Front Porch Blog
Updates from Appalachia
New faces, fresh perspectives
We’re excited to welcome two new members to the Appalachian Voices team. Maya Viknius, born and raised in the Ukraine, brings a unique cultural perspective and nearly 20 years experience in accounting, while Leigh Kirchner, a first-generation college graduate with centuries-old roots in Appalachia, adds her regional know-how to our development team.
Focus on Appalachia’s future
The winds of change are blowing in Central Appalachia, carrying voices of people determined to see their communities thrive in a future where the coal industry no longer dominates. Executive Director Tom Cormons reflects on our achievements in 2015, including the opening of our new office in southwest Virginia where we have made tremendous progress engaging with local citizens to envision a new, sustainable economy.
Crowdsourcing Southwest Virginia’s New Economy
Appalachian Voices is on the ground in southwest Virginia, holding community forums and engaging with citizens from all walks of life to gather their hopes and visions for creating a new economy in the region. You might think of it as old-fashioned crowdsourcing. Soon, we’ll have an online, modern-day crowdsourcing platform to gather more ideas and details to help make these visions become reality.
North Carolina lawmakers put fracking first
Residents across North Carolina are looking to their local government officials to oppose fracking since pleas to decision makers in Raleigh have largely fallen on deaf ears. The town of Walnut Cove, N.C., and Rockingham County recently joined the small but growing list of localities where commissions of elected officials have passed anti-fracking moratoriums.
I heard it through the pipeline
From Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s perspective, it’s probably best to just keep a lid on what state officials say publicly about controversial natural gas pipelines proposed to cut through the state. But among opponents of the pipelines, the administration’s actions are only deepening skepticism of the governor and his relationship with the projects’ primary backers.
