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Note to all TP hoarders: Don’t make me go all Cabbage Patch on You

With the Virus-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named reaching an all-time high panic note with adults hoarding and reselling toilet paper and off-brand hand sanitizer while enthusiastically elbowing each other in the face to get that last can of Lysol spray, I can't help but miss the days of my youth. ...

Singer/songwriter Sarah Siskind

Critically acclaimed North Carolina-based singer/songwriter Sarah Siskind will release Modern Appalachia, her first full-length album in nine years, on April 17. The video for the album's first single, "In The Mountains," debuts today; watch and share."This is the first song I wrote when I ...

Shelter in place with these creepy classics

A subset of end of civilization films injects a biological disease. Some ("Andromeda Strain") follow a "rare" outbreak; others jump into an overwhelmed zombie sick populace, and a few imagine a strain spreading from contacts with other worlds.Where do the stories go and do many peg the ...

Et tu, Brute? Toxic Friendships and What We Can Learn from Caesar

By Holly Shivel"Et tu, Brute?" With the Ides of March approaching as swiftly as my sister at a freshly turned yellow traffic light, I have to wonder - did Julius Caesar know before the slip of the knife that his friend was more enemy than bud? And if he didn't - did he just ignore all the ...

Charleston Ballet presents ‘Giselle’

SubmittedCHARLESTON, W.Va - The 64th season of the Charleston Ballet continues with the haunting, dramatic ballet, GISELLE. The full-length work will be presented on March 20 and 21, 2020 at 7:30 p.m. at the Charleston Convention Center Theater.Betrayal and heartbreak set the stage in this ...

Outcasts, even among the X-Men?

I've listed the most unlikely Avengers and Justice Leaguers, but the X-Men are different.Actually, different is the entire point of the X-Men, who strive to protect a world that hates and fears them, as well as defend fellow mutants from the violent tendencies of hate- and fear-filled ...

Screaming like a banshee: Some Irish folklore

I first heard the term "screaming like a banshee," when I was a young girl. I remember thinking that this must be a sound that no one wants to hear and, oh, how right I was. The word banshee comes from the Gaelic language and bears several definitions, mostly identifying with a female messenger ...

Weight loss for superheroes in 2020? Fat chance

One of Stan Lee's legacies with Marvel Comics was making characters relatable.The Fantastic Four were a family and fought like one. Spider-Man had money troubles. The Hulk had anger management issues. Thor needed to hold on to his hammer or turn back into a human doctor with an injured leg.OK, ...

Resolutions? Don’t be so hard on yourself

As 2020 looms before us like Barbara Walters and her nearer-to-God hair, I started thinking about New Year's Resolutions and where they began. Who made up this archaic system of "Well the holidays were fun, but January is gonna bite the big one so let's set up unrealistic goals to make sure ...

Spirits linger in stately hotel

In the late 1800s, money from the natural gas and oil industries flooded into Parkersburg and the town quickly became a spirited and growing city.The town was the western terminus of both the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike and the Northwestern Turnpike. In 1857 the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad ...