Dec 15 Coronavirus KY Gov. Beshear Warns Against Holiday Travel As COVID Surge Stresses Hospitals With holidays approaching, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear asked people to avoid leisure travel as he announced 2,946 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday. Beshear also met Tuesday with White House appointed Coronavirus Response Coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx, who said that Kentucky’s COVID-19 efforts have saved lives. Dr. Steven Stack, commissioner of the Department for Public […] By Corinne Boyer Dec 15 Coronavirus KY Gov. Beshear Warns Against Holiday Travel As COVID Surge Stresses Hospitals Corinne Boyer
Nov 20 Coronavirus Ohio Valley Economic Outlook Grim As COVID Aid Programs End With hundreds of thousands across the Ohio Valley struggling to make ends meet, a suite of coronavirus aid packages, including rent and utility relief funding, eviction moratoriums, and expanded unemployment benefits, is set to expire at the end of December. The consequences could be far-reaching. Poverty rates have soared as some federal programs, including the […] By Sydney Boles Nov 20 Coronavirus Ohio Valley Economic Outlook Grim As COVID Aid Programs End Sydney Boles
Nov 5 Democracy & Civic Life Ohio Valley Lawmakers React to Trump’s False Statements Undermining The Election Polls had barely closed in the U.S. when President Donald Trump falsely alleged voter fraud and claimed prematurely to have won the election, saying “We will win this, and as far as I’m concerned, we already have won it.” The results of the election had not yet been called, and the counting of legally cast […] By Sydney Boles Nov 5 Democracy & Civic Life Ohio Valley Lawmakers React to Trump’s False Statements Undermining The Election Sydney Boles
Nov 3 Energy & Environment Coal Education Group Pivots to Entrepreneurship An eastern Kentucky nonprofit that has long promoted coal to school kids is now promoting innovation and entrepreneurship instead. Pikeville-based CEDAR Inc. was founded in 1993 with the purpose of “improving the image of the Coal Industry.” It did this through programs like the annual Coal Fair and a coal education curriculum provided to qualifying […] By Sydney Boles Nov 3 Energy & Environment Coal Education Group Pivots to Entrepreneurship Sydney Boles
Oct 30 Health Across The Ohio Valley, States Report Record Number Of COVID-19 Cases In the last weeks of October, parts of the Ohio Valley saw coronavirus records broken almost every day. In the Ohio Valley, Kentucky and Ohio set new records for hospitalizations due to COVID-19, and Kentucky reported the most positive cases in a single week since the pandemic began — 9,335. West Virginia, which has been […] By Corinne Boyer Oct 30 Health Across The Ohio Valley, States Report Record Number Of COVID-19 Cases Corinne Boyer
Oct 2 Democracy & Civic Life New Appalachian Journalism Outlets Tackle Stereotypes, Media Economy It wasn’t too long ago that Michael Farmer, a pastor in Charleston, West Virginia, received an email asking him a question that was already on his mind: “As a Black Southern Baptist pastor in West Virginia, what is my role in telling our stories?” The email was from Ashton Marra, the managing digital editor of […] By Sydney Boles Oct 2 Democracy & Civic Life New Appalachian Journalism Outlets Tackle Stereotypes, Media Economy Sydney Boles
Sep 2 Economy Former Blackjewel Miners Could Get More Money From Proposed Settlement A proposed $17.3 million settlement of a class action lawsuit would provide additional payment for hundreds of Appalachian coal miners who were suddenly left jobless by the abrupt bankruptcy of the Blackjewel mining company. The settlement must be approved by the judge overseeing the complicated Blackjewel bankruptcy case. Although it is not yet final, attorneys […] By Jeff Young Sep 2 Economy Former Blackjewel Miners Could Get More Money From Proposed Settlement Jeff Young
Aug 12 Energy & Environment Federal PAC Donations Show Ohio Valley Lawmakers Raked In Thousands From Utility FirstEnergy Lawmakers from across the Ohio Valley have received nearly half a million dollars in campaign contributions from 2019-2020 from a political action committee associated with FirstEnergy Corp., the electric utility implicated in a $61 million bribery and racketeering scheme related to Ohio’s controversial energy bill that bailed out several struggling nuclear and coal plants. FirstEnergy’s […] By Brittany Patterson Aug 12 Energy & Environment Federal PAC Donations Show Ohio Valley Lawmakers Raked In Thousands From Utility FirstEnergy Brittany Patterson
Jul 24 Democracy & Civic Life Power Failure: A Massive Bribery Scheme Could Change Ohio Valley Energy Systems One of the country’s largest investor-owned electric utilities, with a large presence in the Ohio Valley, has emerged at the center of a $60 million bribery and racketeering scheme related to Ohio’s controversial energy bill that bailed out several struggling nuclear and coal plants On Tuesday, federal investigators arrested one of Ohio’s top lawmakers, House […] By Brittany Patterson Jul 24 Democracy & Civic Life Power Failure: A Massive Bribery Scheme Could Change Ohio Valley Energy Systems Brittany Patterson
Jul 19 Health Surging Coronavirus Cases Threaten To Derail Reopening In Ohio Valley At the Community Farmers Market in Bowling Green, Kentucky, vendors and shoppers are adjusting to the new normal during the coronavirus pandemic. That includes wearing face coverings, maintaining distance, and taking other precautions to avoid spreading the virus. Market manager Susan Warrell said their first days under the state’s recent mask mandate were a challenge, […] By Aaron Payne Jul 19 Health Surging Coronavirus Cases Threaten To Derail Reopening In Ohio Valley Aaron Payne