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Appalachia 2050

2/27/2014

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Appalachia 2050 is an hour long documentary created by Prestonsburg, Kentucky, native Ralph Davis exploring possible solutions to the difficulties faced by many communities and towns in the Appalachian region, with a primary focus upon eastern Kentucky. Various individuals with ties to eastern Kentucky were interviewed, highlighting Davis' attempt to promote change within the region through the ideas of the people. For more details on the documentary, click here.
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The Weekly Links

2/22/2014

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Comer To Announce Marketing Effort Aimed At Boosting Eastern Ky.'s Agricultural Potential
"The words 'Eastern Kentucky' might bring to mind mountains, unemployed coal miners and economic hardship, but Agriculture Commissioner James Comer would like to replace that image with tomatoes, apples and bees. 'It's not a very big agriculture region, but it can be,' Comer said during an interview Friday. 'I think there's a lot of opportunity there.' On Monday, Comer will unveil a regional marketing initiative that builds on the Kentucky Department of Agriculture's Kentucky Proud branding efforts."
Pike County Expanding Jail's Drug Rehab Program
"Officials in eastern Kentucky are moving forward with a project to expand drug rehabilitation at the Pike County jail. Officials told the Appalachian News-Express that the initiative to turn part of the former Pike County Hall of Justice into a rehabilitation area would more than double the room for participants. Magistrates approved an agreement this month that allows work on the $2.4 million project to proceed."
Rev. Jamie Coots, Co-Star of ‘Snake Salvation,’ Dies After Snakebite
"The Rev. Jamie Coots, 42, one of two serpent-handling Pentecostal preachers who starred last fall in the National Geographic Channel’s reality TV show 'Snake Salvation,' often admitted during the 16-part series that one of the poisonous reptiles he handled might be the death of him. This past Saturday night, one was. While handling snakes during a regular Saturday night service at his church, the Full Gospel Tabernacle in Jesus’ Name, in Middlesboro, Ky., the pastor was bitten on his right hand by a rattlesnake. Less than two hours later, he was dead."
Snake Handling Has Roots In Appalachia
Bill Requiring Prescription For Meth Ingredient Advances In W.Va.; Tenn. Governor Has Limits Bill
"Methamphetamine is a growing problem in West Virginia, so its Senate Judiciary Committee approved a bill to require a prescription to buy cold medications that contain pseudoephedrine, a key ingredients in making meth, Eric Eyre reports for The Charleston Gazette.  Oregon and Mississippi are the only states with such laws. A bill for one in Indiana died this month. Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam has a bill to limit the amount on pseudoephedrine that could be bought without a prescription, more than any other state. His administration has said the state leads the nation in meth use."
Whitewashing Reality: Diversity in Appalachia
"The United States may be thought of as the good ol’ 'Red, White, and Blue,' but in the minds of many, Appalachian America is simply 'white, white, white'— racially, that is. The stereotype of Appalachia as a strictly white Anglo-Saxon region has been perpetuated by journalists, novelists, social scientists, and even many regional historians. Yet this generalization over-simplifies a more complicated — and more colorful — reality."
The Art of Vernacular Voice
"In an interview with the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Rick Bragg, John Sledge tells the story of Mr. Bragg’s encounter with the acclaimed author Willie Morris, who opened Mr. Bragg’s memoir 'All Over But the Shoutin’,' and read several pages aloud. He slammed the book and leaned forward, telling Mr. Bragg, 'You say it’s the story, and I say it’s the language.' Mr. Sledge is talking about the voices in Mr. Bragg’s books, which ring true down to the red Alabama grit on their shoes. Every voice on paper has a linguistic and social history that needs to be heard."
The Weekly Links is intended to bring awareness of news stories related to the Appalachian region. An article's inclusion in this list does not imply agreement with or approval of all things written within.
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A Land Of Little Places

2/20/2014

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Appalachia is a land of little places. Similar in some ways to rural America in general, Appalachia is popular for being unpopular. However, it could be argued that the mountains hold this position in a much greater measure. Appalachia has the hillbilly, moonshine, shoeless children, and an uneducated population…or so American popular culture tells us. In the minds of many, Appalachia is a little place; a place that is unimportant and unappealing (unless, of course, one is speaking of economic inequality on the one hand or the War on Coal on the other, then Appalachia suddenly becomes important). As the saying goes, many would not want to touch Appalachia with a ten foot pole. This is why the words of the late Francis Schaeffer are so important and hold so much weight, particularly for the Christian living and laboring in Appalachia.

In his book, No Little People, which is a collection of sermons by Schaeffer on the subject, Schaeffer sets out by arguing that “there are no little people and no big people in the true spiritual sense, but only consecrated and unconsecrated people” (24). He continues by asking, “But if a Christian is consecrated, does this mean he will be in a big place instead of a little place? The answer, the next step, is very important: as there are no little people in God’s sight, so there are no little places. To be wholly committed to God in the place where God wants him—this is the creature glorified” (24). The point made by Schaeffer here is huge for those laboring and living in the Appalachian region.


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The Weekly Links

2/8/2014

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County Native Authors New Play Stereotypes Of Region
"Although Harold Voyles hasn’t lived in the Bluegrass State for 28 years, he still calls Kentucky home. He was raised in Lynch, once one of the largest coal mining camps in America, boasting a population of 11,000 after World War II. Today the population is less than 1,000. Voyles has written a play, Shadow of a Man, which informs the reader about a region in America that is too often stereotyped."
Old-Time Fiddlers Convention To Be Held Feb. 7-8
"The Appalachian Heritage Council presents the sixth annual Old-Time Fiddler’s Convention Feb. 7-8 in the Appalachian State University’s Plemmons Student Union. The convention celebrates the rich musical and cultural history of Appalachia and will offer workshops, a handmade market, music competitions, and a concert to end the festivities."
Two WVU Agencies To Study Appalachian Regional Commission's Impact
"Researchers at West Virginia University are part of a three-agency collaborative assessing the impact the Appalachian Regional Commission has made in the past 50 years. The study group consists of the Regional Research Institute and the Bureau of Business and Economic Research, both at WVU, along with the Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness, a nonprofit research organization based in Arlington, Va."
Coal Baron Digs A Deeper Hole
"Robert E. 'Bob' Murray, the pugnacious owner of Ohio-based coal giant Murray Energy Corp., keeps his lawyers busy. Besides appealing safety fines, over the past few years his company has sued two news organizations -- the Charleston Gazette and Huffington Post -- for defamation and the Labor Department's Mine Safety and Health Administration for levying 'unfounded and baseless violation citations.' More recently, the company turned it up a notch, announcing it will sic its lawyers on the Environmental Protection Agency."
Shrinking: Appalachian Decline
"Several new reports predict that the Central Appalachia coal field -- mostly southern West Virginia and eastern Kentucky -- will continue to fade, inflicting painful harm on blue-collar families and local economies. The Wall Street Journal outlined the decline in a string of reports on 'The future of coal.' A Jan. 7 segment said the coal industry 'is booming in the open-pit mines of Wyoming and under the plains of Illinois and Indiana' while 'coal production plunges in the green hills of Appalachia.'"
The Future of Coal In America: A Photo Journal
"Last year was a tough one for the coal industry. Some coal companies laid off workers, while others cut their output. And more than a half-dozen U.S. coal-mining companies went under, beset by new environmental rules and competition from low-cost natural gas. But coal isn’t going away. Coal remains the biggest source of fuel for generating electricity in the U.S. and coal exports are growing fast. Even as coal production plunges in the green hills of Appalachia, it is booming in the open-pit mines of Wyoming and under the plains of Illinois and Indiana. Overall, U.S. coal production is projected to remain relatively constant over the next three decades, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration."
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The tug Renee Lynn hauls coal in barges for the Campbell Transportation shipyard along the Ohio River in between Ohio and West Virginia. Campbell continues to ship coal to a dozen power plants and steel mills in five states. (Photo courtesy of Jeff Swensen for The Wall Street Journal)
The Weekly Links is intended to bring awareness of news stories related to the Appalachian region. An article's inclusion in this list does not imply agreement with or approval of all things written within.
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