Rethinking Retraining: Why Worker Training Programs Alone Won't Save Coal Country
By Becca Schimmel • Oct 8, 2019
Rebecca Kieger/Ohio Valley ReSource
Bobby Bowman mined coal in West Virginia for 12 years before his employer shut down.
"I don't think that mine will ever open again," he said.
Bowman lives in Welch, in the south of the state, where he worked at the Pinnacle Mine, which shut down almost exactly one year ago, putting him and about 400 others out of work. After waiting a month in hopes someone would buy Pinnacle and the mine would reopen, Bowman decided to do a four-week training program offered by the United Mine Workers Career Center.
Blackjewel Miners Likely To Receive Pay In DOL Deal
By Sydney Boles • Oct 3, 2019
Ned Pillersdof
The Department of Labor and a company associated with Blackjewel agreed this week to put nearly $5.75 million toward coal miners left unpaid in the company's chaotic bankruptcy.
Meet The Coal Town Betting Big On Outdoor Recreation
Standing on the breezy outlook at Flag Rock Recreation Area, Norton City Manager Fred Ramey is taking in the panoramic view of downtown Norton, Virginia. The brick building-lined streets are framed by the verdant, rolling Appalachian mountains. Jagged, brown scars from mountaintop mining operations can be seen in the distance, reminders of the region's history of coal production.
Former Blackjewel Miners End Railroad Blockade In Kentucky
By Sydney Boles • Sep 26, 2019
The nearly two-month blockade of a Kentucky railroad track is coming to an end as unpaid coal miners end their protest in order to take new jobs, start classes, or move away from their coal-dependent communities.
The VA Fired A Doctor For "Egregious" Misconduct. The Bevin Administration Hired Him
CFHS
Gov. Matt Bevin's administration hired a physician to lead the state's infectious disease office just months after the Department of Veterans Affairs dismissed that doctor for "egregious" medical misconduct.
Kentucky's Cabinet for Health and Family Services hired Dr. John "Mel" Bennett in the same month that the VA's Inspector General published a report highly critical of Bennett's actions.
Gov. Matt Bevin Doubts Climate Science, Calls Greta Thunberg 'Ill-Informed'
By Ryan Van Velzer • Sep 24, 2019
Governor Matt Bevin threw shade at 16-year-old environmental activist Greta Thunberg and continued to cast doubt on the science behind man-made climate change during a meeting of the Southern States Energy Board on Tuesday.
West Virginia employees of coal operator Blackjewel LLC have received their final paychecks more tha
The Burgess family received Greg's owed wages late last week, but is still waiting for the check to clear a bank hold. Blackjewel's bad check created a series of challenges. The first few unemployment checks the family received went straight to the bank to get the account out of the red. In total, Christina said Blackjewel's bankruptcy has cost her family about $3,000 in penalties and fees. Greg quickly found new work after the Pax Mine closed and the family had some money saved in preparation for a downturn in the local industry.
SOAR At Six: Group's Lofty Goals For Coal Country Meet Challenges On The Ground
In a conference hall in Pikeville, Kentucky, this September, Gov. Matt Bevin led an eager audience in a countdown. When the audience reached "One!," a map on the screen behind the governor lit up with the promise of a high-tech future.
After years of delay and scandal, major portions of the commonwealth's "middle mile" of high-speed internet were complete.
"There are so many negative haters, so many people who po
oh-pooh things and say this can't happen, it's not possible," Bevin told the crowd. "But I'll tell you what. We've never quit."
Congress Hears Testimony From Chemical Company Executives On PFAS Contamination
By Brittany Patterson & Brittany • Sep 11, 2019
Mary Meehan / WEKU.Fm and The Ohio Valley ReSource
Executives from three major chemical companies — DuPont de Nemours, Inc., The Chemours Company and The 3M Company — testified for the first time to Congress about widespread contamination from the group of nonstick, fluorinated chemicals broadly called PFAS.
The so-called "forever chemicals" persist in the environment, are linked to ill health effects, and have been found in numerous water systems in the Ohio Valley.
Mark Olalde
Coal Miners Call for 'Cease and Desist' From Amy McGrath Campaign
By Becca Schimmel • Sep 6, 2019
Two retired coal miners have sent a cease and desist letter to the U.S. Senate campaign of Amy McGrath. The retirees were shown in a campaign ad for the candidate.
Randy Robbins and Albrow Hall say they didn't know a video of them would be used for a political attack advertisement until after it was already being broadcast.
Coal Group Top User Of Loophole Allowing Mine Lands To Sit Idle
By Brittany Patterson • Sep 4, 2019
Standing at an overlook on the top of Black Mountain — the tallest point in Kentucky — the wooded Appalachian mountains stretch on like a sea of green for miles.
For many, this mountain is synonymous with the coal industry. It straddles the state line separating Harlan County, Kentucky and Wise County, Virginia, two communities that have long relied on mining the black gold contained in its depths.
On Labor Day, Miners Mark Historic Union March
By Emily Allen • Sep 3, 2019
Emily Allen
Ninety-eight years ago, thousands of pro-union miners marched toward West Virginia's Logan County, to protest abuses by coal operators in what was then a largely anti-union territory.
The marchers were met at Blair Mountain in Logan County by an army of men, fighting on behalf of anti-union mine guards and local law enforcement. The battle was so heated that then-president Warren Harding called in Army troops to restore order.
This Labor Day, present-day members of the United Mine Workers of America marched from Marmet in Kanawha County to Racine in Boone County, to commemorate what they say was one of the greatest events in the nation's labor history.
Meet the Little Green Clover That Beat the Odds
By Glynis Board • Sep 3, 2019
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is taking a rare species of plant found in the Ohio Valley off of the endangered species list. Amid controversial proposals to change the law protecting rare species, the Running Buffalo Clover is an example of a successful recovery. It joins about 2.5 percent of threatened and endangered species (42 species) that have been taken off the list, or delisted, due to recovery. There are still 1,663 U.S. plants and animals on the endangered species list.
Farmer Fatigue: Farmers Grow Weary Of Trade War, But Most Stick With Trump
By Liam Niemeyer • Aug 26, 2019
Tom Folz drives around on a sunny, August afternoon and surveys the thousands of acres of dark green, leafy soybean plants and tall stalks of corn he grows on his sprawling farm in Christian County, Kentucky.
At 54, Folz has wispy, white hair matching his white mustache. It's taken him several long work weeks to get his crop to where it is today.
"You got to be a little bit 'off' to be a farmer," Folz said. "You don't get to enjoy anything during harvest and planting season because we're working."
HIV Infection "Clusters" Put Focus On Harm Reduction Programs
By Mary Meehan • Aug 20, 2019
Health officials in Huntington, West Virginia, say a cluster of HIV infections has grown to 71 confirmed cases. That's in a city that usually sees about eight HIV infections in a year. As with an earlier such cluster in northern Kentucky, officials say the primary cause of infection is needle drug use.
Health officials say a harm reduction program is an effective tool against HIV infection. The programs usually offer a syringe exchange, access to addiction counseling, and health screening services such as HIV testing.
Trump Visits Shell Plastics Facility, Touts Petrochemical Future For Ohio Valley
President Donald Trump Tuesday toured Shell Chemical's soon-to-be completed ethane cracker complex in Monaca, Pennsylvania, to tout his administration's commitment to expanding energy production. The facility is part of what industry boosters hope will be a new plastics and chemical manufacturing base in the upper Ohio Valley, but many residents here worry about the heat-trapping gases and plastic waste such an industry would produce.
Mussel Woman: Biologist Passes Along Pearls Of Wisdom About Threatened Mussels By Brittany Patterson
By brittany patterson • Aug 6, 2019
Blackjewel Miners Continue Protest As Bankruptcy Hearing Looms
By Brittany Patterson & Sydney Boles • Aug 5, 2019
Miners left unpaid by the bankrupt Blackjewel coal company say they are prepared to keep up their protest on railroad tracks in Harlan County, Kentucky, where they are blocking delivery of a load of coal. As their protest grows and gains attention, a bankruptcy court hearing on Monday could determine whether and when the miners get their paychecks.
The blockade began simply enough Monday when five out-of-work miners organized via social media to block a coal train leaving one of the Blackjewel facilities.
Mussel Woman: Biologist Passes Along Pearls of Wisdom About Threatened Mussels
Brittany Patterson / Ohio Valley Resource
Janet Clayton is standing thigh-deep in a back channel of the Elk River. Clad in a wetsuit and knee pads, the silver-haired biologist with the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources reaches into a bright orange mesh bag submerged in water.
Inside are a half dozen mussels she plucked from the rocky river bottom.
"This is called a long solid," Clayton says. An earthy colored shell about the size of a computer mouse sits in the palm of her hand. "As it gets older it gets really long."
Ohio Valley Resource: Biologist Janet Clayton on Threatened Mussels, by Brittany Patterson.
ARC Awards Grant To Help Pave Road To Addiction Recovery
Aaron Payne, The Ohio Valley ReSource
The Appalachian Regional Commission has awarded a major grant to what it calls an innovative pilot program for a region hit hard by the addiction crisis.
Power Plant: How A Grass Might Generate Fuel And Help Fix Damaged Mine Lands
By Liam Niemeyer • Jul 30, 2019
Skytruth
West Virginia University Professor Jeff Skousen among giant miscanthus on an old mine site.Credit Brittany Patterson/OhioValleyReSourceEdit | RemoveDown bumpy back roads deep in central West Virginia, a flat, bright green pasture opens up among the rolling hills of coffee-colored trees.
How A Proposed SNAP Eligibility Revision Could Affect Ohio Valley Recipients
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced this week a proposal to tighten the rules on who qualifies for food stamps through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). USDA estimates more than three million people across the country would lose SNAP benefits in an effort to prevent fraud. Anti-hunger advocates in the Ohio Valley say the more than two million people in the region who use the benefits would be impacted.
As Disabled Miners Hit D.C., Lawmakers Introduce Bills To Fund Black Lung Benefits
By Sydney Boles • Jul 24, 2019
Democratic members of Congress introduced legislation Tuesday to provide additional funding for coal miners suffering from black lung. The bills came as a contingent of Appalachian miners afflicted with the disease lobbied lawmakers for more support.
"It doesn't only take your health. It takes your identity," Barry Johnson said of the disease. Johnson is a fourth-generation coal miner from Letcher County, Kentucky, who made the trip to Washington with his oxygen tank in tow.
Living Wage: Ohio Valley Workers, Employers React As House Votes For $15 Minimum Wage
Becca Schimmel
The U.S. House of Representatives voted Thursday to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, more than double the current $7.25 rate, which has not changed in a decade. The bill is unlikely to clear the Republican-controlled Senate, where Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky has said he will not take it up.
New Prescription: Ohio Valley Native Dr. Patrice Harris Is First Black Woman To Lead AMA
Dr. Patrice Harris took the oath in June to become the first African-American woman to serve as president of the powerful American Medical Association, the largest professional association for physicians in the United States.
Harris also brings another unique perspective to the task as someone who grew up in rural Appalachia.
"I was born and raised in Bluefield, West Virginia, in the heart of coal country," Harris said. "My father worked on the railroad. My mother taught school. So I have a unique and personal connection and understanding of the region."
She earned her undergraduate degree in psychology, a master's degree in counseling psychology and medical degree from West Virginia University. Though she has long practiced psychiatry in Atlanta, Georgia, she keeps her connection to the region with regular home visits and by serving on the WVU Foundation board.
"Death Spiral." How A Carbon Tax Could End Some Coal Towns…Or Create A New Future
Declining coal tax revenues place coal-reliant counties in Appalachia at risk of fiscal collapse, according to new research from the centrist Brookings Institution and Columbia University. Policies designed to prevent further climate change would accelerate that decline, the report found, but could also provide a new stream of revenue to help communities rebound from coal's demise.
The report published by Brookings and the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia quantified how much of a coal-producing county's budget came from coal, via severance taxes, property taxes, and contracts such as royalties and lease bonuses. Then authors analyzed what it might mean for those county governments if the U.S. instituted a modest price on carbon emissions. The report found that under such a policy, counties that are reliant on coal would be at risk of defaulting on bonds, failing to provide basic services such as waste removal or infrastructure maintenance, and even bankruptcy.
Minimum Wage Hike Would Have Major Effect In Ohio Valley
Steve Rhodes via Creative Commons
A new report from the Congressional Budget Office shows increasing the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour would boost the wages of 17 million workers and lift about 1.3 million people out of poverty. But the CBO warns that could also result in more than one million lost jobs and could diminish overall income for others.
Watershed Moment: "Ephemeral" Streams Debate Could Reshape Ohio Valley Waterways
By Liam Niemeyer • Jul 8, 2019
Soybean farmer Larry Thomas with an old tractor on his farm in Hardin County, KY.Credit Liam Niemeyer/Ohio Valley ReSourceEdit | Remove West Liberty University Professor Zachary Loughman has dedicated his professional life to crustaceans – specifically freshwater crayfish. He dips his hand into one of the water tanks at his laboratory near Wheeling, West Virginia, to pick up a teal crayfish the size of a dollar bill.