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Internationally renowned author and farmer, Kentuckian Wendell Berry, has taken back personal papers he donated to the University of Kentucky. The prolific writer made the decision after his Alma Mater, where he also taught for 19 years, named a basketball dormitory the “Wildcat Coal Lodge.” “The University’s president and board have solemnized an alliance with…

The Watauga Riverkeeper Festival is THIS SATURDAY! Come out on July 24, from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. at the Community Park in Valle Crucis, N.C.! Enjoy a day of outdoor recreation and a celebration of the river with live music, games, food and if the river is running—a float down the wild and wonderful…

News broke today that former Congressman and West Virginia Secretary of State Ken Hechler has also filed to run for the vacated Senate seat of the late Robert C. Byrd. Representative Capito, meanwhile, has announced that she will not be seeking the seat. Hechler stated this morning: I don’t want to make it a campaign…

West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin announced this morning that he is making a bid for the late Robert Byrd’s Senate seat. There will be an August 28 primary and a November 2 general election for the vacated seat, and the winner of the election will take over for Carte Goodwin – Manchin’s temporary appointee. Speculation…

Over the weekend, polluted runoff from the BB&T parking lot on Highway 105 in Boone, NC killed all life in a 1.5 mile long stretch of Hodge’s Creek. The incident was caused by a toxic asphalt sealant that a careless contractor failed to keep from entering the creek during rainfall on Saturday. Of the many…

Make sure you don’t miss today’s NPR article about methane monitors being disabled at Massey’s Upper Big Branch mine. From the article: An NPR News investigation has documented an incident in February 2010 in which an Upper Big Branch electrician was ordered to circumvent the automatic shutoff mechanism on a methane detector installed on a…

An unannounced change in the EPA’s web page for Coal Combustion Products Partnership (C2P2) may signal a shift in the agency’s stance on reusing toxic coal ash for “beneficial reuse.” Since July 2, 2010 the informational page has been blank except for a lone note: “The Coal Combustion Products Partnerships (C2P2) program Web pages have…

Mountain Justice Photo Yesterday, activists with Climate Ground Zero and Mountain Justice locked themselves to a piece of mining equipment called a highwall miner on Coal River Mountain at Massey Energy’s Bee Tree Surface Mine. Colin Flood and Katie Huszcza locked themselves to the machine in order to raise awareness of the threats Massey is…

Junior Walk of Coal River Mountain Watch joined me on the recent Pennsylvania Appalachian Treasures Tour. Junior is from the Coal River Valley, attended Marsh Fork Elementary School, worked at prep plant, and was a security guard on a mountaintop removal mine. Oh, and by the way he is only twenty years old. At all…

Less than two weeks left until our Watauga Riverkeeper Festival. Come out on July 24, from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. at the Community Park in Valle Crucis, N.C.! Enjoy a day of outdoor recreation and a celebration of the river with live music, games, food and if the river is running—a float down the…