Welcome back to EP Digest. Every Thursday morning, the best local news, events, and happenings from Morgan, Berkeley, and Jefferson counties — tailored to what you actually care about. No doom-scrolling, no algorithm. Just the stuff that matters in the Eastern Panhandle. Let's get into it.

$3 Million, Gone From Berkeley County Estate Accounts.

Federal prosecutors say two former Berkeley County Tax Office employees stole more than $3 million over roughly 15 years from conservatorship accounts and estates — money that belonged to some of the county's most vulnerable residents. U.S. Attorney Matt Harvey called it “the largest public corruption scheme in West Virginia history.” WV MetroNews.

The accounts at the center of the case are conservatorships — funds a court places under someone else's control when the owner can't manage their own money, often elderly or incapacitated residents. According to prosecutors, the theft ran quietly for a decade and a half before it surfaced. WV Public Broadcasting.

Worth watching: the case is just getting started. How the money moved — and how it went unnoticed for 15 years inside a county office — is the part that matters for every resident who has ever trusted the county to safeguard an estate. We'll follow it through the courts.

What Local Government Is Working On

Hope Scholarship demand nearly doubled. About 26,617 students applied for full funding for the 2026–27 school year — close to double the prior year — after the state opened the education-savings program to existing private-school and homeschool students. The award runs $5,435.62 per student, and the Legislature set aside roughly $277 million. Tri-State Alert.

A citizen advisory council on data centers is in the works. The state's Data Economy Office director told a June 16 panel that a citizen advisory council on data-center policy should be in place within 60 days — a notable promise for Berkeley County, home to the state's first high-impact data center at Bedington and the most organized local opposition. It's the latest turn in the fight over the 2025 law that limited counties' say over these projects. Mountain State Spotlight.

Berkeley County's draft “Plan for the Future” is out for input. The county has been gathering public comment on its draft comprehensive plan — the document that guides growth, zoning, and land use for years to come — through a round of come-anytime sessions in Martinsburg. If you missed the in-person dates, the draft and feedback channels are still posted. Berkeley County.

Development Watch

Berkeley Springs landed a $1 million sewer grant. The WV Water Development Authority awarded a $1 million Economic Enhancement Grant to the Warm Springs PSD for a sewer-line extension on the north side of Berkeley Springs — serving Senior Life Services and opening the door to development along the northern bypass corridor, where large tracts of former U.S. Silica land sit. Morgan Messenger.

Harpers Ferry lands a federal sidewalk grant. The High Street sidewalk replacement at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park has been selected for the federal Lands Access Program, programmed for 2027, with the Town of Harpers Ferry as the applicant. (No dollar figure is published in the program table yet.) FHWA FLAP program.

Berkeley Medical Center reworked its main entrance. WVU Medicine closed the main entrance on Medical Center Drive for construction starting June 22; visitors are being routed to the Tavern Road entrance in the meantime. Worth a heads-up if you have an appointment. PNN.

Softball Honors, a New Coach, and a Trip to Omaha

Eastern Panhandle players made the all-state softball team. On the Class AAAA list: Jersey Rummel (Jefferson) and Jocilyn Graham (Spring Mills) on the first team, Ally Selby (Spring Mills) named a second-team captain, and Lydia McClintock (Musselman) honorable mention. WV MetroNews.

Berkeley Springs football has a new head coach. CJ Watts — a Petersburg High and WVU grad who spent five years coaching at Hedgesville — takes over the Indians from the departed Wes Eddy, vowing to “bring pride back to Berkeley Springs football” with a weight-room-first, “hard hat and lunch pail” rebuild. Morgan Messenger.

WVU baseball made history. The Mountaineers reached the College World Series for the first time in program history, beating Troy twice in Omaha before North Carolina ended the run in the semifinals — the deepest any West Virginia baseball team has ever gone. WVU Athletics.

Juneteenth, the Fourth, and a Tick Heads-Up.

Juneteenth at Harpers Ferry: Off-duty, retired, and former National Park Service rangers organized a Juneteenth event at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park to spotlight African American history exhibits that had been pulled from federal display — a fitting setting at the region's most-visited park. WV Public Broadcasting.

Planning the Fourth: The long weekend is stacked — county fireworks at Sam Michael's Park on the 26th, casino shows from Christopher Cross through the Oak Ridge Boys, and Harpers Ferry keeps turning up on regional July 4 travel lists for an easy, historic day trip without leaving the Panhandle. Details up in This Week & Upcoming.

A tick warning, hiding in the hedgerow: invasive Japanese barberry is spreading fast through Morgan County woods and yards, and its dense, humid thickets are tied to higher tick numbers. West Virginia banned its sale back in 2020; if you spot the thorny shrub (small leaves, bright red berries, yellow inner stems), pull the small ones with gloves and cut or dig out the rest. Morgan Messenger.

Got a tip? Send it over.

Story, event, business, government, school, neighborhood, weird-and-wonderful — if it's local, we want to hear it. Saw a new sign go up? Heard about a meeting no one's talking about? Know of a shop opening, closing, or expanding? Spotted something on your street that turned out to be interesting? Send us a note at [email protected] — tips of every kind keep the Digest sharper than any source list could. We protect our sources, and we verify before we publish.

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