Making Connections News

In Kentucky, West Virginia, and Ohio weak or nonexistent state policies make it harder for residents and businesses to afford to install a solar system and make it less likely that the region will attract jobs and economic benefits associated with this fast-growing industry. And as electricity bills continue to shoot up, boosting the ability of individuals, businesses and municipalities to invest in solar could help them control their energy costs. Ohio Valley ReSource reporter Brittany Patterson explores the opportunities being lost in a region sorely in need of jobs and lower electric bills.

Across Appalachia, communities are experimenting with ways to develop sustainable agriculture as a business sector and to increase access to nutritious foods. WMMT recently reported on the opening of the CANE (Community Agriculture and Nutritional Enterprises) industrial kitchen in Letcher County which is designed to do just that. In the months since its opening, CANE has provided local farmers with the tools they need to grow their businesses. WMMT’s Sydney Boles has this update.

Individuals and organizations in Eastern Kentucky's Letcher County came together to develop the former Whitesburg High School cafeteria into a community kitchen. Calling the project Community Agricultural and Nutritional Enterprises (CANE), they see the commercial kitchen providing an avenue for farmers to take the necessary risks involved with scaling up the area food system to meet both local, and eventually, regional demand for fresh, healthy, Appalachian-grown food. WMMT reports on the well attended grand opening of the kitchen, which CANE organizers believe could serve as a model for other Eastern Kentucky counties struggling to build the economy and health of their communities.

One in five veteran coal miners in Central Appalachia now has black lung disease. But the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund which provides critical support to miners and their families is at risk of disappearing. In this episode of WMMT's Mountain Talk, retired miners Bethel Brock and Jimmy Moore, Patty Amburgey who lost her husband to black lung, and Appalachian Citizens' Law Center attorney Evan Smith describe the disease and the working conditions that caused it, the struggle for benefits for miners and their families, and the organizing effort now going on to save the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund. To take action or get more information visit www.blacklungkills.org #blacklungkills

What makes a town or small community a place where people want to live? Where strangers want to move to? WMMT reports on the Great Mountain Mural Mega Fest organized by the Southeast Kentucky Revitalization Project, which is coordinated by the Appalachian Studies Program at Harlan County's Southeast Community and Technical College. The goal of the Fest was to train artists and community development personnel in the art and business of mural making as public arts projects that can bring residents together, beautify communities, and visibly demonstrate that these are places people care about -- something the organizers believe is essential to revitalizing our coalfield communities.

Could increasing agricultural production be part of the solution to Appalachia's economic woes? WMMT DJ Jim Webb interviews Jonathan Webb, founder and CEO of App Harvest which has announced plans to build and operate a large scale, high tech solar greenhouse on a reclaimed stripmine in Pike County, KY. Webb wants to build lots of greenhouses which he says are environmentally sound and could provide jobs and a major source of produce for the whole region. But first, project engineers must address the challenges of building massive greenhouses on the unstable soil left by mining.

Student teams from across the eastern Kentucky coalfields came together at the Knott County Sportsplex, bringing with them drones that they themselves had built. It was time for the climax of this year-long project supported by the Kentucky Valley Educational Cooperative (KVEC). The Ohio Valley has been a leader in aerospace engineering. Now there’s a growing possibility that the skill set of building drones could prepare students not just for college, but also for finding a good job close to home, and helping to grow a new industry in this region. WMMT's Benny Becker reports for the Ohio Valley ReSource.

Derek Akal, 22, grew up in the famed coalfields of Harlan County, Kentucky. He’s a bit over six feet tall, he’s black, and he has an athlete’s build. Like many young people in central Appalachia, he is torn between a desire to find work at home where he can be close to family and the community he knows, or whether to venture out to other parts where there might be more opportunities for a young man. WMMT Reporter Benny Becker followed Derek for over a year as he explored his options for his future.

Can a boutique hotel and restaurant in a former downtown department store spark an economic revival in and around St. Paul, a coalfields town located on the Clinch River in southwestern Virginia? The newly opened Western Front Hotel and Milton's Restaurant grew from community-wide efforts begun over 15 years ago to plan the place residents wanted to be part of, and then to work the plan. WMMT's Rich Kirby reports on this partnership between local, state, and federal agencies with a private developer that hopes to be a catalyst for growing tourism and related businesses in the tri-state region.

The success of efforts to rebuild the Appalachian economy may well depend on getting access to land for development. This episode of WMMT's Mountain Talk includes discussion from a September 2016 meeting at which Shauna Scott, Joe Childers, and Susan Williams shared memories of their involvement in the 1981 Appalachian Land Ownership Study.  The study was produced from a two year community research project covering 80 counties across six states: Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, and Alabama. The findings showed that in many Central Appalachian counties absentee mining corporations owned more than half of the land, and up to 70% of the mineral rights. The study also found that major mining corporations owned 50-70% of the land but paid only 4% of county property taxes. The results of the study spurred community organizing efforts that brought about tax reform in several states. It’s been over 25 years since the report was published, and there’s now a growing effort to conduct anoth

Since 2015 the Appalachian Regional Commission has awarded $94 million for Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization (POWER) projects to help coal impacted communities diversify and grow their economies. The ARC is now requesting proposals for an additional $20 million in funding to support worker training and economic development activities in the region. But a new study commissioned by the ARC shows that it will be difficult for the region to fully recover from coal’s collapse. The researchers said Appalachia needs to supplement and diversify its economy with a broad range of industries from manufacturing to tourism and food. But despite the challenges, researcher Mark Burton said Appalachians have some things going for them. “Appalachians in general are very stubborn, they want what they want and will work for it and wait for it more than almost any other segment of the population,” Burton said. Becca Shimmel reports from the Ohio Valley ReSource.

Sometimes rebuilding an economy, and lives, means adding one or two jobs at a time. A new bakery established by folks at the Hemphill Community Center in hard pressed coal country aims to provide Letcher County residents with healthy, locally sourced breads and baked goods while supporting Drug Court participants in their journeys to recovery. Rachel Garringer reports for WMMT.

In this episode of WMMT’s Mountain Talk we explore the idea of social haunting, or how the troubles of the past might be playing a role in community problems of today. We hear from Dr. Geoff Bright who is leading a participatory research project based around the theory of social haunting in formerly industrialized areas in the north of England, and Max Munday shares his documentary, Songlines and Social Haunting, which further details the project’s arts-based process used in "Ghost Labs" in former coal mining communities. We are joined by Dr. Wayne Coombs, recently retired as director of the West Virginia Prevention Resource Center, who speaks about the role that social haunting or historical trauma may be playing in the growing substance abuse crisis in central Appalachia. Take a listen and tell us what you think about this concept of "social haunting." You can send your comments to wmmt@appalshop.org with "Social Haunting" in the subject line and we will share them as part of an international conversation w

Three years ago, the Kentucky Valley Educational Cooperative won a $30 million federal grant to support innovation and personalized learning in classrooms throughout eastern Kentucky.  “One of the groups that may not have benefited right away was the vocational school students,” KVEC Associate Director Dessie Bowling explained. To remedy that, in 2016 the cooperative funded three eastern Kentucky vocational schools to design and build tiny movable homes. The "Building It Forward" project gives students experience with a wide range of construction skills such as plumbing, wiring, carpentry, design, budgeting, heating and cooling to name a few. Bowling described the tiny house project as a way of making sure that the cooperative’s schools offer classes that are interesting and valuable to students, and provide them marketable skills whether or not they plan on going to college. The program is designed to be financially self-sustaining. Money from the sales of each house covers the costs of materials it takes t

Many people would be surprised to hear that Bill and Melinda Gates and Facebook's Mark Zuckerburg visited eastern KY schools in 2017, but they came to learn about the innovative and wholistic educational approaches in use at 22 school districts that are members of the Kentucky Valley Educational Cooperative.  KVEC schools emphasize personalized learning, team projects, and an entrepreneurial attitude that Executive Director Jeff Hawkins thinks can make a difference in a region in need of change. This report is the first in a series from the Ohio Valley Resource that is looking into how these school districts are working together to to find ways to address some of the country’s most profound economic and public health problems.

As efforts continue to rebuild the economy of eastern Kentucky, the quality of the educational system, so dependent on the excellence and commitment of the region's educators, is a critical part of the solution, as is adequate state support for health care, social services, public protection, and economic development. WMMT aired this report on a Dec. 2, 2017 rally by Letcher County teachers and other state workers who opposed a plan put forth by Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin and GOP leaders that would drastically overhaul the public pension system, and, the educators say, make it much more difficult to attract and retain the most qualified teachers and other public servants. At the rally, speakers called on the legislature to keep its promise to provide a livable pension after years of public service, and to address the real issue facing the state - the need for tax reform that raises the revenue necessary to support a high quality educational system and the public services that benefit all Kentuckians. Gov. B

If you use the Internet, or are one of the many rural residents who hope to get the Internet, December 14 was a big day. Under a plan proposed by Anjit Pai, President Trump’s choice for chairman, the Federal Communications Commission voted 3 to 2 to dismantle Net Neutrality, the open Internet principles that more than 80 percent of Americans support. FCC commissioners also voted along party lines to eliminate Internet as a utility, or Title II service. That will result in a loss in universal service requirements and consumer protections. What does this mean for rural parts of the country that are still struggling to get high speed Internet services? What does this mean for rural parts of the country that are still struggling to get high speed Internet services? We asked Whitney Kimball Coe, a young woman raising a family in Athens, TN, a small town south of Knoxville. She also coordinates the National Rural Assembly and is director of national programs for the Center for Rural Strategies. For our report, she

On this edition of WMMT's Mtn. Talk concerned residents of eastern Kentucky speak out about Kentucky Power Company’s proposed double-digit rate increase at the Public Service Commission meeting in Hazard on Nov 6. Over 40 people - state officials, elected representatives, business owners, nonprofit directors, senior citizens, and everyday citizens - voiced opposition to the rate increases and other changes that would impact 168,000 customers in 20 counties that are already suffering economically from the downturn in the coal industry. In June 2017, Kentucky Power filed a request to the Public Service Commission for a 16.8% increase, which would mean an increase of about 80 cents a day, or $24 a month for the average customer. Kentucky Power’s stated reason for the increase is to make up for the the loss of nearly 2,000 residential customers and 450 industrial customers in eastern Kentucky, since 2014. You can submit comments to the Public Service Commission about the proposed rate hikes up until Dec. 6th w

Farming opportunities are plentiful in the Appalachian mountains if you look to the herbs and edible plants found in our abundant forests. Appalachian Harvest, a rural food hub run by Appalachian Sustainable Development, recently launched an Herb Hub in Duffield, VA, designed to help forest farmers earn more money on their herbs. The Hub offers equipment for processing herbs and will help farmers connect to national markets where they can receive higher pay for their product. WMMT's Rachel Garringer visited the Hub soon after it opened in October.

It’s been a big year for Internet in the coalfields, and across rural Appalachia, with citizens demanding better Internet access and high speed Broadband, and some policy makers in DC saying rural America doesn't need it. In this episode of WMMT's Mountain News & World Report, Benny Becker brings us stories of people who have Internet access and others who don’t, communities organizing to get better service, and training projects that help people use the Internet to create new jobs.