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Columns

Public broadcasting is now less ‘public’

Over 2,000 bills were introduced in the recently completed Regular Session of the West Virginia Legislature. Fewer than 300 were passed into law. Some state legislatures limit the number of bills legislators are permitted to introduce. Not so here, thus the large number. And each year’s ...

Prioritizing personal finance education: A step toward financial empowerment

As April approaches, it’s time to shine a spotlight on an often overlooked but crucial aspect of education — personal finance. For the past six years, I’ve dedicated my efforts to advocating for comprehensive personal finance education in our high schools. This endeavor culminated in the ...

Turning over a new leaf

With the hope of an early spring, I’m committed to turning over a new leaf. My best laid plans will surely germinate in the plant world. Perhaps the calling will be to grow flowers from seed, launch an herb garden or try out a different propagation technique. Predict 2024 will be full of ...

Dale Manuel: A solid citizen

Jefferson County lost a truly fine citizen with the death of Dale Manuel a couple of weeks ago. I served with Dale for 12 years in the House of Delegates, from 1992 until 2004. We worked together on many ideas to make West Virginia and Jefferson County better, and brought some of them to ...

The scent of history

The scent of history seems to cling to the air, when a home gardener has boxwood planted in the landscape. Boxwood’s musky, pungent fragrance seems to be most pronounced after an evening rain shower and keeps deer at a distance. Its undulating form also adds green softness to any backdrop of ...

An exceptionally interesting county election?

This election year might prove to be an unusual one, at least for Jefferson County offices. We might have elections for four of our five county commissioners. County commissioners in West Virginia serve six-year terms. Most counties in our state have three commissioners, but Jefferson and ...

Coming apart where two rivers join

As a writer born and raised where two rivers join, three states touch and several American centuries commingle, I was fated to a creative life of complex metaphors. The Shenandoah and Potomac rivers that converge at Harpers Ferry, I viewed early on as an unlucky wishbone. My mother was like the ...

A celebration of red cedar

It is widely known that the Eastern red cedar’s wood contains a natural oil that kills the small larvae of the common clothes moth, thus repelling the adults. But fresh branches tucked into a tabletop plant has the opposite effect on human visitors, adding sensory pleasure to any January ...

Running for office, but staying put

On Dec. 12, I filed pre-candidacy papers to run for the West Virginia State Senate. The Shepherdstown Chronicle is graciously permitting me to continue this column. The 16th Senatorial District covers all of Jefferson County and a bit less than half of Berkeley County. Senator Patricia Rucker ...

The colors of winter

Neighborhood kitties press their wet noses to the frosted window as morning breaks, staring at the dark-eyed juncos as they flitter about in the nearby stand of warty hackberry trees. Needless to say, gardeners would rather be outdoors puttering about with a backyard lawn project. But now I ...