Tag: longform
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To the Dogs
This story was originally published in the May/June 2015 issue of West Virginia Focus. When Sam Burdette first visited the Tri- State Greyhound Park in Cross Lanes in the mid-1980s, he didn’t even know how to read the program. The sheets of paper were filled with an overwhelming array of fractions and decimals, arranged in almost […]
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Shot at a second chance
This story was original published in the March/April 2015 issue of West Virginia Focus magazine. In late October 2011, storm winds brought down trees all around James Ball’s home near Danville, making the road to his home impassable. It was a terrible time to have a drug overdose. Ball’s cousin, Delegate Josh Nelson, recently took to […]
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The Flip
This story was originally published in the March/April 2015 issue of West Virginia Focus magazine. Talking with Bill Cole, you get the sense he doesn’t use phrases like “over the moon” very often. But that’s how the baritone-voiced, serious-faced Senate President describes his frame of mind on election night 2014. Although he was not up […]
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The farmer makes a run
This story originally appeared in the Charleston Daily Mail on Aug. 28, 2012. FAIRVIEW, W.Va. – Kent Leonhardt wants you to make him the state’s next agriculture commissioner. He promises he’ll work hard to improve food safety and increase the number of farms in West Virginia. A career Marine who took up farming following two […]
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Roots Town Radio goes silent after internal struggles
This story was originally published in the Charleston Daily Mail on Oct. 28, 2014. A little more than six weeks after it went on the air, Charleston’s first community radio station is nothing but static. The community radio station collapsed in a heap of dysfunction. Burr Beard, 95.7 FM WXDB’s vice-president and station manager, moved […]
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Logan County bat maker is fueled by his love of the game
This story was originally published in the Charleston Daily Mail on Oct. 22, 2014. MAN — Drive down Main Street, and it’s easy to tell what people in this small Logan County town have on their minds. Painted bedsheets and poster boards hang on fences and front porches, proclaiming support for the Man Hillbillies football […]
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Real-life ginseng hunts are more satisfaction than reality show drama
This story was originally published in the Charleston Daily Mail on Oct. 14, 2014. If you watch reality shows like the History Channel’s “Appalachian Outlaws” or the National Geographic Channel’s “Smokey Mountain Money,” you know hunting ginseng is a dangerous business of greed and guns. But if you’ve ever gone into the woods looking for […]
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Final rest for forgotten victims of industrial tragedy
This story was originally published in the Charleston Daily Mail on Friday, Sept. 7, 2012. SUMMERSVILLE, W.Va. — History doesn’t have much to say about Roosevelt Singleton. We do not know where he was born or where he lived before moving to Gauley Bridge to work in the Hawks Nest Tunnel. We do not know […]
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Farnsworth, a band born under a bad sign
This story was originally published in the Charleston Daily Mail on Thursday, Sept. 18, 2014. “Live it” has become a mantra for Charleston blues-rock duo Farnsworth. It’s the name of group’s first full-length album, which will be released this Saturday. But “Live it” is also what guitarist Chris Vance and drummer Jason Reese tell one […]
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Friends keep jazz musician’s memory alive with nonprofit group
This story was originally published in the Charleston Daily Mail on June 19, 2014. Bryan Boyd remembers everything about the last gig he played with Derick Kirk. Boyd had booked a gig at Soho’s at the Capitol Market and asked Kirk to come along and play keyboards. He showed up looking white as a sheet, […]