Economy Archives - Ohio Valley ReSource

Jul 18

Economy

Living Wage: Ohio Valley Workers, Employers React As House Votes For $15 Minimum Wage

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 […]

By Becca Schimmel

Jul 18

Economy

Living Wage: Ohio Valley Workers, Employers React As House Votes For $15 Minimum Wage

By Becca Schimmel

Jul 15

Economy

“Death Spiral.” How A Carbon Tax Could End Some Coal Towns … Or Fund 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 […]

By Sydney Boles

Jul 15

Economy

“Death Spiral.” How A Carbon Tax Could End Some Coal Towns … Or Fund A New Future

Sydney Boles

Jul 10

Economy

Laid-Off Employees Of Bankrupt Blackjewel Mining Seek Pay, Answers

Patrick Fitchpatrick has worked at Blackjewel’s D-11 coal mine in Cumberland, Kentucky, for more than a year. He said he enjoyed the work right up until he was told not to come in last Monday. “Everything was smooth sailing and then one day it just all goes to hell,” he said. The country’s sixth-largest coal […]

By Brittany Patterson and Sydney Boles

Jul 10

Economy

Laid-Off Employees Of Bankrupt Blackjewel Mining Seek Pay, Answers

Brittany Patterson and Sydney Boles

Jul 9

Economy

Minimum Wage Hike Would Have Major Effect In Ohio Valley

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 […]

By Becca Schimmel

Jul 9

Economy

Minimum Wage Hike Would Have Major Effect In Ohio Valley

Becca Schimmel

Jul 3

Economy

Judge Approves $5M Loan To Ailing Blackjewel Coal, But CEO Hoops Is Out

Kentucky’s Attorney General said on Friday he is investigating complaints from miners who say they are not receiving pay following the fast-moving bankruptcy negotiations for Blackjewel mining, which employs some 1100 people in Central Appalachia. Attorney General Andy Beshear said in a statement he has received “numerous troubling complaints” related to the company, “ranging from […]

By Brittany Patterson

Jul 3

Economy

Judge Approves $5M Loan To Ailing Blackjewel Coal, But CEO Hoops Is Out

Brittany Patterson

Jun 28

Economy

My Cold Kentucky Home: Coal Country Turning To Solar As Heating And Housing Costs Climb

Joe Oliver and Tony Brown peered into the dark crawl space beneath a Letcher County, Kentucky, home. Already, they could see problems. The crawl space had been blocked off with just a thin sheet of plywood; the posts supporting the house rested on uneven blobs of poured concrete; the whole place reeked of mold. A […]

By Sydney Boles

Jun 28

Economy

My Cold Kentucky Home: Coal Country Turning To Solar As Heating And Housing Costs Climb

Sydney Boles

Jun 25

Economy

New Economic Data Show Appalachia’s Struggles Amid Coal’s Decline

An annual report from the Appalachian Regional Commission shows that while Appalachia is seeing some economic improvement, the heart of the region and its coal-producing communities are still struggling. Several counties in the Ohio Valley are moving in a negative direction in this year’s report. The ARC report evaluates the Appalachian region using county-level data […]

By Becca Schimmel

Jun 25

Economy

New Economic Data Show Appalachia’s Struggles Amid Coal’s Decline

Becca Schimmel

Jun 13

Economy

Feds Cite Environmental Challenges, Stall East Kentucky Prison Project

A federal agency confirmed Wednesday plans to withdraw its commitment to build a new prison in eastern Kentucky. “Given new information received, additional analysis should be undertaken to determine if there are significant new circumstances or information relevant to environmental concerns on the proposed action,” the BOP said in the email to the Ohio Valley […]

By Sydney Boles

Jun 13

Economy

Feds Cite Environmental Challenges, Stall East Kentucky Prison Project

Sydney Boles

May 31

Economy

Powering Down: Ohio Community Reckons With Coal Plant Closure

Brick buildings line the wide sidewalks of Main Street in downtown Coshocton, Ohio. On a recent spring day the dogwood trees are blooming. Bright red and white tulips dot the grassy public square, home to the local courthouse and a gazebo. There are barber shops, an optometrist, a florist, a railroad-themed steakhouse is open for […]

By Brittany Patterson

May 31

Economy

Powering Down: Ohio Community Reckons With Coal Plant Closure

Brittany Patterson

May 24

Economy

ARC POWER Grant Recipients Meet To Discuss Economic Development

Recipients of grants from the Appalachian Regional Commission’s Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization, or POWER Initiative, gathered in Athens, Ohio, Wednesday and Thursday to share their experiences. Representatives from many of the 185 ongoing POWER projects shared how they’re using their funds to diversify the economies in communities hit by the decline […]

By Aaron Payne

May 24

Economy

ARC POWER Grant Recipients Meet To Discuss Economic Development

Aaron Payne