Across Appalachia
Quarry Opposition in Ky.
By Amber Ellis Citizens in Powell County, Ky., are not taking kindly to the threat of a new rock quarry atop Furnace Mountain courtesy of Red River Materials. More than 150 people discussed their questions and concerns at a public forum in April, but many left unsatisfied. They responded by creating a petition to stop…
Read More“Hollow” Documentary Wins Award
By Kelsey Boyajian Throughout “Hollow,” an interactive online documentary, the lush hills of Appalachia are juxtaposed beside stripped mountaintops. Through the stories of 30 individuals living in rural McDowell County, W.Va., director and producer Elaine McMillion uses a combination of web and film to spotlight the history and aspirations of the county’s 21,000 residents, and…
Read MoreProgress for Tennessee Wilderness
By Molly Moore Efforts to preserve wild lands in East Tennessee took a step forward this spring when a bill to designate nearly 20,000 acres in the Cherokee National Forest as wilderness passed the Senate Agriculture Committee. First introduced by Tennessee Republican Senators Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker in 2010, the Tennessee Wilderness Act would…
Read MoreDoubts Follow Elk River Contamination
By Kimber Ray Four months after a Freedom Industries chemical tank contaminated the water of approximately 300,000 West Virginia residents this past January, only 36 percent of those residents were drinking their tap water, according a survey released in May by the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department. The affected private utility, West Virginia American Water Company, is…
Read MoreCommunities Pursue Revitalization Plans
By Carvan Craft Convenient access to local food can be a rare commodity in rural communities. Thanks to the Appalachian Livable Communities grant program, founded in 2012, five Appalachian communities will receive a shared total of $375,000 to help make local food projects a reality. The grant will fund a new agricultural education facility for…
Read MoreAppalachian States Debate Hemp Legalization
By Nolen Nychay The legal hemp farming debate has come to Appalachia. The much-debated Farm Bill President Obama signed into law in February included a “hemp amendment,” which permitted the regulated cultivation of industrial hemp in states that have legalized hemp farming. Hemp is a cash crop in the cannabis family that, despite lacking most…
Read MoreTennessee Invests in Main Street
By Nolen Nychay The Main Street Festival of Gallatin, Tenn., celebrates its 16th anniversary this October, keeping community traditions alive with local music and homemade food and craft vendors. Last year, the event drew more than 25,000 visitors looking to enjoy the rustic charm that the small communities of Tennessee pride themselves on. The Greater…
Read MoreCherokee Tribe Works to Replenish Deer Population
By Kelsey Boyajian On the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation’s Qualla Boundary in western North Carolina, white-tailed deer are a rare species. The population was depleted in the late eighteenth century during the peak of the fur trade, but today, efforts are being made to restore the deer population — plentiful in the rest…
Read MoreNorth Carolina to Set Precedent in Superfund Litigation
By Kimber Ray In January, the Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments in a case that will impact victims of toxic Superfund sites across the country. The Superfund program, created in 1980, is a federal initiative designed to address the nation’s most high-priority hazardous waste sites. Long-term exposure to chemicals and heavy metals migrating from…
Read MoreA Call For Justice: The People’s Pastoral
By Kimber Ray The collective voice of the world rises up — from the people of Appalachia’s hills and hollers, from the rich diversity of global communities, and from the air, water and land of Earth itself. The Catholic Committee of Appalachia and Jeannie Kirkhope, administrative director of the CCA, hope to gather this call…
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