Wednesday, July 8, 2020 • VOLUME 129 • NUMBER 28 TWO SECTIONS • 20 PAGES • $1.25 Independence Day Celebration Eastern’s Three New Biz Dead in Launchpad Murder Grows Up Suicide An incident on Trough Road occurred at approximately 11 p.m on Friday night, June 26. Hardy County 911 received a call By Jean A. Flanagan that there had been a shooting at Moorefield Examiner the Strawderman residence and law enforcement units quickly The New Biz Launchpad has responded. grown up and moved out on its An investigation was conduct- own. ed by the Hardy County Sheriff’s Formerly located in Wardens- Office, with assistance from the ville, the Institute for Rural Entre- Moorefield Police Department preneurship and Economic Devel- to help secure the scene. opment at Eastern West Virginia Two individuals were found Community and Technical College deceased inside the house, has moved to 108 South Fork Quentin Strawderman, 24, and Road, Suite 108 and has expanded Ashley McDonald, 28. McDon- to include a variety of programs ald was identified as being preg- and services. nant. The weapon was a .45 cali- “The New Business Launchpad ber handgun. Witnesses were came about as the result of a study, present in the house at the time Photo by Jodi Witmer the Potomac Highlands Entre- of the shooting. preneurship Economic Feasibility An investigation is continuing, Study, funded by the Claude Ben- pending results of the autopsies Freedom Rings Over Hardy County edum Foundation and completed and report of the medical exam- The COVID-19 Pandemic could not stop the community from celebrating the 244th birthday of the United Sates. Fireworks were held in 2016,” said Megan Webb, Ph.D. iner. at dusk (above). A parade was held during the day (below) and activities took place at the park. See more photos on page 4. Dean of Advancement and Inno- vation at Eastern. “The economic strategies and action steps out- lined in the study included a focus PSD To Reinstate on agriculture, arts and tourism and manufacturing. At its new lo- cation, the IREED New Business Water Terminations Launchpad will provide services from the AIM Grant Coordinator, By Jean A. Flanagan they will have to pay. They tell the Potomac Highlands Creative Moorefield Examiner us they won’t pay until they have Economy and the Potomac High- to pay.” lands Food Co-op.” The Hardy County Public The Apprenticeships in Motion Service District will reinstate its Wardensville Water (AIM) is a federally funded pro- policy to disconnect water cus- Wardensville Mayor Betsy gram that focuses on students en- tomers for lack of payment be- Orndoff-Sayers appeared be- rolled in information technology ginning this month. fore the PSD board to inform studies. “We had suspended cutoffs them the town is exploring a “The apprenticeship coordina- because of the COVID-19 pan- new water source, a new filtra- tor connects Eastern students en- demic,” Director Logan Moy- tion system and will likely in- rolled in IT training to apprentice- ers told the Board of Directors. crease rates significantly in the ship opportunities,” Webb said. “The state has issued an order to future. “While students receive tuition as- reinstate those cutoffs.” Wardensville is under orders sistance and valuable work experi- The Hardy County PSD board from the West Virginia Bureau ence, the companies receive a 50- met on Wednesday, July 1. of Health to provide additional 50 wage match. It’s a win-win for In March, the West Virgin- treatment to their water system everyone.” ia Public Service Commission because of contamination from The apprenticeship coordina- Photo by Jodi Witmer Chair Charlotte Lane urged lo- ground water. tor also works with companies to cal utilities to suspend service “We wanted to give you a customize instruction for existing terminations for lack of pay- heads-up that we must find an workers to increase their skills and Floating in Style in Hardy County ment. additional water source, we maintain a talented workforce. For information on the AIM Chris Gyurisin, Charlottesville, a different perspective of the river the Trough section of river every On June 17, the WV PSC is- must replace our water tanks, Grant, contact coordinator Asala Va. resident, floating on a stand and brings another level of chal- sued an order to resume discon- get new meters and new fire hy- year. Willis at [email protected] or Nan- up paddleboard with camping gear lenge to paddling. Rapids can be nection for nonpayment, in re- drants,” Orndoff-Sayers said. “It’s a breathtaking stretch of cy Ligus at [email protected]. on the South Branch of the Po- difficult and require good balance sponse to the rescinding of the “The project is estimated to The Potomac Highlands Cre- tomac River in Moorefield, Satur- and agility. river that I never get tired of see- “stay-at-home” guidelines from be approximately $4.5 million. ative Economy expands the arts day, June 27. Gyurisin and a small “If I want to relax, I can sit on ing,” said Gyurisin. the Governor. That was a shocker for us. Fil- and tourism component of the group of friends floated 16 miles the deck and paddle similarly to if I When asked if he flipped during “We have one or two dozen tration systems are expensive.” Benedum Foundation study to from Brighton Park, Moorefield to was in a kayak,” said Gyurisin. customers who haven’t paid The Hardy County PSD pur- the float trip he replied, “I’m hap- capitalize on the region’s culture, the Trough General Store, Rom- Gyurisin has floated the South their bills,” Moyers said. “Some chases water from Wardensville py to say that I didn’t flip at all that heritage, and natural resources, ney, with an overnight stay along Branch of the Potomac River an- are approaching $1,000. to supply PSD customers in the said Tina Metzer, coordinator. the river to break up the long float. nually over the past decade and day, but I did jump off a few times “We’ve been in contact with Trout Run and Marvin Chapel “We encourage collaboration be- Stand up paddleboarding offers looks forward to paddling through to try and beat the heat.” them and they know eventually Continued on page 9 tween businesses and others work- ing in all those areas,” she said. Getting visitors to come to the Old Mathias Store Razed area, hike, canoe, visit a small town, eat at a restaurant, sleep at a bed and breakfast or country inn all contribute to tourism’s econom- ic impact, Metzer said. “Although Eastern’s service area is six counties, the West Vir- ginia Division of Tourism defines the Potomac Highlands as the eight counties of Hardy, Hamp- shire, Mineral, Grant, Pendleton, Tucker, Pocahontas and Ran- dolph. We welcome anyone inter- ested in the creative economy in those counties to participate.” The Potomac Highlands Cre- Photos by Lon Anderson ative Economy holds virtual meet- The former Mathias Store, which was severely damaged by fire in December of 2016, was finally razed recently. The West Virginia Division of Highways completed the ings on the 4th Thursday each demolition and removal. The structure served the Mathias community for decades as a general store, a restaurant and finally as apartments. The county owns the prop- month at 10 a.m. Contact Metzer erty, and plans for a park-n-ride and a small park have been discussed. It has also been suggested the bridge over Lost River at Upper Cove Run Road be widened to via email at tina.metzer@eastern- accommodate truck traffic. Continued on page 8 2 - MOOREFIELD (WV) EXAMINER, Wednesday, July 8, 2020 Opinion To Our Graduates Letters to the Editor Dear Editor, the riots and looting by the Black have done. I have studied black didn’t get a stimulus check, did This has been a most unusual year for the 2020 high After reading the letter to the Panthers. Now is 2020 and here we history. Blacks are not the only you? How about the Jews. They editor in the June 24 edition, I felt I go again. But instead of the Black race that has been persecuted. have been treated much worse. school (and college) graduates. None of them finished had to give my own opinion. I grew Panther’s it is Black Lives Matter. Look at the American Indians. There are a few good people dem- out the their senior year the way they had anticipated. up in the 50s and 60s. I remember Look around and see what they They live on reservations. They Continued on page 3 They are still struggling with the loss of the special ac- tivities . proms, senior trips, visits to college cam- puses, spring break and finally, graduation itself. We have, in the past, run remarks by Dr. Randy My Unbased Opinion Pausch, now deceased, who was a professor or com- By David O. Heishman puter science at Carnegie Mellon University. Once again, we borrow from Pausch’s Last Lecture, which, In search of a column topic for in my earlier fall butchering col- gently rinsed hams in warm water, country ham comes a distant last in by the way, was written for his children as a guide for this week, I dug into my files of umn. Herein I will narrow focus to air dried them, and then wrapped.” the running, although it still beats them as they grew older. past columns. Twenty years ago, preparation, from raw trimmed on “Newspaper did the trick. Careful, out plain store-bought baked ham July 12, 2000 I wrote the following: the curing table to lightly browned timely, cleaning and wrapping are by a country mile.” Even with all the chaos, upheavals and changes, we “Twice this summer I have on a platter in a puddle of red eye of utmost importance because of “Because hog lots and home want to share his words which are still good advice.