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Proposed Water Intake Facility Near New River: Headwaters Concerns Downstream Residents
Story by Linda Coutant One community’s demand for drinking water is causing angst among residents concerned about preserving the New River’s historic, environmental, recreational and economic future. It’s a common debate across North Carolina and other states as growing populations demand more from limited natural resources. The Town of Boone, located in Watauga County, N.C.,…
Read MoreWATER WARS OF THE SOUTH
Georgia, Alabama and Florida have been in court over the Chattahoochee River and the river’s Lake Lanier for decades. Water supply for Atlanta is the upstream issue; enough water for fisheries and shellfish, particularly in the Apalachicola Bay, is the downstream issue for Florida and Alabama. A federal court ruled in July that Congress would…
Read MoreProdigal Summer: Steamy and Smart Summer Reading
Story by Sarah Vig Appalachian author Barbara Kingsolver’s 2000 novel “Prodigal Summer” reads at times like a steamy romance, a natural history, and a family drama, and it is the best of all these things: sexy, smart, lovely, and at times deeply sad. The unlikely mixture of all these elements makes the book perfect for…
Read MoreBehold the Beautiful Butterfly
Monarch Migration Offers Teaching Opportunities Story by Marsha Walton Talk about endurance athletes! Monarch butterflies make human tri-athletes look like slackers. Millions of these beautiful insects (weighing less than two ounces as adults) embark on a spectacular 2000+-mile journey from the United States and Canada to spend winters on a few mountaintops in central Mexico.…
Read MoreWater Matters
Now more than ever, it’s a good time to think about the future of water in Appalachia and the Southeast. Experts warn that we will have to face declining quality and quantity of water due to expanding population, changing climate, mountaintop removal mining and other issues.The solutions may prove to be elusive, but rational planning…
Read MoreVoices from the Field: Citizen activists speak about what inspires them to stand up and take action
Lorelei Scarbro is no stranger to the economic support coal mining has brought to West Virginia. Her grandfather, father, and husband were all underground miners. She is also no stranger to its downsides. Black lung made her a widow before she turned 50, and now the threat of mountaintop removal mining, slurry impoundments, coal dust,…
Read MoreHow Country Became Contra: The American Social Dance
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 who brought the popular English Country Dances with them when they hopped the pond to…
Read MoreDancing 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 a while — after a slow, sad dance of grief — a grinning man in…
Read MoreOperation 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 designed to safely dispose of drugs and keep them out of the hands of children…
Read MoreVirginia 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 Council to have the Surry County Board of Supervisors serve as a planning commission to…
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