Lyn Widmyer
Now that I am in my 60s, my thoughts naturally turn to lifestyles of the old and feeble.
My husband and I plan to spend the rest of our lives in our home, but I wonder whether we can successfully “age in place” when the place is a 150-year-old farmhouse with 13 outside doors, three staircases, and two acres of lawn.
Many of our older friends are lucky enough to have adult children returning to Jefferson County to live. These children are already starting to help their parents by doing chores …

 
By John Maxey
 
In the late 1950s West Virginia’s coal industry began its long decline. My parents, along with thousands of their fellow mountaineers, were forced to leave home to find enough work to provide for the family. The departure was not something that any of us wanted, and we all yearned for the day we could return. Every summer as I grew up we would come back to the Mountain State to visit grandparents and cousins – or sometimes just to pitch a tent and spend a few weeks surrounded …

 
By Lyn Widmyer
At Christmas, visions of sugarplums dance in my head. In March, levy rates and budget line items tap a frantic fandango through my beleaguered brain.
State law requires County Commissions to submit draft budgets for each fiscal year by the end of March. A final budget is completed at the end of the summer. After dozens of budget workshops and a public hearing, the Jefferson County Commission completed a $19 million draft budget on time. Needless to say, tax revenues are way down, primarily due to a $500,000,000 drop …

 
By Carrie Ellen Gauthier
 
On April 20, 2010 the town council of Harpers Ferry took a huge step toward revitalizing downtown Harpers Ferry when it pledged $40,000 in matching funds to support the Potomac Street Revitalization Project. Overall the project is slated to cost $1,781,000 and will help alleviate problems with storm water runoff, create additional parking, screen garbage containers from view, and bury utilities underground.
While it might not sound like a large commitment, it is when you consider that the population of the town is just over 300, and its …

Surrealism reigns in Jefferson County as the November 7 vote on zoning approaches. The County Commission, which has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars and over eight years of effort on the new ordinance, has refused to work for its approval.  If that isn’t enough, the most hard-over, anti-regulation land developer in the county is joining influential anti-growth leaders in the active “vote NO” effort!
I have been sharply critical of the new zoning ordinance, particularly its over-reaching into the fine details of every land use.  It is probably 200 pages …

If you live outside a municipality, grab yourself a big cup of coffee before you read this column. The subject is zoning, specifically the upcoming referendum on adopting a new zoning ordinance. I am a retired land-use planner, and even I get drowsy when the conversation turns to “Floor Area Ratios” and “non-residential bulk requirements.”
I had to take a big gulp of coffee just to finish typing that last sentence.
If you live in a municipality, you don’t get to vote, so this column is optional (to see if you are …

By Don Perdue
Guest Commentary
Inasmuch as it now looks like Congress has taken the easy way out, and opted not to enact Health Reform before it recesses, the question of where they are in the deliberations has now become the province of constituents at home with the telephone numbers and mailing addresses of otherwise absentee congressional representatives. In other words, they are Home and now we know where they are.
As the insurance, drug, and corporate medical lobbies continue to incite riot (just note the number of talking head articles in your …