One in five veteran coal miners in Central Appalachia now has black lung disease. But the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund which provides critical support to miners and their families is at risk of disappearing. In this episode of WMMT’s Mountain Talk, retired miners Bethel Brock and Jimmy Moore, Patty Amburgey who lost her husband […]
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, […]
Despite a slight uptick in coal mining activity, most analysts do not forecast a large-scale reversal of the long, downward trend in coal production or employment. Many in the Appalachian coalfields believe we must continue efforts to diversify the region’s economy. The Ohio Valley Resource reports on three bipartisan proposals now before Congress that could […]
WMMT visits the Letcher County Farmers’ Market in Whitesburg, KY where an innovative program called Farmacy is improving health and getting nationwide attention. Formed through an unusual partnership between medical providers – area medical clinics, Medicaid insurance companies, doctors and nurses – and local farmers, the Farmers’ Market, and nonprofits such as Community Farm Alliance, the Farmacy […]
