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Clyde CraigClyde Craig

Clyde Craig is a staff writer for West Virginia Explorer. Born in Parkersburg, West Virginia, he traveled with his family across the globe with the U.S. Army before returning to the Mountain State in 2011. He has been a writer with the explorer since 2018. He can be reached at 304-575-7390 or at craig@wvexplorer.com.
A growing number of people are turning to AI chatbots for conversations about stress, anxiety and other mental health concerns. West Virginia University researchers say the technology can support education but should not replace trained mental health professionals.
Health and Medicine

More people are using ChatGPT for mental health. Researchers say it can’t replace a psychiatrist

by Clyde Craig

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Millions of people now turn to artificial intelligence chatbots with questions they once reserved for therapists, doctors, or close friends. They ask about anxiety, depression, loneliness, and even suicidal thoughts, often because the technology is available instantly and without the cost or wait of a traditional appointment. Two researchers at West Virginia … Read more

A couple enjoys the cool shade of a West Virginia forest during a summer hike. The state's high elevations, dense woodlands and frequent passages of cool Canadian air often create refreshing conditions that have drawn travelers to the mountains for generations.
Travel / Transportation

Why summer heat never lasts in West Virginia and why travelers have loved it for generations

by Clyde Craig

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Every summer,  the cool morning arrives almost like clockwork. After days of sticky afternoons, something changes. Thunderstorms rumble across the mountains, the wind shifts, and the following morning, windows are open again. Front porches fill with coffee drinkers. Campgrounds stir earlier than usual. Visitors who expected another sweltering July day discover that … Read more

Tourists visit the Coal Run Company Store near the New River Gorge
Lodging and Real Estate

One of the New River Gorge’s best-known landmarks is looking for its next life

by Clyde Craig

CUNARD, W.Va. — For generations, travelers heading toward the New River at Cunard slowed as they rounded the bend and caught sight of the Coal Run Company Store. Long after the coal camps that built it disappeared, the broad, weathered building remained—a familiar landmark for fishermen, whitewater rafters, hikers, rock climbers, and generations of West … Read more

Our Lady of the Pines, a tiny chapel near Silver Lake in Preston County, is among the unexpected West Virginia landmarks featured in Peggy Stanton's new book The United "Saints" of America. Built in 1958 by Lithuanian immigrant Peter Milkint, the chapel has become one of the state's most distinctive places of worship.
Landmarks / Museums

United Saints of America author discovers West Virginia’s unexpected Catholic landmarks

by Clyde Craig

WHEELING, W.Va. — West Virginia is rarely considered a destination for Catholic pilgrimage. Settled largely by Virginians and Scots-Irish pioneers before later immigrant communities arrived, the Mountain State has long been associated more with frontier Protestantism than with Gothic cathedrals or sacred shrines. Yet veteran ABC News correspondent Peggy Stanton found enough remarkable stories here … Read more

A child sits alone while coping with the loss of a loved one. About one in seven West Virginia children will experience the death of a parent or sibling before age 18, highlighting the need for grief support programs such as Camp Erin West Virginia. (Photo: Getty Images)
Health and Medicine

One in seven West Virginia children lose a parent or sibling. A free camp wants to help

by Clyde Craig

MARTINSBURG, W.VA. — For many West Virginia children, grief arrives far earlier than most people imagine. About one in seven children in the Mountain State will experience the death of a parent or sibling before reaching adulthood—the second-highest rate in the nation. Behind that statistic are thousands of young people navigating profound loss while trying … Read more

An illustration contrasts two American frontiers—the forested mountains of early West Virginia and the open prairie later immortalized by Laura Ingalls Wilder—revealing how pioneer life unfolded across very different landscapes and generations.
History / Prehistory

Loved Little House on the Prairie? Discover West Virginia’s earlier frontier

by Clyde Craig

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Netflix’s new adaptation of Little House on the Prairie is introducing a new generation to the hardships and hope of life on the American frontier. Viewers are following the Ingalls family as they struggle to build a home on the Kansas prairie, where survival depends on hard work, perseverance, and family strength. For West Virginians—and … Read more