Story by Sarah Vig To say contra is a dance craze would imply that it just came about recently or is going out of style. Neither of which seems to be true. Contra’s origins lie with the early American colonists…
Monthly Archives: August 2009
Dancing Appalachia’s Joys and Sorrows
Story by Bill Kovarik Dancers cling to each other and spread their hands in the air, like trees on an Appalachian mountainside. Then, explosions rock the stage, and erupt on a screen in the background. The dancers collapse, and, in…
Operation Medicine Cabinet: Saving the River and Kids from Drugs
Donna Lisenby, our Upper Watauga Riverkeeper, has teamed up with organizations in Watauga County, NC to offer the first ever prescription drug take-back day on Saturday, October 3 from 9 a.m. to noon. Dubbed Operation Medicine Cabinet, the event is…
Virginia Office Helps The Town of Dendron
To speed the approval process of a proposed 1500-megawatt coal-fired power plant in the small town of Dendron, Va., the Old Dominion Electric Cooperative (ODEC) and the pro-coal Surry County Board of Supervisors presented an ordinance to the Dendron Town…
Appalachian Coalfield Delegation Travels to Colombian Coal Region
(Part 1 of a 3 part series) Story by Sandra Diaz This June, I was fortunate enough to visit the Colombian coalfields with a delegation of people from across the U.S., including citizens from the Kentucky coalfields. The trip was…
On Pilot Mountain
Story by Joe Tennis Ask any fan of “The Andy Griffith Show” what mountain they remember hearing about most, and they’ll say Mount Pilot. Why, Andy Taylor and Barney Fife talked about going to Mount Pilot practically all the time.…
The Firefly Phenomena
Story by Alison Singer For me, the mystique of fireflies began in childhood. We went outside with our mason jars, captured the beckoning lights with open palms. We held them under our blankets, or sleeping bags, and watched their flickering…
Letters to the Editor
More News, Less Fluff Dear Editor, A number of years ago while visiting the Southern Appalachians for birding and botanizing, I picked up a copy of your newsletter and I have been an avid reader of it ever since. It…
Unequal Justice in the Coalfields
In the long and troubled history of Appalachia’s coal fields, violence between the industry and its critics in the labor and the environmental movements is not unusual. What needs to be understood now, however, is that the cycle of violence…
Another Coal Plant Goes Down
This Time in South Carolina — Today rate-payers and oxygen users can breathe a little easier, as the Santee Cooper company nixed its plans to build another coal plant in the state. A committee of the state-owned utility voted this…
