Changing Course: KVEC Schools Aim To Remake East Kentucky

Many people would be surprised to hear that Bill and Melinda Gates and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerburg visited eastern Kentucky schools in 2017, but they came to learn about the innovative and wholistic educational approaches implemented at 22 school districts that are members of the Kentucky Valley Educational Cooperative.  KVEC schools emphasize personalized learning, team projects, […]

Appalachian Harvest Launches Herb Hub

Farming opportunities are plentiful in the Appalachian mountains if you look to the herbs and edible plants found in our abundant forests. Appalachian Harvest, a rural food hub run by Appalachian Sustainable Development, recently launched an Herb Hub in Duffield, VA, designed to help forest farmers earn more money on their herbs, which could foster […]

BRIGHT Opportunities for Whitesburg

Could Whitesburg, long an east Kentucky coal town, become a “Green Healthy Town?” Five University of Virginia students in the Master’s of Urban and Environmental Planning Program presented their assessment of existing conditions within a roughly one-mile corridor of downtown at a recent Whitesburg community meeting. The students’ report includes an inventory of assets and […]

Mountains of Music on Crooked Road

Our region has incredible cultural assets, especially our music and dance, as well as traditional arts, crafts and foodways. In this episode of Mountain Talk Monday, we learn about the Mountains of Music Homecoming happening throughout Southwest Virginia June 9-17. Its a project of the The Crooked Road: Virginia’s Heritage Music Trail, which came into […]