Dec 20 Health Sensitive Santa: A Kinder, Gentler Kringle For Kids With Special Needs I’m not usually one to name-drop but my brother Pat Meehan is Santa Claus. A real, professional Santa. Sitting in his home office fresh from work, he’s wearing black suspenders and a red T-shirt. There at least six other Santa outfits in his closet including beach Santa. His thick, white beard (yes, a real one) […] By Mary Meehan Dec 20 Health Sensitive Santa: A Kinder, Gentler Kringle For Kids With Special Needs Mary Meehan
Dec 19 Health Still, They Persist: Black Lung Advocates Demonstrate At McConnell’s KY Office With just days left before a Congressional deadline, advocates for black lung treatment are still pushing Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell to secure funding for miners’ benefits. About two dozen people demonstrated Wednesday near McConnell’s regional office in London, Kentucky, carrying placards reading “Black Lung Kills” and singing along with a banjo tune modified for the […] By Sydney Boles Dec 19 Health Still, They Persist: Black Lung Advocates Demonstrate At McConnell’s KY Office Sydney Boles
Dec 18 Health Data Dives And Shoe Leather: How NPR’s Howard Berkes Investigated Appalachia’s Black Lung Epidemic NPR is reporting that more than two thousand coal miners are now suffering from the most severe form of black lung disease, Progressive Massive Fibrosis, or PMF. And despite clear warnings, investigative reporter Howard Berkes shows, the mining industry and government regulators did little to stop it. Data loom large in this story: Berkes took a […] By Jeff Young Dec 18 Health Data Dives And Shoe Leather: How NPR’s Howard Berkes Investigated Appalachia’s Black Lung Epidemic Jeff Young
Dec 18 Health Amid Black Lung Surge Pulmonary Rehab Brings Hope To Disabled Miners Marcy Tate grew up in southwest Virginia in a coal mining family. “My father-in-law was a coal miner, my father was a coal miner, my grandfather was a coal miner, my great-grandfather was a coal miner,” she said. Tate knew what black lung disease looked like. In 2003, her father-in-law passed away from what Tate […] By Sydney Boles Dec 18 Health Amid Black Lung Surge Pulmonary Rehab Brings Hope To Disabled Miners Sydney Boles
Dec 14 Health Black Lung, Red Ink: Residents Press McConnell As Deadline Looms For Black Lung Fund On a cool but clear November day about a dozen residents from eastern Kentucky’s coal mining region crowded into the lobby of an office building in the small town of London, Kentucky. That’s where Kentucky’s powerful senior senator, Mitch McConnell, has his local field office. McConnell’s staff let the local advocates for black lung treatment […] By Becca Schimmel and Sydney Boles Dec 14 Health Black Lung, Red Ink: Residents Press McConnell As Deadline Looms For Black Lung Fund Becca Schimmel and Sydney Boles
Dec 10 Health Digging For Answers: New Report Points To Industry Obfuscation Of Mining’s Health Effects Jason Walker spends $50 per month on bottled water. He spends three hours each week standing by the small stream that runs near his house, pumping creek water into a thousand-gallon tank. “You have to catch the creek at the right time, when it’s clear,” Walker said. “Whatever you pump, whatever the creek looks like, […] By Sydney Boles Dec 10 Health Digging For Answers: New Report Points To Industry Obfuscation Of Mining’s Health Effects Sydney Boles
Nov 29 Health CDC Data Show Ohio Valley Still Has Nation’s Highest Overdose Death Rates New federal data show the Ohio Valley again led the nation in rates of fatal drug overdoses last year. The data confirm what local officials have reported: Synthetic opioids are fueling the increase. West Virginia had the nation’s highest rate of fatal drug overdoses in 2017 with 57.8 deaths per 100,000 people. Ohio had the […] By Aaron Payne Nov 29 Health CDC Data Show Ohio Valley Still Has Nation’s Highest Overdose Death Rates Aaron Payne
Nov 23 Health “A Failure Of Public Health.” Sexually Transmitted Diseases Rise As Health Budgets Fall Health officials are tracking record-breaking rates of sexually transmitted disease, including a resurgence of some infections which had been considered rare, such as gonorrhea and syphilis. These STDs are on the rise amid cuts to public health budgets dedicated to testing, prevention, and public outreach. In the Ohio Valley, for example, a review of state and […] By Mary Meehan Nov 23 Health “A Failure Of Public Health.” Sexually Transmitted Diseases Rise As Health Budgets Fall Mary Meehan
Nov 15 Health 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 Health In Kentucky, Deregulation And Worker Safety Collide Eleanor Klibanoff