Katie Myers
Ohio Valley ReSource Reporter, Eastern KentuckyKatie Myers is covering economic transition in east Kentucky for the ReSource and partner station WMMT in Whitesburg, KY. She previously worked directly with communities in Kentucky and Tennessee on environmental issues, energy democracy, and the digital divide, and is a founding member of a community-owned rural ISP. She has also worked with the Black in Appalachia project of East Tennessee PBS. In her spare time, Katie likes to write stage plays, porch sit with friends, and get lost on mountain backroads. She has published work with Inside Appalachia, Scalawag Magazine, the Daily Yonder, and Belt Magazine, among others.
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It’s been almost forty years, but many former miners with the disease are still fighting to maintain funding for the benefits that keep them alive.
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In the Ohio Valley, the stresses of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing labor shortage have encouraged workers to join what many say is a national and growing wave of labor actions.
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Jay Justice, son of Jim Justice, governor of West Virginia, with whom he owns several mining companies, just announced the re-opening of four mines in Kentucky. The reopening announcement came with a promise of 150 new jobs, but an active lawsuit and a new report on overdue reclamation liabilities at Justice-owned mines suggest that the development could be a strategy to further delay Justice’s overdue reclamation responsibilities.
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Some residents in Ohio Valley communities are still struggling to keep their heads above water over a year into the pandemic. A main cause of concern: housing.
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The Poores escaped the worst of the early pandemic. Melanie still had work, and when she left, she was cushioned from free-fall - stimulus checks, unemployment, and the eviction moratorium kept the family stable. But gradually, these protections were revoked.
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The promise of solar energy for small, rural communities, and particularly those recovering from the decline of the coal industry, is twofold: job creation, and revenue.
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Two major funds meant to address those legacy impacts depend almost entirely on the declining revenues of the coal industry and the will of Congress to remain solvent. Now, both are due for renewal, and could be reduced, or even allowed to expire.
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George Floyd was murdered by police officer Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis, a cold and faraway place from the vantage point of Harlan County, Kentucky. But the energy of that long, hot summer reached a group of Harlan high schoolers, and soon enough, this small, rural town was in the midst of a national movement.
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Last year, Riegel returned to Jackson with a film crew in tow. The town was tapped for a starring role in the new movie “Holler,” which she both wrote and directed. She says it was unlike any experience she ever had.
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Though small towns and rural counties may offer cheaper housing compared to larger cities, residents of those areas often make less on average than their urban peers, while lacking urban amenities such as public transportation.