This story originally appeared in the November/December 2015 issue of WV Focus magazine. The butcher block in Ralph Richmond’s shop is warped from years of use. The block was already old when Ralph inherited it from the original owner 38 years ago, and years of…

This story originally appeared in the Charleston Daily Mail on November 5, 2010. No matter how much door knocking, hand shaking and stump speaking candidates do, someone has to lose on Election Day. And although some office seekers lose faith when the results don’t come…

This story was originally published in the Charleston Daily Mail on July 17, 2014. Dale Morton was 43 years old when his childhood fantasy came true. He walked through the red turbolift doors and found himself standing on the bridge of the USS Enterprise. The…

This story was originally published in the Charleston Daily Mail on July 10, 2014. CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Kayleigh Phillips is happy to live in the past. Her East End apartment is decorated with vintage furniture and lamps and a wooden cuckoo clock. Her old, metal…

This story was originally published in the Charleston Daily Mail on October 11, 2010. INSTITUTE, W.Va. – West Virginia State University, which first opened its doors in March 1891, is celebrating its 120th academic year this 2010-2011 school yearThe Institute school, which now has more…

This article originally appeared on NPR Music on July 14, 2021. In 2014 Sam Beam, the singer-songwriter better known as Iron & Wine, was looking for an unconventional way to promote an unconventional new record. Archive Series Volume No. 1 is a collection of cassette demos Beam…

This story was originally published in The Guardian on May 12, 2021. The New River has spent millions of years carving a bucolic gorge in West Virginia. It is now home to one of the most biodiverse forests on the continent. And while humans have…

This story was originally published in the August 2017 issue of Wonderful West Virginia. The rocky spine of Seneca Rocks. The Glade Creek Grist Mill at Babcock State Park. The gleaming Capitol dome set against a kelly green mountainside. The New River Gorge Bridge, as…

This story originally appeared on the October 2017 issue of Wonderful West Virginia. Not much remains of the ancient stone walls on Mount Carbon except some piles of rock and lots of questions. This is a mystery story, but not the kind with private detectives…

This story was originally published in the February 2018 issue of Wonderful West Virginia. On June 14, 2017, smartphones around the world buzzed with the arrival of a new video from the Brave Wilderness YouTube channel. The 10-minute documentary carried a clickprovoking title: “NEW SPECIES…