http://www.wvobserver.com Serving the eastern panhandle... Sat, 13 Mar 2010 01:59:25 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en This year’s census marks a turning point for the Eastern Panhandle. Consider the following: the population of Charles Town grew 63.9 percent from 2000 to 2008. Shepherdstown grew 42.71 percent and Martinsburg’s change was 13.68 percent. While the rest of the state is generally losing population, our region has experienced ... http://www.wvobserver.com/2010/03/2010-census/ Grant to Provide Momentum for Shepherdstown’s New Library Plans The Shepherdstown Public Library has received a $5,000 grant through the 2010 FOCUS WV Brownfields program.   The grant will fund discussions with the Shepherdstown community about reclaiming the former Shepherdstown Municipal Dump for use as a new library.  The dump, which was ... http://www.wvobserver.com/2010/03/community-arts-2/ By Thomas Harding This month I intend to overwhelm you with data . . . so strap on your seatbelts and let’s go for it. First, let me introduce a new statistic to my loyal readers: the ratio between homes sold (“solds”) and homes on the market (“inventory”). Let’s call this ratio ... http://www.wvobserver.com/2010/03/hot-and-happening-in-spring-2010/ by Elizabeth Wheeler I am a grown woman with a respectable culinary background and a sizeable dossier of international travel, yet somehow I had never set foot in France. No Cordon Bleu, no apprenticeship with a tony chef, no youthful grape-picking jobs with open-air lunches of baguette and local fromage. ... http://www.wvobserver.com/2010/03/in-paris-the-customer-is-not-necessarily-right/ by Jeff Feldman “How’s the house?” I am asked this a lot. In winter, this question is often followed with another question, either asked or implied: “Staying warm?” These might seem unusual questions to ask the average homeowner. But factor in an unusual house—strawbale-insulated with no conventional heating system, and an unusually chilly ... http://www.wvobserver.com/2010/03/keeping-warm-in-a-house-of-straw/ By David and Christian Asam Christian: When shopping for wine, I always try to buy from a locally owned wine shop. We are lucky to have a few stores in Jefferson County with a nice selection on their shelves. Allow me to send a special congratulations to Grapes & Grains on ... http://www.wvobserver.com/2010/03/wine-emergency-help/ by Claire Stuart “I grew up doing needlework—sewing, needlepoint, crewel embroidery,” says basketmaker Anne Bowers. “I was always doing crafts.” Bowers has lived in the Panhandle all of her life, growing up in Shepherdstown, and later living in Martinsburg, then moving back to Jefferson County when she married. Her airy studio in ... http://www.wvobserver.com/2010/03/basket-maker-anne-bowers/ By Steve Chase Someone at work told me about the music service Pandora a year ago, but I hadn’t bothered to check it out until I recently loaded the Pandora App on my iPhone and turned it on during a long drive. There are many music “services” on the Internet, ... http://www.wvobserver.com/2010/03/create-your-own-radio-station/ by Glenn Scherer The rush to tap vast natural gas reserves trapped in the Marcellus Shale bedrock underlying rural West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, and Ohio has led to a heated regional debate concerning the safety of a controversial drilling process known as “fracking,” or natural gas hydraulic fracturing. Legislation introduced ... http://www.wvobserver.com/2010/03/house-bill-eyes-shale-gas-drilling/ By Dominic Valentine In November’s general election, West Virginia voters will decide whether to amend the state’s constitution to allow lawmakers to change the tax code. At issue is whether commercial and industrial machinery, equipment, and inventory can be exempted from real property tax, also known as ad valorem taxation. Currently, ... http://www.wvobserver.com/2010/03/amendment-would-modernize-w-va-tax-code/