Mar 5 Economy Profiting Off Prisoners: State Inmates Mean Big Bucks for Local Jails Rural jails in Kentucky are increasingly relying on income derived from payments for holding state prisoners in county facilities, according to a new report by a think tank that advocates for criminal justice reform. To address overcrowding, states make payments to counties to hold convicted prisoners and pretrial detainees. States save money, and counties get […] By Sydney Boles Mar 5 Economy Profiting Off Prisoners: State Inmates Mean Big Bucks for Local Jails Sydney Boles
Feb 26 Economy Rural Broadband Funding Could Connect More Ohio Valley Communities To High-Speed Internet Vivian Livingood is the mayor of Gilbert, a southern West Virginia town of under 500 people that has struggled for years without reliable internet. Livingood said that hampers Gilbert’s tourism, businesses and schools. “We get kicked off the internet here every two minutes, and that’s if we can afford the internet,” Livingood said. “And it’s […] By Liam Niemeyer Feb 26 Economy Rural Broadband Funding Could Connect More Ohio Valley Communities To High-Speed Internet Liam Niemeyer
Feb 21 Economy New ARC Grants Combine Economic Recovery And Addiction Recovery The Appalachian Regional Commission announced Thursday another $22.8 million in funding to 33 projects aimed at revitalizing economies in places affected by the decline in the coal industry. The awards are the latest in the ARC’s POWER Initiative, an acronym for Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization. Congress has funded the initiative for […] By Jeff Young and Becca Schimmel Feb 21 Economy New ARC Grants Combine Economic Recovery And Addiction Recovery Jeff Young and Becca Schimmel
Feb 19 Economy Kentucky Project’s Demise Linked to International Fallout From Journalist’s Murder When battery manufacturer EnerBlu announced it would suspend plans for a new factory in Pikeville, Kentucky, the company used an intriguing phrase. “Unexpected geopolitical factors,” the company said, had soured the deal. According to a former executive at the company, those factors tied the rural eastern Kentucky development project to one of the world’s […] By Sydney Boles Feb 19 Economy Kentucky Project’s Demise Linked to International Fallout From Journalist’s Murder Sydney Boles
Feb 1 Economy Coal Comeback? Coal At New Low After Two Years Under Trump It’s been two years since President Donald Trump took office and began rolling back environmental regulations on the coal industry. At a November rally in Huntington, West Virginia, the president took credit for a coal comeback in front of a cheering crowd. “We’ve ended the war on beautiful, clean coal and we’re putting our coal […] By Brittany Patterson Feb 1 Economy Coal Comeback? Coal At New Low After Two Years Under Trump Brittany Patterson
Dec 14 Economy Census Data Show Some KY Counties Among Nation’s Poorest New data from the Census Bureau show eastern Kentucky is still struggling with poverty and lagging far behind national and state averages in terms of income. The Bureau’s latest American Community Survey shows Bell, Harlan and McCreary Counties have some of the lowest median household incomes in the United States. Of counties with 10,000 residents […] By Jeff Young and Alexandra Kanik Dec 14 Economy Census Data Show Some KY Counties Among Nation’s Poorest Jeff Young and Alexandra Kanik
Nov 15 Economy In Kentucky, Deregulation And Worker Safety Collide Business owner and political candidate Matt Bevin expressed disdain for OSHA regulations. Then, he became governor of Kentucky. Read this story, part of the series Fatal Flaws, an investigation by the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting, the Ohio Valley ReSource, and The Center for Public Integrity. By Eleanor Klibanoff Nov 15 Economy In Kentucky, Deregulation And Worker Safety Collide Eleanor Klibanoff
Nov 14 Economy Groups Say Smart Reclamation Of Mine Lands Could Be “Appalachia’s New Deal” From solar farms in Virginia to a green energy subdivision in Kentucky, a new report by a group of regional advocacy organizations highlights 20 ready-made projects across the Ohio Valley that could give abandoned mining operations that were never cleaned up a second life, and create new economic opportunity across the region. In the report, […] By Brittany Patterson Nov 14 Economy Groups Say Smart Reclamation Of Mine Lands Could Be “Appalachia’s New Deal” Brittany Patterson
Oct 19 Economy Pensions At The Polls: Will Concern Over Shaky Plans Show Up On Election Day? Thousands of union coal miners and their families gathered this summer in Columbus, Ohio, wielding signs and wearing camouflage United Mine Workers of America shirts. UMWA President Cecil Roberts led the crowd in a call-and-response chant. “I want you to send a loud, clear signal that we are one! We are one!” But the miners […] By Becca Schimmel Oct 19 Economy Pensions At The Polls: Will Concern Over Shaky Plans Show Up On Election Day? Becca Schimmel