reason that smaller-population areas feel the shortage the most.
Walker: What’s the response from the community been like so far? Has there been a lot of new interest in pursuing this program among residents of Martinsburg and the general area?
Ritter: It’s been really great reception from the area. A lot of community involvement, a lot of excitement from different military units in the vicinity, and a lot of outreach from school districts within the counties that border Martinsburg and really the whole Panhandle area. So we were surprised at how warm and welcoming [they were]. We always knew it was a great airport with a lot of positive supporters about growing the aviation industry, and Nick Deal and his team have just done a wonderful job in encouraging businesses and education to come into that airport. But not only did the airport and their team welcome us, but the community has come out in droves to welcome us. So it’s very exciting to be a part of that reception when everybody is so positive about the addition of higher education and flight training into that area. So we feel really lucky with it.
For more information on Marshall University’s professional pilot academic program in Martinsburg, visit the university website.
