by Amanda E. West | Jul 9, 2026 | Shelbyville, Stories
I PLUNKED MY keys and cellphone into the plastic tray. Two windowless metal doors separated us from the outside world. A third interior door was unbolted, and Lt. Chris Cook, the director of the Moral Reconation Therapy (MRT) program, invited us deeper into the bowels...
by Amanda E. West | Jul 9, 2026 | Cover, Shelbyville
1967 WAS BOTH a tumultuous and transformative time in the history of our nation. January began with a national tragedy when three astronauts were killed during the prelaunch mission of Apollo 1. Overseas, the war in Vietnam was escalating. President Lyndon B. Johnson...
by Amanda E. West | Jul 9, 2026 | Feature, Shelbyville
HER MOTHER had reluctantly signed the papers. Twenty-four days after Jennifer Clever turned 18, she was on her way to Fort Dix in Burlington County, New Jersey. As a native of Dunkirk on the southern shores of Lake Erie in Western New York, Fort Dix was over 400 miles...
by Amanda E. West | Jul 9, 2026 | Feature, Shelbyville
DUSTIN MASON looked up from his Game Boy. Bolts of lightning flashed across the square television screen, followed by rumbles of thunder. The timer was counting down on his Pokémon game, but he didn’t mind. This United States Marine Corps commercial was his favorite....
by Amanda E. West | Jun 11, 2026 | Feature, Shelbyville
“When your pawpaw, Willie B. Davis, was younger, he used to make moonshine.” Michelle leaned closer, looking puzzled. “Are you serious, Nanny?” “Back in them days, ‘fore he worked at the highway department here in Bedford County, your pawpaw was what they used to call...
