Eric Douglas, Author at West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Census Bureau Shows Poverty Decreasing Across U.S., But W.Va. Lags Behind

The U.S. Census Bureau released data last week that showed the percentage of Americans living below the poverty line went down for the first time since the Great Recession of 2008.

Overall, the number of people living in poverty, nationwide, decreased by half a percentage point from 2017 to 2018 covering nearly 1.5 million people.

“We saw some really good news that for the fourth straight year in a row, poverty went down in the United States. But it remains unacceptable that 38 million people still live below the poverty line,” said Amelia Kegan, the Legislative Director on Domestic Policy for the Friends Committee on National Legislation.

The national poverty line is set at about $25,400 for a family of four. The U.S. poverty rate stands at 11.8 percent. But West Virginia is still lagging behind.

“West Virginia ranked number four when we’re looking at poverty rates over 2017 and 2018. And so, it is significantly above the national average of a two year average of about 16.5%,” Kegan said.

Two of the most powerful anti-poverty programs are the earned income tax credit and the child tax credit, preventing 7.9 million people from falling into poverty, including 4.2 million children according to Kegan. Another vital tool is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.

“The data also showed that the SNAP program, formerly known as food stamps, prevented about 3 million people from falling into poverty back in 2018,” she said.

More than 340,000 people in West Virginia receive SNAP benefits each month, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The participation varies by parts of the state, however. In the first congressional district, about 13 percent of all households receive SNAP.

In the second congressional district, about 15 percent of households receive SNAP benefits. In the third congressional district, that number climbs to 22 percent of all households.

Op-Ed: Never Forget — but Remember Coming Together, too

It’s hard to believe the terror attacks on Sept. 11 were 18 years ago.

In some ways, it feels like it just happened. In other ways, it seems like forever ago.

I still vividly remember where I was and what I was doing that morning. I’m sure you do, too.

It was an awful event in our nation’s history, and we should never forget what happened, what it meant and what we lost on that terrible day.

We were attacked by evil men who perverted a religion as an excuse to do unspeakable and unfathomable acts of hate.

In the days that followed, I still remember President George W. Bush saying:

“The face of terror is not the true faith of Islam. That’s not what Islam is all about. Islam is peace. These terrorists don’t represent peace. They represent evil and war. When we think of Islam we think of a faith that brings comfort to a billion people around the world. Billions of people find comfort and solace and peace, and that’s made brothers and sisters out of every race, out of every race. “America counts millions of Muslims amongst our citizens, and Muslims make an incredibly valuable contribution to our country. Muslims are doctors, lawyers, law professors, members of the military, entrepreneurs, shopkeepers, moms, and dads, and they need to be treated with respect. In our anger and emotion, our fellow Americans must treat each other with respect.”

If there was any good to come from the terrible attacks on Sept. 11, I remember the country coming together in the weeks and months that followed. There was disagreement, of course, but the political rancor was gone – at least for a while.

Today we have forgotten that feeling. People are name-calling and treating each other with incredible disrespect. That doesn’t seem like the America from 18 years ago.

Near the end of his presidency in 2008, standing at the Pentagon, Bush said, “One of the worst days in America’s history saw some of the bravest acts in Americans’ history. We’ll always honor the heroes of 9/11. And here at this hallowed place, we pledge that we will never forget their sacrifice.”

If you want to “Never Forget” the terror attacks of 9/11, don’t just hold on to the anger. Lend a hand to your neighbor, do something kind for a stranger or just be kind in general. That’s a much greater legacy in the post-9/11 era than hate and anger.

This column ran in the Charleston Gazette-Mail Metro Section on 9/11/19.

Eric Douglas is the Associate Producer for Inside Appalachia, a newspaper and magazine columnist and author.

Novel by Virginia Native Explores Life During the Jim Crow South

The novel “The Boys Who Woke Up Early” looks at the Jim Crow south in a fictional county along the border of Virginia and West Virginia in 1960. Author and journalist A.D. Hopkins told the story through the eyes of three teenage boys.

Hopkins’ main character is a teenage boy named Stony. He is a juvenile delinquent, who is always in trouble with his school and with law enforcement. They live in a fictionalized town called Early, Virginia during a period “when the Ku Klux Klan is still in still lingering around when the color bar is still very much in force,” Hopkins said.

Stony, Jack, and a young black man named Roosevelt helped drag the town into the 20th century, thus becoming the boys who “woke up” early.

Hopkins grew up in central Appalachia and worked as a newspaper reporter. Later he moved to Las Vegas, Nevada and was eventually inducted into the Nevada Press Association’s Hall of Fame. But he never forgot the places where he grew up.

The choice to set his book in western Virginia in 1960 was easy for him.

“I knew 1960 like the back of my hand. That was when I was the age that Stony and Jack are in the book. I knew the culture at that time so very well. It was just more possible for me to write accurately about it,” he said.

AD Hopkins, author of “The Boys Who Woke Up Early”.

Early in his journalism career, Hopkins covered the courthouse and police beats — like most young reporters. His characters in the book end up spending a lot of time in the local sheriff’s department, as well, to help when things get short-handed.

But Hopkins said he wasn’t trying to make a point with the book, as much as tell a good story. However, he noted that there was a point to it anyway.

“Young people often bring about social change and they don’t necessarily bring it about intentionally, but simply by living ethically,” he said.

The story’s setting was a fictional place, with a foundation in the places Hopkins knew from his youth.

“Nearly every event in the book happened somewhere, sometime to somebody in Virginia. Since some of these events are fairly negative, I didn’t want to give any real community a black eye,” he said. “So I invented a community to give the black eye to it.

Click on the play button above to hear the whole interview.

Fantasy Author Turns Out 70+ Books From W.Va Home

Swords, sorcery, other worlds and plenty of action are staples of the fantasy book genre. Craig Halloran, from Charleston, West Virginia, has written 70 books in 10 years, taking his readers to far-off lands.

He grew up reading books like Conan the Barbarian and playing Dungeons and Dragons. When he decided to start writing books, the choice for what to write was simple.

Still, he said, he has learned several lessons along the way. Like learning that his favorite genre is actually difficult to write.

“I’ve been doing it for a while not thinking about it, but it is complicated, because you’re having to describe a lot of things people haven’t seen before,” Halloran said.

Halloran also said he makes a clear choice to avoid foul language in his books, or at least only when it is appropriate.

“I don’t want to use any modern vernacular,” he explained. “Now, I do have some books that are in a modern setting, but I just don’t want to use that language. I’m kind of like Louis L’Amour. He never used it. And people don’t really miss it, unless you’re getting into a real gritty character, and you want to go that direction. You could do it that way. But it’s not me. I’m not the kind of guy who wants to do that.”

Next up, Halloran said he is planning a dragon-based series aimed at middle grade students and up. In the beginning of 2020, he plans to release the series all at once, so readers can read them without waiting.

Halloran said he never had the discipline growing up to create like he does today, but credits being in the military with helping him develop the focus.

“Every day I write, maybe in the morning, but mostly in the evening, and most of it on the weekends. That’s my process. People are amazed by that, but even if you did just 1000 words a day, and you did it for 10 years, you’re going to have a lot, lot, lot, lot lot, of books. It’s just the way it is. I just do it,” he said.

Even after writing so many books, Halloran said he loves to hear from his readers. He has some that tell him they have read all of them.

“People say I’m their favorite author. And, you know, it’s just great honor. It keeps me going. It really gives me that push I need to keep going,” he said.

Click on the play button above to hear the whole interview.

Spy Novel Looks At Cold War From Soviet Perspective

Alexander Rosenstein is an orthopedic surgeon and a university professor who lives in Charleston, West Virginia and in Hawaii. But as much as he loves the surgical theater, he also loves spy thrillers — he grew up loving Ian Fleming’s books about James Bond.

Now he’s telling his own spy thriller stories with his debut novel “Sword of the Kremlin.” It’s set during the Cold War, but with a twist: His main character is in the KGB.

Eric Douglas: You’re a physician, you’ve obviously had a successful career both in academia and in medicine. Why write a novel? Where did that come from?

Rosenstein: It’s interesting. Some people who want to be an actor they wait tables until they have their break. So, I love surgery. I love what I do. However, I always wanted to be a writer since I was a young teenager. I read a lot and really love this world of fantasy, even more. So when I decided I’m going to write something, I wanted it to be visual. So the way I write really is like watching a mini-series. I just watch mini-series in my mind and write them down.

Douglas: You mentioned that one of your role models was Ian Fleming. Was the James Bond series an inspiration?

Rosenstein: I liked 007 growing up, but my character is a bit different from James Bond, even though he possesses a lot of skills as James Bond would. He’s doing it on a shoestring. He’s doing it the Soviet way. He doesn’t have Maseratis, he doesn’t drink vodka martinis, he just drinks vodka. He does things that need to be done without fancy gadgets.

Douglas: It’s interesting that you have a history of growing up in the Soviet Union. And your parents immigrated out because of the oppression of Russian Jews. I’m surprised there’s no animosity. I’m surprised you think of it positively.

Rosenstein: I’m hoping that there’s a little more understanding of our opponent, you know, the Soviet Union that morphed into Russia and Ukraine and other independent republics. It presents a challenge right now for the United States. And I think it’s a mistake just to vilify it, instead of [try to] understand it. The only way you can effectively deal with your opponents or competitors, or whatever you call it — I don’t want to call them enemies, I think they are our competitors — is by understanding them.

Douglas: What did you learn from the writing process? What surprised you?

Rosenstein: I’ve written several articles, and you have to be very factual and they have to be very cold and unemotional. What I love about fiction is a power — you have an ultimate power over your characters. And that’s it — power comes with responsibility. So I like that sort of situation where I can actually mold their lives and write a story and hopefully keep the reader interested.

Douglas: I saw the note that you planned on making this a series. You plan to continue with Oleg through his career. Where does it go next?

Rosenstein: This first book takes place, mostly in Moscow, but some of it takes place in western Ukraine. The next book involves conflict between Russia and Ukraine. And I think it’s a very interesting subject historically. It’s based on some historical events and my explanation of unexplained events that happened.

I was also going to mention that I think being in West Virginia — and right where I was, so we bought this beautiful place in South Hills, which had a running stream and surrounded by woods — I think, to me, that was extremely helpful. I think it’s very inspiring. Someday this house will become a national treasure.

Douglas: I’ve always seen a lot of parallels between the people of Russia and the people of West Virginia.

Rosenstein: As the story progresses, I hope to have a several novels with the same main character. I would like to bring him to West Virginia eventually.

I think there is something to be learned from this book. I hope that people like it and enjoy it. I think it’s an escape and I want them to subtly learn things without straining themselves.

Working Underwater to Keep River Traffic Flowing

Eric Gardner has a different perspective than most about the rivers in central Appalachia. That’s because he spends most of his time in them.

Gardner is a commercial diver. He works in the Kanawha and Ohio rivers, maintaining tow boats, barges, pipelines and spillways.

“I started out with some older gentleman that ran the company. [They] took a liking to me and taught me a lot of the trades that I still use to this day,” he said.

A deckhand from the Dr. Edwin Welch towboat grabs the ball of rope and debris Eric Gardner has just removed from the boat’s propeller.

Being a commercial diver can be difficult work, but Gardner thrives on it. “I’m a man of the river,” he explained. Year-round, he is underwater for two to four hours a stretch. His support team above water maintains an air compressor that sends him air through a hose. Visibility is often so poor that he does everything by feel.

One common task he performs is clearing towboat propellers, also known as props.

“When they get debris into the props or have damage [underneath the boat] or problems they’ll call me out. Lot of times it’s trees, cables and ropes, wound up into props,” he said.

If Gardner can’t fix the tow boats, they have to travel to a dry dock up to 60 miles away and may be out of service for days.

An example of the trash the floats downriver. This is between a towboat and the riverbank.

Spending so much time on, and in, the river, Gardner is troubled by the amount of trash he sees. It often ends up collecting at the locks and dams that aid the barge traffics’ flow along the river. The trash can foul the locks.

“You will have an island full of trash, different debris, tires, refrigerators, anything plastic just floats,” Gardner said.

“It’d be nice if we could come up with a plan and try to work with Army Corps of Engineers to where we may be able to stop this from happening.”.

The US Army Corps of Engineers maintains the locks and dams. A representative explained that there isn’t a safe and cost-effective way to separate the trash from the natural debris so they end up treating it all as natural and sending it on down the river.

Eventually, much of the trash makes it to the Mississippi and the Gulf of Mexico, which then feeds out into the ocean.

This story is part of an episode of Inside Appalachia about the ways people interact with rivers.