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.
A State Permit for the Middleway Pipeline — and a Utility Board That Says It Didn't Know
The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection issued a construction stormwater permit in May for the Sidewinder Raw Water Line — the pipeline route through historic Middleway that the Jefferson County Planning Commission rejected in March 2025 — and DEP's file lists the applicant as the City of Charles Town, with the utility board named on the stormwater plan. CTUB's current general manager, Paul Mantello, told Observer WV he wasn't aware the permit existed and had found no record of it in CTUB's own files.
The paper trail sits in WVDEP's own file. The certification page is signed by then-general-manager Kristen Stolipher — listed on the form as utility manager — and dated Dec. 3, 2025, roughly a month after Judge Bridget Cohee ruled against Sidewinder. But DEP's milestone log shows the application wasn't entered into the agency's system until March 17, 2026: after Stolipher resigned in February, before Mantello was hired in April. It went through two rounds of corrections, was resubmitted May 22, and was issued May 26, the day after Memorial Day, as permit WVR 113389. The stormwater plan filed with it is unsigned. Kristen Stolipher is married to Jefferson County Commissioner Steve Stolipher. In March 2025 the CTUB board had told its general manager to bring any further Sidewinder commitments to the board first.
No one has been accused of breaking any law, and no agency has found wrongdoing. What's on the record is a sequence of dates and a missing signature — and a utility that says a permit was issued in its name without its knowledge.
It surfaced politically on Sept. 4. Before a special County Commission meeting on Sidewinder Enterprises, Commissioner Cara Keys asked Steve Stolipher publicly what business or professional relationship he had with the company before it filed its 2024 water-bottling plan, citing his role as planning-commission liaison and his seat in closed-session discussions of the case. Stolipher questioned what the question had to do with legal counsel and declined to answer; Commission President Pasha Majdi ruled Keys out of order under Robert's Rules, and Stolipher said he wasn't “here for your witch hunt.” He has neither confirmed nor denied any relationship. The Journal reported the exchange. The meeting itself was short — counsel had no update.
Where it actually stands: Mantello told Charles Town City Council on Sept. 8 that he intends to recommend CTUB restart the DEP application from the beginning. A DEP official told Observer WV the permit will have to be re-opened and modified to add the completed signature document. The paper also found the application carried a non-working phone number and email for CTUB, included no karst mitigation plan — required for work in karst topography — and listed project coordinates that put the job outside Jefferson County's karst area altogether. The public notice sign finally went up along the route on Sept. 4. Judge Cohee affirmed the Planning Commission's rejection of the bottling plant, and Sidewinder is appealing to the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals. Meanwhile SB 648, the Strategic and Critical Resources Act signed April 1, bars local governments from restricting extraction of resources the state designates as critical — a shift Observer WV notes could narrow local control in cases like this one. Watch for whether CTUB's board orders its own records review, and for a docket number out of Charleston.
What's a construction stormwater permit? Before you dig a large site or lay a long pipeline, WV requires a permit governing where the runoff goes, so mud and sediment don't end up in creeks. The applicant files a stormwater pollution prevention plan describing the controls, and the state signs off. It's a routine approval — but it is also a public record of who asked to build what, and when.
Two Weeks After the Flood, the Paperwork Is the Whole Ballgame
Martinsburg City Manager Andy Blake said as of Sept. 3 that roughly 127 damage surveys had been filled out after the Aug. 27 flash flood. That number is the mechanism. West Virginia has to document somewhere around $650,000 in damage before the state can request an on-the-ground FEMA assessment team — and individual assistance, if it comes, caps at $43,500 with no guarantee of an award. Panhandle News Network has the full interview.
Significant damage has been reported at the county's Dunn Building, Martinsburg High School, and the Winchester Avenue and Burke Street elementary schools. The city is waiving permit fees for about 30 days so residents can demo and dry out flood-damaged basements ahead of inspection. If your basement took water and you haven't filled out a survey because you assume you don't qualify — that assumption is the thing keeping the county under the threshold.
Blake also took on the question that's been circulating since the water went down: don't we already pay a stormwater fee for this? His answer, on the record, is that Martinsburg's stormwater program isn't a city invention. It exists under a federal Clean Water Act consent order stemming from a 2019 EPA enforcement action, and compliance runs about $2.4 million a year. He added that he has his own objections — chiefly that the permit is applied unevenly across West Virginia's 55 regulated communities.
One knock-on effect worth knowing: storm damage pushed the Berkeley County Fire Service Board and the Emergency Ambulance Authority out of their offices. Both moved Aug. 31 to Suite 207 of the county administration building at 400 W. Stephen St. in Martinsburg.
What's an MS4? Short for “municipal separate storm sewer system.” Cities above a certain size have to hold a federal permit for the pipes and ditches that carry rain off streets and roofs — testing outfalls, mapping the system, controlling construction runoff, and reporting to regulators. The stormwater fee on a city bill is how that permit gets paid for. It funds compliance work; it is not a flood-insurance fund, and it does not buy a guarantee against a storm like Aug. 27.
A Principal, Some Banners, and Fifty Years of Breakfasts
Musselman’s principal is the best in West Virginia. Alicia Riggleman was named the state’s 2027 School Principal of the Year on Tuesday night in Charleston, at the first Champions of Learning Gala — a new joint awards night from the state Department of Education, the state Board of Education and the West Virginia Chamber Foundation. A Shepherd and Marshall graduate, she has spent more than twenty years in Berkeley County Schools as a teacher, a counselor and an assistant principal before taking over at Musselman, and was one of five finalists statewide. “I’m fortunate to have an outstanding community, staff members and students, that give everything, every single day,” she said. WV MetroNews.
Martinsburg is putting a frame around the art it already has. City officials, Main Street Martinsburg and local artists are formalizing a downtown “Martinsburg Art District” — not new territory, but a push to make the existing art, music and studio activity visible to someone walking Queen Street. The first project is artist-submitted banners along Queen. Further out: rotating work at the Farmers Market, art in traffic-calming projects, painted crosswalks, and a style guide for putting art on historic buildings without damaging the brick. Councilwoman Kimberly Nelson and Main Street's Robbie Blair lead it. The Journal (paywalled).
Fifty years of Labor Day breakfasts. Bob and Barb Triggs have spent 20 of them volunteering at War Memorial Park's Labor Day Breakfast alongside longtime volunteer Buzz Poland. It's the park association's flagship fundraiser, and the proceeds go back into the park. The Journal (paywalled).
And Eagle School Intermediate has a tuba. Shepherdstown-based nonprofit Friends of Music gave the school $500 for a three-quarter-size student tuba and case, funded through support from Ecolab and the Nora Roberts Foundation. Small grant, specific instrument, one more kid in the low brass section. The Journal (paywalled).
Martinsburg Football Ended Bridgeport's 29-Game Streak
High school football: Martinsburg, ranked No. 2 in Class AAAA, beat Class AAA No. 1 Bridgeport 35–21 at Bridgeport on Friday, Sept. 4 — the Indians' first regular-season loss since Sept. 1, 2023, ending a 29-game streak. Brian Dick threw two touchdowns and ran for two more; Boston Todd threw one and caught one. Martinsburg is 2–0 and has a bye before hosting Canisius (N.Y.) on Sept. 19. Roundup (paywalled).
High school football, Morgan County: Berkeley Springs answered a rough opener with its first win. The Indians lost to Keyser 54–12 at Morgan Field on Aug. 28, then went to Maryland on Sept. 4 and beat Class 1A Clear Spring 41–12 — the first career victory for head coach CJ Watts. Senior quarterback Jalen Miller tied the school record with six touchdown passes. Week 1 • Week 2 (both Morgan Messenger, paywalled).
High school football, the rest of Week 2: Washington held off Hedgesville for its first win of the season. Spring Mills won 46–28 at Wheeling Park to go 2–0. Jefferson lost 42–0 at Morgantown, and Musselman fell 36–7 to Loudoun Valley (Va.). Washington–Hedgesville (paywalled).
High school boys soccer: Martinsburg shut out Spring Mills on two first-half goals, from Ricardo Alvarado and Ben Williams. Musselman stayed unbeaten with a win over Washington. In Morgan County, Berkeley Springs split its week — a loss to regional power Frankfort, then a rebound win that gave new head coach Jamie Hiles his first varsity victory. The Indians followed it with a regional win over Lincoln on Sept. 5 to go to 3–2. The Journal (paywalled) • Morgan Messenger • the Lincoln game (paywalled).
High school volleyball: Martinsburg's perfect start is over. The Bulldogs swept a pair on Thursday, Sept. 3 to reach 13–0, and then Musselman handed them their first loss (paywalled).
High school girls soccer: The Berkeley Springs Lady Indians beat rival Keyser 4–1 on Aug. 31, the bright spot in an otherwise 1–2 week. Morgan Messenger (paywalled).
College, Shepherd: Shepherd football opened at home Sept. 5 with a 34–26 win over a nationally ranked Frostburg State. Shepherd women’s volleyball is 8–0 after sweeping West Liberty on Sept. 8, having dropped exactly one set all season; the Rams host a four-team weekend in Shepherdstown starting Friday. Football • volleyball.
High school golf: Berkeley Springs hosted its own invitational at Cacapon Resort State Park on Friday, Sept. 4, drawing 13 teams and 65 golfers, and finished third with a 334 — behind Washington (303) and Hampshire (324). Washington's Tommy Evans won by nine strokes with a 66, and Berkeley Springs' Cayden Swink took second individually and made the All-Tournament team. Team scores • Morgan Messenger (paywalled).
What Local Government Is Working On
Berkeley County Solid Waste Authority — you can still comment: Tuesday's hearing was on an application for a certificate of site approval from BurCell Martinsburg, LLC, a Georgia company that wants to turn the former Entsorga waste-to-fuel plant into a mixed-waste processing facility. Entsorga has been idle since 2022 and has had multiple fires; what happens to that building has never been settled. The written comment period runs 10 days past the hearing — email [email protected], or write the authority at 19 Recovery Way, Martinsburg. Notice.
Martinsburg City Council, Thursday, Sept. 10: the agenda includes a proclamation recognizing September as Suicide Prevention Month, tied to Saturday's Out of the Darkness walk. Purple ribbons are on downtown parking meters through the month.
Berkeley County Commission, still pending: a Berkeley-Morgan Board of Health proposal to require every food-service worker — not just certified managers — to pass a roughly 45-minute online food-safety course was tabled after a motion to adopt died for lack of a second. Berkeley and Morgan are the only two West Virginia counties without the requirement. Cards would run about $20 to $30, with a target start of Jan. 1, 2027; the health department estimates 20,000 to 30,000 new cards in Berkeley County in year one. Commissioner John Hardy questioned the cost to the county’s 1,000-plus food establishments, and commissioners argued the state should fund more sanitarians instead of passing the bill to restaurants. It's back before the commission Thursday, Sept. 10. The Journal (paywalled).
Jefferson County Commission, Sept. 28: commissioners voted unanimously to hold a workshop — formally the Jefferson County Good Neighbor Data Center Guardrails workshop — with the governing bodies of Charles Town, Harpers Ferry, Bolivar, Shepherdstown and Ranson, plus county planning staff, legal counsel and interested residents. Commissioner Cara Keys brought it after Gov. Patrick Morrisey asked counties for input on HB 2014, the Power Generation and Consumption Act, which limits what counties and towns can say about data centers. “What West Virginia has is no codified guardrails,” Keys said — and she wants the county's written before any data center is approved. Commissioner Steve Stolipher floated sending a liaison instead; Keys pushed for the towns at the table as voting participants. The Journal (paywalled).
Pawpaw Festival WV
10 a.m.–5 p.m. • Paw Paw Schools Campus, 60 Pirate Circle, Paw Paw • Free admission, rain or shine. Pawpaw tasting tickets are sold on site. Live music all day, from the Paw Paw Area Community Choir at 10:30 through Matthew Abrell at 4. In the presentation tent, breeder Neal Peterson keynotes at 12:45 and Todd McCree gives a pawpaw primer at noon, with foraging walks at 11, 1 and 3. Vendor village, kids' activities, free barrel-train rides. Full schedule.
Out of the Darkness Community Walk
Registration and activities from 10 a.m. • 101 W. Martin St., the lot behind St. John's, downtown Martinsburg • The annual suicide-prevention and mental-health walk, at a new location this year. Honor bead ceremony, sand ceremony, kids' activities, and food trucks. About 11 teams had registered as of last week. Details.
Bluegrass and Barbeque
Noon–5 p.m. • Orr's Farm Market, Martinsburg • Live bluegrass, barbecue from The Truck Stop, local lemonade, and cornhole, which is new this year. Second Saturdays through Oct. 10. Orr's events.
12 – 15
164th Battle of Harpers Ferry Commemoration
Four days of ranger programs, included with park admission • Harpers Ferry NHP • Saturday 1 p.m., artillery demonstrations at Bolivar Heights — a replica cannon is fired, so plan for the noise with kids and dogs. Sunday 9 a.m., a ranger-guided six-mile hike to the Stone Fort on Maryland Heights, meeting at the visitor center, 171 Shoreline Dr. Sunday 2–4 p.m., “Seeking Freedom” at the John Brown Fort, on the roughly 2,000 enslaved people who sought refuge with U.S. Army lines. Monday 2 p.m., a half-mile walk at Bolivar Heights; Tuesday 11 a.m., an easy mile from Murphy-Chambers Farm. NPS schedule.
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