The Appalachian Voice
Editorial
Jobs? What mining jobs? That strange noise coming from Appalachia’s coal fields is the sound that the truth makes when it is being mercilessly twisted. In rallies and op-ed essays this spring, the “friends of coal” have focused on a consistent theme: Jobs. A good many Appalachian politicians, union leaders and business leaders are claiming…
Read MoreBlair Mountain: New Archeological Data Heats up Mine Wars
images/voice_uploads/june_o7/circle_blair.gif Like his grandfather, Kenny King figured he just had to do something. Hallowed ground was about to be clearcut, bulldozed, and blasted down to rubble. The site of the 1921 Battle of Blair Mountain battle between miners and coal company forces would be gone forever. “I just hated to see it be destroyed,” he…
Read MoreA Week in Washington
On Sunday, May 13th, over 100 concerned citizens from 19 states took time out of their busy schedules to come together in Washington DC to learn more about mountaintop removal, and then how to lobby their members of Congress on legislation that would greatly curtail the amount of mountaintop removal coal mining. A variety of…
Read MoreThe Cascades of Appalachia
images/voice_uploads/IMG_4236_.gif You can’t help but fall in love with The Cascades – or that special person who accompanied you on the two-mile hike getting there. The natural beauty of Little Stony Creek is so terrifically tantalizing that even folks who don’t like to hike will want to make this journey. First, there’s the music. It’s…
Read MoreVoice Volunteers Make It Happen
Ever wonder what the main driving force is behind getting the Appalachian Voice to your local news rack? Literally, an all volunteer force drives its distribution, by helping to deliver papers to various locations. How does the Appalachian Voice get distributed across the central and southern Appalachian region? The Voice is unique in the fact…
Read MoreNews Briefs
New Chief Dooms Roadless Areas In June, newly appointed Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth announced that commercial logging and road construction can resume on National Forest roadless areas with his permission. Bosworth also announced his intention to make roadless area protection subject to the forest planning process. Under existing forest plans, 50% of all roadless…
Read MoreLetters to the Editor
Dear Editor, I appreciated your article on “modern day midwives.” I am glad to see more publicity given to natural birth and midwifery. In today’s technological environment, it is often hard to have a birth free of IVs, continuous monitoring, etc. unless one delivers outside the hospital. The statistics provided by Ms. Bellebuono accurately reflect…
Read MoreLetters to the Editor
Dear Editor This letter is an appeal to the residents of this state to rise to the task of preventing an unfortunate, and disgraceful assault on some new residents of our state: the bald eagle. The first time I was privileged enough to see these magnificent birds was early in the summer of 1998. My…
Read MoreAcross Appalachia
South Carolina: Steelworkers Oppose DuPont’s Bid to Clean up Savannah Nuclear Site The United Steel Workers (USW) have come out in opposition to DuPont’s effort to secure a $7.5 billion Dept. of Energy (DOE) contract to manage and clean up the Savannah River nuclear weapons site near Aiken, SC. In a letter to Samuel Bodman,…
Read MoreLetters
Dear Appalachian Voice, I am enclosing with this letter a picture of my grandson. I wish I could show it to all of those greedy people here who are taking our forests, our mountains, and just destroying it all. I pray that one day he won’t have to wear a gas mask and say, “Granddad,…
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