Jul 23 Energy & Environment As Disabled Miners Hit D.C., Lawmakers Introduce Bills To Fund Black Lung Benefits 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 […] By Sydney Boles Jul 23 Energy & Environment As Disabled Miners Hit D.C., Lawmakers Introduce Bills To Fund Black Lung Benefits Sydney Boles
Jul 19 Energy & Environment Coal Miners To Hit Capitol Hill For Black Lung Funding Dozens of Appalachian coal miners plan to visit Capitol Hill Tuesday to ask lawmakers to bolster funding for the black lung disability trust fund, which miners depend upon when no responsible company can be identified to pay for needed health care. The fund is already billions of dollars in debt, and that will likely grow […] By Sydney Boles Jul 19 Energy & Environment Coal Miners To Hit Capitol Hill For Black Lung Funding Sydney Boles
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 Becca Schimmel
Jul 17 Health New Data Show Opioid Deaths May Have Peaked, And Reveal Scale Of Past Pain Pill Sales Two newly released sets of government data show that the death toll from the nation’s opioid crisis may finally be dropping and also reveal the scale of the pain pill sales that help set the crisis in motion. The data for the Ohio Valley show how hard the region was hit and how hard people […] By Aaron Payne Jul 17 Health New Data Show Opioid Deaths May Have Peaked, And Reveal Scale Of Past Pain Pill Sales Aaron Payne
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 12 Health 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 job as someone who grew up in rural Appalachia. “I was born and […] By Aaron Payne Jul 12 Health New Prescription: Ohio Valley Native Dr. Patrice Harris Is First Black Woman To Lead AMA Aaron Payne
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 5 Agriculture Watershed Moment: “Ephemeral” Streams Debate Could Reshape Ohio Valley Waterways 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. “See the little guy dropping down? We caught mom […] By Liam Niemeyer Jul 5 Agriculture Watershed Moment: “Ephemeral” Streams Debate Could Reshape Ohio Valley Waterways Liam Niemeyer