Dec 16 Energy & Environment Fighting For Breath: Black Lung’s Deadliest Form Increases At the age of 38, a coal miner named Mackie Branham Jr. was diagnosed with progressive massive fibrosis, a debilitating and terminal form of an illness that was supposed to be a disease of the past — black lung. But Branham is among many miners afflicted by a resurgence in the disease, and officials are […] By Benny Becker Dec 16 Energy & Environment Fighting For Breath: Black Lung’s Deadliest Form Increases Benny Becker
May 4 Energy & Environment Coal and COVID-19: Lung Impairment Makes Miners Especially Vulnerable To Coronavirus Underground coal miners start their shifts getting changed in closely packed changing rooms. They ride rail cars to their worksite, shoulder-to-shoulder, sometimes for more than an hour. And once they’re underground, ventilation designed to tamp down coal dust blows air through the mine. All that makes a coal mine the kind of place where the […] By Sydney Boles May 4 Energy & Environment Coal and COVID-19: Lung Impairment Makes Miners Especially Vulnerable To Coronavirus Sydney Boles
Mar 27 Economy ‘There’s Going To Be Something Better for Him’: Former Blackjewel Miners Reflect on Changes in Coal Country On a blistering August afternoon in Cumberland, Kentucky, David Pratt, Jr. stood in the middle of a two-lane highway, holding a sign that read “COAL MINERS AND TRUCKERS AGAINST CORPORATE AMERICA.” A few yards away, his father, David Pratt Sr., who is graying but still muscular, leaned back in a lawn chair perched precariously on […] By Sydney Boles Mar 27 Economy ‘There’s Going To Be Something Better for Him’: Former Blackjewel Miners Reflect on Changes in Coal Country Sydney Boles
Dec 6 Health Mountain Air: Youth Help Identify Causes Of Ohio Valley’s High Lung Disease Rates Isabella Back, 18, pulls her jacket tight around herself as she crosses the gravel driveway. “So we’re going about 10 feet from my house to my dad’s workshop,” she says, and pushes through a door in a big, red barn. The Kona, Kentucky, shop is crowded with cluttered work tables and hulking machines, and the […] By Sydney Boles Dec 6 Health Mountain Air: Youth Help Identify Causes Of Ohio Valley’s High Lung Disease Rates Sydney Boles
Aug 9 Economy “Bloody Harlan” Revisited: Blackjewel Miners Draw On Labor History While Facing Uncertain Future Curtis Cress sat in the gravel beside a railroad track in Harlan County, Kentucky. Tall and thin with a long, black beard, Cress is every bit a coal miner, or, he was until a month ago. “It’s part of my heritage, you know? My dad and papaws had always done it,” he said. “And I’m […] By Sydney Boles Aug 9 Economy “Bloody Harlan” Revisited: Blackjewel Miners Draw On Labor History While Facing Uncertain Future Sydney Boles
Jun 9 Energy & Environment Federal mine safety agency to increase silica dust inspections The U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration announced it’s going to start cracking down on coal mines that expose workers to harmful levels of silica dust. It also seeks to educate miners about their rights — known as “Part 90 rights” — to a safe workplace. For decades, researchers, mine safety advocates and the National Institute […] By Katie Myers and Justin Hicks Jun 9 Energy & Environment Federal mine safety agency to increase silica dust inspections Katie Myers and Justin Hicks
Sep 10 Energy & Environment Shouldering Coal’s Costs: Uncertain Future for Programs Addressing Coal Industry Health Impacts Bennett Quillen walks through a late August downpour check on his fall crop, and sees that his greasy beans are coming ripe. He learned how to farm from his father, and he’s determined to model environmental stewardship for his community. “I believe in taking care of the land,” Quillen says. “I want to leave the […] By Katie Myers Sep 10 Energy & Environment Shouldering Coal’s Costs: Uncertain Future for Programs Addressing Coal Industry Health Impacts Katie Myers
Jun 17 Resource Shift Five Years Of The Ohio Valley ReSource The Ohio Valley ReSource marks its fifth anniversary this month. With your help, this collaboration among seven public media stations in three states is still doing the job it set out to do in June, 2016: to tell the untold stories in the under-served parts of our region. On June 17, 2016, the ReSource published […] By Jeff Young Jun 17 Resource Shift Five Years Of The Ohio Valley ReSource Jeff Young
May 6 Impact Ohio Valley ReSource Work Recognized With Regional Murrow Awards Ohio Valley ReSource reporters and their colleagues at partner stations won two regional Edward R. Murrow Awards from the Radio Television Digital News Association, or RTDNA, which is the world’s largest professional organization devoted to broadcast and digital journalism. The winning stories focused on a Kentucky town in a moment of reckoning over its racist […] By Staff May 6 Impact Ohio Valley ReSource Work Recognized With Regional Murrow Awards Staff
Apr 20 Energy & Environment Mine Workers’ Leader Wants To Save Last Coal Jobs As Biden Tackles Climate United Mine Workers of America President Cecil Roberts said he’s been hearing the term “just transition” tossed around for more than 20 years as part of the long-running, nearly Sisyphean discussion about climate change, clean energy, and coal country. Simply put: he’s not a fan. “I ask anybody who has been uttering those two words […] By Jeff Young Apr 20 Energy & Environment Mine Workers’ Leader Wants To Save Last Coal Jobs As Biden Tackles Climate Jeff Young