Feast of the Ramson - on assignment in the "Ramp Capital of the World."
Feast of the Ramson - on assignment in the "Ramp Capital of the World."
Also, Tudor's Biscuit World made a splash this week — and it turns out I share a birthday with burlesque legend Blaze Starr.
This weekend’s West Virginia Weakly is coming to you from Nicholas County. I’m in Richwood today (Saturday, 4/13) for West Virginia’s most popular ramp fest, The Feast of the Ramson.
But I’m not here just to eat ramps, a signature rite of spring in the mountains. I’m also paying homage to the Weakly’s inspiration, Jim Comstock, the late founder and editor of West Virginia’s original satirical newspaper, The West Virginia Hillbilly. We took our name from the Hillbilly’s masthead, which used the line “A Weakly Publication” to describe the now-defunct paper.
Using “weakly” in this way sets low expectations. And a low bar was just the sort of thing that appealed to me and Dave. It’s not only amusing but we figured we’d be on to something if we could actually dupe readers into subscribing to a publication whose name suggests that it’s not likely to amount to much.
I never had the pleasure of meeting Comstock. But like Dave and me, he was a Marshall grad. Comstock served in the Navy and was a teacher before entering the newspaper business.
Comstock died in 1996. But I figure anyone who would demand a retraction after the Hillbilly was described as “sophisticated” by the Saturday Review couldn’t have been all that bad. Comstock also was once admonished by Richwood’s postmaster for mixing ramp juice in the ink used to print his more traditional newspaper, The (Richwood) News-Leader. Comstock’s prank apparently stunk up the post office. Ramps are not known for their pleasant aroma.
If only Dave and I could find some way to stink up one of these emails.
I arrived in Richwood on Friday, the day before the ramp festivities. Figured I’d poke around and get the lay of the land before overdosing on ramps and risking my wife turning up her nose and banishing me to a tent in the backyard for a couple of days while I sweated out the stink.
It was a dark day.
Ominous.
Cloudy and cold.
The dreary weather had been dragged into West Virginia on the heels of Thursday night’s strong storms that cut the power at my hotel and led to dramatic flash flooding in the Kanawha Valley and elsewhere.
Not surprisingly, I had a hot cup of coffee on my mind so when I stumbled upon the Rosewood Coffee House and Florist on Richwood’s Main Street, I ducked in to warm myself. It wasn’t long before I found myself speaking with the Jeromy Rose, whose family owns the shop. He told me that Comstock was an irascible character, but that he put Richwood on the map.
I left the coffee house with a piece of WV Hillbilly merch, a T-shirt with the paper’s amusing masthead on it.
Before I left, Rose told me where Comstock maintained the Hillbilly’s offices, but a cold rain was falling, so instead of searching for it I ate a hot ham and cheese at Richwood’s Oakford Diner before climbing back into my car for the drive back to my hotel to finish writing today’s Weakly.
Look for me if you’re in Richwood for the Feast of the Ramson. I’ll be wearing my Mount Porte Crayon hoodie, and a camouflage West Virginia Public Broadcasting cap. If you can’t make it, don’t despair. Here’s a list of West Virginia Ramp Dinners and Festivals put together by West Virginia Explorer. This time of year, they’re everywhere.
Now it’s time to get to what happened around West Virginia this week.
The Weak In Review
* A double murder suspect wanted by police in Pittsburgh died in Charleston Monday morning. The Kanawha County Sheriff’s Department says deputies spotted a vehicle that Pittsburgh police were looking for and initiated a traffic stop. The suspect died of a self inflicted gunshot wound.1
* Students at West Virginia University are organizing to fight program cuts and layoffs at the state’s flagship school. “Really, what it is for WVU is a new era of student politics,” WVU sophomore Christian Adams told The Associated Press. Adams is co-founder of the West Virginia United Students’ Union. 2
* State Schools Superintendent Michelle Blatt gave the state Board of Education a rosy report on an education spending waiver, telling the board on Tuesday that “all indication looks like it’s on track to be approved.” The issue threw the budget process into disarray during this year’s regular legislative session because of a threat by the federal Education Department to clawback $465 million in pandemic spending. Governor Justice is waiting for official word on the waiver’s approval before calling a widely expected special legislative session in May.3
* Discussions about what to do about the state budget will likely be the agenda when West Virginia lawmakers gather in Charleston for three days of interim meetings tomorrow. Because of the clawback threat, lawmakers passed a “skinny” budget during the regular session. Lawmakers could get an update on the waiver the Justice Administration is seeking when the Joint Finance Committee meets on Monday morning.4
* During his virtual briefing on Wednesday, Governor Justice said he will ask lawmakers during their potential May special session to approve $50 million to help clean up from the April 2 storms. Senate Finance Committee Chair Eric Tarr (R-Putnam) is pushing back, saying Justice already has the emergency money in his civil contingency fund.5
* The National Weather Service this week confirmed two more tornadoes from the strong storms that hit on April 2, bringing the total number in West Virginia to seven, five in Kanawha County alone.6
* A second round of storms hit on Thursday, leading to a power outage at the hotel I was staying at in Nicholas County. There was also flash flooding in the Kanawha Valley and the surrounding area. A record amount of rain fell in Charleston 7
* The wife of a state trooper killed in the line of duty last year is continuing to hold Republican state senator and attorney general candidate Mike Stuart’s feet to the fire. She’s says Stuart is using her husband’s death for political gain and could compromise the case against his killer. The trial is scheduled for this September. 8
* The final campaign finance reports ahead of next month’s primary election were filed this week. In the four way race for the Republican nomination for governor, the reports show Attorney General Patrick Morrisey has the most money on hand and Chris Miller outspent his rivals by far thanks to more than $3 million in loans he’s given to his campaign. The winner of the GOP primary will face Huntington’s Democratic mayor, Steve Williams, this November.9
* Mayor Williams said this week that West Virginia voters should be allowed to decide whether to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution. In an appearance on MetroNews Talkline he said, “Let’s put it on the ballot.” Williams is using former President Donald Trump’s remarks that the issue should be left up to the states to make his case. He wants Governor Justice to put a referendum on abortion rights on the agenda for the potential special legislative session next month.10
* Gunfire in Martinsburg Wednesday afternoon led police to shut down streets in the city’s downtown area. Police Chief Erin Gibbons said “two parties exchanged gunfire from a distance.” No one appears to have been hurt and no suspects are in custody.11
* And West Virginia’s Tudor’s Biscuit World laid claim to the best biscuit in the South this week. Garden and Gun magazine put together a “March Madness” style bracket of 32 contenders three weeks ago. Tudor’s “Mountaineer” came out on top.12
From the WV Weakly news vault:
The Charleston Gazette-Mail this week marked 50 years since a meeting of the Kanawha County Board of Education quietly kicked off the textbook controversy that led to “bombings, beatings and boycotts” and was a harbinger of today’s culture wars. Also, former Gazette-Mail reporter Eric Eyre won the Pulitzer Prize seven years ago this week. And putting together today’s Weakly, I discovered that I share a birthday with the late burlesque legend Blaze Starr. She would have turned 92 on Wednesday. Here are some other interesting blasts from the past with an assist from the online West Virginia Encyclopedia.
April 08, 1951: A C-47 transport filled with 167th personnel crashed near Kanawha (now Yeager) Airport, killing 21
April 08, 1979: Breece D'J Pancake committed suicide.
April 10, 2017: Charleston Gazette-Mail reporter Eric Eyre won the Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting. NPR’s Linda Wertheimer interviewed Erye a few days after the Pulitzer announcement. I was in the NPR newsroom that morning. Brought a smile to my face.
April 10, 1932: Blaze Starr, “Queen of the Strippers,” was born in Wilsondale in Wayne County. Her affair with Louisiana Governor Earl K. Long was fodder for a movie starring Paul Newman and Lolita Davidovich.
April 10, 1931: The Braxton County Rune Stone was found on Triplett Fork, eight miles west of Gassaway
April 11, 1974: The Kanawha County Board of Education met to adopt new textbooks to meet a mandate from the state board.
April 11, 1964: Pinckney Benedict was born in Lewisburg.
Pittsburgh double murder suspect dead of self-inflicted gunshot wound following Charleston traffic stop ~ Jeff Jenkins, WVMetroNews
Following program cuts, new West Virginia University student union says fight is not over ~ Leah Willingham, The Associated Press
Blatt expects education spending waiver soon from feds ~ Jeff Jenkins, WVMetroNews
Lawmakers return to Charleston for first interims since end of session ~ Caity Coyne, West Virginia Watch
Justice adding 50M in flood relief funding to special session ~ Steven Allen Adams, The Wheeling Intelligencer
NWS confirms two more tornadoes hit Kanawha County last week ~ Ashley Perham, Charleston Gazette-Mail
Wrecked cars in Tornado creek, 66 water rescue follow flooding, record rainfall ~ Charleston Gazette-Mail staff
Wife of slain trooper blasts attorney general candidate over his repeated comments about the case ~ Brad McElhinny, WVMetroNews
Campaign finance reports: Morrisey leads in money raised since January for governor ~ Caity Coyne, West Virginia Watch
MPD investigating shooting on North Queen Street ~ Tom Markland, The Journal
Tudor’s Biscuit World Wins G & G’s Biscuit Bracket ~ Garden & Gun