Posts that deal broadly with the physical, mental, and intellectual health of communities.

ICE in Charles Town!

On December 5, 2024 ICE made one of its raids on two Mexican restaurants in Jefferson County. They tagged along with a US Marshalls team and disrupted a dinner hour for local residents, a raid that including pepper spraying. It didn't matter to ICE that customers were "in the way." These kinds of tactics have to be loudly called out as dangerous and very likely illegal, all for the sake of arresting and deporting cooks and wait staff serving our community. Is this insult to our community going to be commonplace in our future?

Making Sense of the Religious Exemption Dispute in West Virginia

West Virginia has traditionally been careful to protect school age children from transmissible childhood illnesses. It was one of only a handful of states that required childhood vaccinations as a requirement for attending public schools. Now some anti-vaccination people are arguing that this policy is in conflict with the Equal Protection for Religion act and are suing to allow for exemptions. Neal Barkus lays out the arguments and anticipates the harm that these exemptions will cause community health.

Building Community in an Unexpected Way

Everyone agrees that community starts with conversations and grows with more conversation and then eventually cooperation, sharing, and eventually problem solving, Jenny Thacker describes how a project inspired by a friend grew her community in a small out of the way nook of Jefferson County. The secret involved growing food.