INNformer

10/31/2025

Weather and Traffic
October 31, 2025 8 a.m.

Good Morning! Today is Friday, October 31 in the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand and Twenty-Five and it’s Halloween- although for some strange reason, several towns have trick-or-treating moved to different days.

And yes, I was raised a Halloween purist. It didn’t matter if it was raining so hard that the Andrea Gail would sink or so cold that the shaving cream can that we all were armed with would freeze, the door-to-door extortion for candy in my youth was conducted on October 31.

Hold a sec, be right back, I have to open my office door and yell “get off my lawn!”

The postman is looking confused.

It’s also National Knock Knock Joke day. I’ll go first:
Knock Knock?
Whose there?
Ah
Ah who?
American Werewolves in London.

The latest issue of the INNformer is out for distribution. I will try to get the rest all out today but I may end up finishing the eastern part of Wetzel County on Saturday.

In 1517 Martin Luther posted his 95 theses to the door of the church in Wittenberg, German, condemning the excess and corruption of the Roman Catholic Church, sparking the Protestant Reformation and the divide of the church, which continues to this day.

On this day in 1756 the famous lecher Gaicomo Casanova escaped from prison in Venice by climbing onto the roof.

Born into a family of actors in1725, Casanova originally planed on being a Canon Lawyer, one who specializes in the laws of the Church, but soon discovered that he would rather break them. He led an itinerant life as a gambler, violinist, confidential trickster and conned various aristocratic suckers as an alchemist.

He also convinced French authorities to establish the ultimate con, a state lottery, as a source of revenue.

The most notorious aspect of Casanova's career are his many sexual affairs with women, stretching from his early adolescence to his old age, which he described in great detail in his autobiography.

In 1776 Britain’s King George III gave his first address after the Declaration of Independence to the Parliament in London. In it he condemned colonial rebels: “For daring and desperate is the spirit of those leaders, whose object has always been dominion and power, that they have now openly renounced all allegiance to the crown, and all political connection with this country.”

In the address, he also announced British victory over Gen. George Washington during the disastrous Battle of Long Island.

Later it was said that Britain’s General William Howe, commander of the ground forces, and his brother Admiral Richard Howe, let the colonial forces retreat instead of capturing their officers with the hope that the defeat would push them into negotiations to end the rebellion.

Weather:
Today will be warmer and cloudy. Highs in the mid 50s. Tonight, cloudy with a low around 40.

For tomorrow, partly cloudy, highs in the lower 60s.

Traffic:
The Sistersville Ferry is OPEN until 6 p.m. While trick-or-treating in Sistersville has been moved to November 4, the ferry will be giving out bags of treats and have live music between noon and 4 p.m. TODAY! You can walk onto the ferry and ride across and back for only a dollar (if you get off then its another buck to come back. Cars and motor cycles are still only $5 each way.

Expect delays on the New Martinsville Bridge as they do something and it’s down to one lane. Take the ferry, avoid the annoyance.

And watch out for the kids as some places will be celebrating Halloween today!

Currently at our Downtown Sistersville News Command Center it is 46 degrees under cloudy skies.

10/30/2025

Traffic and Weather
Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025 10:25 a.m.

Good Morning! Today is Thursday, October 30, 2025 and it’s National Checklist Day (check), National Candy Corn Day (check), National Treat Your Pet Day (when you have huskies, that’s everyday-or else, so check) and National Text Your Ex Day (Oh, HELL no).

The latest issue of the INNFormer starts going out for distribution today.

Due to a scary weather forecast for Thursday, Oct. 30 several towns have changed their Trick or Treat schedule. As of right now:

PADEN CITY: Saturday, Nov. 1, 6 p.m.- 8 p.m.
PINE GROVE: Saturday, Nov. 1, 5 p.m.- 7 p.m.
MIDDLEBOURNE: Saturday, Nov. 1, 6 p.m.- 7 p.m.
NEW MARTINSVILLE: Saturday, Nov. 1, 6 p.m.- 7:30 p.m.
SISTERSVILLE: Tuesday, Nov. 4. The delay is because that’s when the band is available.

LEWISVILLE: Friday, Oct. 31 5:30 p.m.- 6:30 p.m.
Hotdogs, clips and drinks at Community Center 4:30 p.m.- 5:30 p.m. with costume judging at 5 p.m.
WOODSFIELD: Friday, Oct.31 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Parade has also been rescheduled to Oct.31. Parade registration 6 p.m. with parade at 7 p.m.

On this day one Colonial war ended and another began. In 1697 the Nine Years War, known in North America as King Williams’s War, officially came to an end and in 1739 the War of Jenkin’s Ear, between Great Britain and Spain began.

Throughout history, the Europeans liked to fight and their North American colonies were always dragged into it. When Britain fought the French, the Atlantic colonies, both French and English, got to take shots at each other. When Captain Jenkins lipped back to a Spanish official, who sliced off his ear in return, the southern colonies got to see some action.

And in 1930 Orson Wells’ War of the World radio pay premiered with the factitious invasion of New Jersey by Martians. It set off, according to the New York Times the next day, panic from people fleeing their homes trying to escape the carnage.

But did it? It was suggested that the newspaper coverage was an attempt by the print media to discredit radio news broadcasts by pointing out that often you couldn’t tell fact from fiction in a medium where there isn’t a physical record. Newspapers print on paper and can sit around for decades. A radio station’s broadcast is gone out into the either as soon as it leaves the radio station’s antenna

And with the internet, it’s the worst of both worlds. You can post false information and then change it and no-one will ever know.... And yes, I am procrastinating before I go start delivering the 637 pounds of newsprint sitting in the back of my beater.

Weather:
Chilly and wet today. Off and on rain. High in the upper 40s with showers tonight, low 39.

Tomorrow, cloudy with highs in the lower 50s.

Traffic:
Sistersville Ferry is scheduled to run today until 6 p.m. It’s well worth the $5 to avoid being annoyed in New Martinsville.

Currently at our Downtown Sistersville News Command Center it is 48 degrees and gloomy.

10/25/2025

Weather and Traffic
Saturday, October 25, 2025 10:39 a.m.

Good Morning! Today is Saturday, October 25 and it’s still 2025. It’s also National Greasy Foods Day, World Pasta Day, Hug a Sheep Day, National Pitbull Awareness Day and ...

It’s National Chucky Day.

Are you a farmer? In next week’s issue we have a local meat processor that is starting to advertise with us!

You can also advertise with us. Affordable rates, send to [email protected] for information.

On this day in 1760 King George III, the last king to reign over our region of the United States, ascended the throne in London. Georgie wasn’t the last monarch to control land in what is now US territory. That would probably be Christian X, king of Denmark. The US Virgin Islands were transferred from Danish control in 1917.

King George was never a well man, suffering from mental illness, in one form or another, his entire life and his infliction likely led to the missteps that led to the evolution.

In 1812, the USS United States, under the command of Stephen Decatur, defeated the British frigate HMS Macedonian in battle off the Azores and returned to New York with HMS Macedonian as a prize. It was the first time that a British warship was captured and brought into a US harbor.

Two years earlier, while both ships were Norfolk, Captain John S. Carden, captain of the Macedonian wagered Captain Decatur a beaver hat that his vessel would take the United States if the two should ever meet in battle.

And in 1930 the first regularly scheduled transcontinental air service between New York and Los Angeles took off. The flight, on an eight passenger Fokker F-10, produced up the river in Glen Dale, took 36 hours and made ten stops.

Weather:
Partly cloudy early with skies becoming overcast. High in the upper 50s. For tonight, partly cloudy with lows in the mid 30s.

For tomorrow, sunny, high in the low to mid 60s.

Traffic:
Sistersville Ferry is OPEN today until 6 p.m.

Currently, at our Downtown Sistersville News Command Center, it’s 44 degrees under hazy skies

10/23/2025

Weather and Traffic, kind of brief
October 23, 2025 10:20 a.m.

Good Morning! It's Thursday, October 23, 2025 and I've kind of have a lot of work to do.

Weather:
Kind of chilly.

Traffic:
New Martinsville, kind of annoying.

Sistersville Ferry:
OPEN! (Kind of ferrying?)

10/21/2025

Weather and Traffic
October 21, 2025 9:40 a.m.

Good Morning! Today is Tuesday, October 21, in the Year of Our Lord Two thousand and Twenty-Five. It’s American Frog Day, National Apple Day and, in the United Kingdom, Everyone Writes Day.

Obviously, we don’t do that last one here. Normally I would expand on the why we don’t have an Everyone Writes Day but my coffee hasn’t kicked in yet and I probably wouldn’t be able to refrain from sharing my well known opinion on why many were never taught the difference between to, too and two.

Besides, I have too much writing to do or I would be tempted to say a thing, or two.

Buy advertising! The more ads we have, the more writing I have to do and the less time I have to procrastinate! Email [email protected] (One “n: in the email) for our latest rate card. We reach more people and we are cheaper! What a deal!

And if your club or intentional not-for-profit is having an event coming up in November or December please get the information to us as soon as possible so we can get it in the paper.

On this day in 1797 the USS Constitution was launched in Boston. The 44-gun frigate earned her nickname, Old Ironsides, during the War of 1812 when an American sailor observed that British cannon balls were bouncing off her oak sides.

Also, on this day in 1805, the pivotal Battle of Trafalgar was fought off the Spanish coast when British Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson engaged a numerically superior French and Spanish fleet, destroying 19 out of 33 ships without losing a single vessel.

During the course of the fighting, Nelson, who massaged “England expects that every man will do his duty” at the beginning of the fight, was shot by a French sniper. As he lay dying on the deck of his flagship HMS Victory his last words were “Now I am satisfied. Thank God I have done my duty.”

What does the HMS Victory and the USS Constitution have in common? They are both still in commission in their respective navies. HMS Victory, launched in 1765, being the oldest commissioned warship in the world and USS Constitution being second oldest.

Weather:
Cooler today, with rain showers moving in this afternoon. High in the low 60s. Cloudy tonight with overnight lows in the lower 40s. For tomorrow, cloudy, with highs in the mid 50s.

Traffic:
If you are traveling out the Short Line in Wetzel County you may experience delays just before Reader as the Department of Highways is supposed to be working on that absolutely horrid stretch of embarrassment. If you have been out there recently then you know what I am talking about.

And New Martinsville is still annoying.

Currently at our Downtown Sistersville News Command Center it is 45 degrees under hazy skies. When news happens it better be later in the day after the caffeine kicks in.

10/20/2025

Tonight!

10/19/2025

Special Weather Statement
Issued: 7:57 AM Oct. 19, 2025 – National Weather Service
Showers will be accompanied by strong, gusty winds today as a cold
front approaches. Southwest winds will be sustained at 10 to 20
mph with occasional gusts of 30 to 40 mph. The strongest winds
will likely occur during the afternoon hours.

Strong winds can blow around loose and unsecured objects. Ensure
that all outdoor decorations, furniture, and other objects are
secure today.

10/16/2025

As I am getting ready to head out the door to deliver the latest issue of the INNformer, which is full of ghost stories, just a reminder"

The Sistersville Ferry is OPEN today through Sunday!

10/03/2025

Weather and Traffic
October 3, 2025 8:50 a.m.

Good Morning! Today is Friday, October 3, 2025 and it’s National Body Language Day and, damn, a continuation of you can’t believe everything you read on the internet day.

Either someone intentionally “reinterpreted” an event or AI is engaging in creative writing for one of the things listed for today. It’s a toss up.

The INNformer is out for distribution. Most places in Monroe County will be getting it today do to a surprise insert that arrive without notice. We work hard to accommodate our advertisers including when they drop ship 3,000 fliers unexpectedly.

On this day in 42 BC the First Battle of Philippi took place, pitting Mark Antony and Octavian against Caesar's assassins Brutus and Cassius. Philippi is in modern Macedonia, in the Mediterranean.

Southeast of us in Barbour County is also the county seat of Philippi. The county was named after Virginia lawyer Philip P. Barbour and it was intended that the county seat also to be named in honor of him, only- as a tradition- using the Latinized feminine form of his first name, Philippa. However, because of misspellings and confusion over the name’s origin- some thought the town was named after that key and historic battle and not after the lawyer, Phillippa because Philippi.

Weather:
Pleasant today. Sunny with highs in the lower 80s. Good sleeping weather tonight with lows in the mid 40s. Tomorrow, sunny with highs in the mid to upper 80s.

Traffic:
The Sistersville Ferry is OPEN! Until 6 p.m., that is.

Currently at our Downtown Sistersville News Command Center it is 50 degrees under clear skies. When news happens it better not be today, I’ve got too much work to do.

10/02/2025

Weather and Traffic
October 2, 2025 9:15 a.m.

Good Morning! Well now, it’s Thursday, October 2, 2025. It’s still 2025, right? Too much to do, not enough time to procrastinate.

Today I start distributing the latest copy of the INNformer. In it you can find details on our photo contest! Tomorrow I will try to get back into the habit of writing my little updates.

And..... I’m looking for local ghost stories from both sides of the river to include in our Halloween coverage. If you’ve had a spooky experience send me a message (don’t post it here).

Traffic:
The Sistersville Ferry is open today!

Weather:
The skies are clear, my brain is cloudy. I need coffee.

Currently at our Downtown Sistersville News Command Center it’s 58 degrees and sunny.

09/16/2025

And now it's time to play "Frontier Communications" daily game:

Works or Not!

The suspenseful game where we see if one or both of our phone lines are operational- allowing us to conduct normal business

-or-

Will we be faced with the challenge of not being able to do normal things, like run credit cards, make marketing calls or taking reservations.

During the suspenseful bonus round, if Line One works, we will then check to see if Line Two still has the screeching howl and scratching noises that makes us wonder if it is connected to an electronic hell!

And Today's answer is: NOPE! We can currently receive calls but can't dial out.

There was a period yesterday when we could actually make and receive calls but it was just a teaser for today's Frontier Communications Works of Not!

Send a message to learn more

09/15/2025

Update: "Wednesday" became 30 minutes.

Behold! The power of vile Yorkian temper!

Original post below

Thanks the absolutely astounding incompetence of Frontier Communications the only way to reach us is through messenger or via email until further notice.

Last night I called in a service call and reported that I couldn't make outgoing calls and only could receive them. They then, without asking my permission, forwarded all calls to a cell phone that is no longer functional.

Now, after an hour of dealing with someone in some God forsaken country, I am being told that due to problems with their switching equipment they can't take the forward off.

First it was "it will be fixed on Monday." Then, as the customer service guy is telling me it will be fixed on Tuesday, I get an email from them telling me that they won't be working on it until Wednesday.

Send a message to learn more