appalachia

Filmmaker Presents Ideas for Developing Post-Coal Appalachian Economy

Erica Peterson — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 10:30:00 +0000

A filmmaker in North Carolina is working on a documentary that juxtaposes the coalfields of Appalachia with those of another area: Wales. He’ll present some of his findings for revitalizing a community after coal at a meeting this week.

Discussing the Black Lung Resurgence in Appalachia

Brad Yost — Sun, 15 Jul 2012 12:01:23 +0000

Friday on WFPL's Byline, our environment reporter Erica Peterson spent some time with NPR reporter Howard Berkes and Chris Hamby with the Center for Public Integrity. They’ve been investigating a serious resurgence in black lung disease in Appalachia in a series of reports and features made public last week.

State Uses Helicopters to Watch Mines

The Associated Press and Cameron Price — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 16:50:19 +0000

State government inspectors have been using aerial surveillance to watch coal operators in central Appalachia.

Helicopter flights have cost The Kentucky Division of Mine Reclamation and Enforcement more than $477,000 over the past four years, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.

News of the flyovers surprised mining industry leaders, including Kentucky Coal Association President Bill Bissett, who protested the covert nature of the inspections and questioned their effectiveness.

ArtPlace Grant Awarded to Harlan County Theater Project

Erin Keane — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 16:52:32 +0000

The Appalachian Program at Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College in Cumberland has produced original plays about prescription drug abuse, life in the coal mines and how young people decide to stay or leave Harlan County after graduation. The program compiles oral histories and interviews with Harlan County residents and turns them into plays about the present and future of Eastern Kentucky.<

Growing Up Gay in Appalachia: Whit Forrester, Defining Fairness

Laura Ellis — Wed, 30 May 2012 10:30:00 +0000

The thought of growing up gay in rural Eastern Kentucky would make many Louisvillians cringe. But how much of that reaction is rooted in stereotypes we hold about rural Kentucky? Whit Forrester spent some of his childhood in Leburn, Kentucky—a town in Knott County, with a population of around eight hundred people. Whit says when people hear he's from Appalachia, they think, "barefoot, pregnant, in a trailer, and you know how to change a propane tank."