, Author at West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Inside Appalachia- Oct. 26, 2013

Kentucky prepares to introduce new science education standards.A report on the effects of natural gas fracking is due out soon.And we hear from two West…

Kentucky prepares to introduce new science education standards.

A report on the effects of natural gas fracking is due out soon.

And we hear from two West Virginia writers with books out just in time for the spooky season.

KY New Science Curriculum: Kentucky is among several states preparing to introduce new science standards in public schools. But there’s opposition from a vocal minority. Kentucky Public Radio’s Devin Katayama has more on the challenges that face Kentucky as it once again leads the charge in changing what and how students learn science.

WV Frack Study: The Horizontal Well Control Act of 2011 requires studies be conducted to gain a better understanding of the effects of the natural gas drilling that’s sweeping northern West Virginia, Pennsylvania and other states. Those reports are coming due, and this past week legislators in West Virginia got a sneak peek from scientists who have been looking into the matter. West Virginia Public Radio’s Glynis Board reports.

PA Chemical Plants in Gulf: Because of shale gas, the U.S. has become the cheapest place in the world to make plastic. This has led to more than $100 billion in investment along the Gulf Coast in colossal new petrochemical plants that take natural gas and break it into the raw materials to make plastic. Western Pennsylvania may get its own taste of these cracker plants if Shell builds one in Beaver County. The Allegheny Front’s Reid Frazier took a trip to the Gulf to see what the impact may be if the plant is built in Pennsylvania. This is the first story in a four-part series by The Allegheny Front in Pittsburgh, paid for in part by the Fund for Investigative Journalism.

WV Lumberjack Jamboree: The Lumberjackin’ Bluegrassin’ Jamboree was in full swing earlier this month at Twin Falls State Park. As West Virginia Public Radio’s Brian Allen reports the annual event includes speed competitions, vendors, and of course, bluegrass music.

WV Ghost Story Book: Just in time for Halloween- a book of ghost and mystery stories by a West Virginia writer. John Douglas of Berkeley Springs is the former editor of the Morgan County Messenger newspaper and his new book is called A Fog of Ghosts, Haunted Tales and Odd Pieces. Douglas discusses his book with West Virginia Public Radio’s Cecelia Mason.

WV Short Story Book: In the tradition of the old dime store novels, West Virginia State University student Frank Larnered has edited and published a book of short stories. Hills of Fire: Bare-Knuckle Yarns of Appalachia features 12 authors that showcase Appalachians as heroes. Larnered sat down with West Virginia Public Radio’s Beth Vorhees to talk about folklore, monsters and horror that inspires this book and his work.

On This Week's Broadcast: BoDeans, Jill Sobule, Julia Sweeny & More

This week’s episode of Mountain Stage is our first of two recorded on the shores of Lake Superior at the North House Folk School in Grand Marais, Minnesota. Going strong for 30 years, you’ll hear alt-rock institution The BoDeans make their fifth appearance on the show. Comprised of members of Duluth’s Trampled By Turtles, Dead Man Winter make their Mountain Stage debut. The Pines bring their evocative and atmospheric brand of northern Midwest alt Americana. Minnesota-based singer-songwriter Jonathan Rundman opens the show, and you’ll also hear from the Jill and Julia show – our friend Jill Sobule, along with SNL alum Julia Sweeny.

Listen this Sunday at 2 on West Virginia Public Radio, or across America on one of more than 130 public radio stations.

West Virginia Morning – October 25, 2013

Ashton Marra reports on Senator Joe Manchin's bill that proposes a delay in the individual mandate as part of the Affordable Care Act, Cecelia Mason on…

Ashton Marra reports on Senator Joe Manchin’s bill that proposes a delay in the individual mandate as part of the Affordable Care Act, Cecelia Mason on electric billing issues in the Easter Panhandle, Clark Davis previews Marshall Women’s Basketball season and The Pines perform “Rise Up and Be Lonely” on this Mountain Stage song of the week.

Marshall Women’s Basketball hope to improve on 2012-2013 season

Marshall Women’s Basketball Head Coach Matt Daniel is set to tip off his second season in Huntington.

How does the Marshall Women’s Basketball program rebound from a rough first year under new Head Coach Matt Daniel in 2012-2013? They bring in 10 new girls to fill the roster. A year after finishing 9-20 overall and 3-13? in Conference USA play, the Marshall Women hope to fit more into Coach Daniel’s up-tempo style of play.

“Well with 10 new faces you never know how that’s going to equate to wins and losses, but they’ve really jelled together really quickly. I really like the personality of our team and we’re not a group that takes ourselves too seriously, we’re just out here to work hard and try to have a good time and see what happens at the end of 40 minutes,” Daniel said.

Despite adding 10 new girls to the team, five girls with starting experience do return to help steady the transition. Among Daniel’s goals as the coach of The Herd is to bring in local talent. This year Daniel as added freshman Kiana Evans from Huntington, McKenzie Akers from Princeton and Talequia Hamilton—a University of Cincinnati transfer that originally hails from Huntington. Daniel thinks local talent could be the key.

“You know when you’re recruiting kids and you’re establishing who you want to be and I was just talking to President Kopp and I want to do it with kids that are local and I think that’s important that we educate the kids that are within our tri-state area and hopefully at the end of the day try to win a few ball games as well,” Daniel said.

Marshall opens the season November 8^th at home against Bluefield College. The Herd plays 9 of its first 11 games at home and has 18 home days overall. Daniel thinks his group of girls will take to his philosophy of being aggressive and quick.

“Well they’re very coachable and that’s all you can ask and it’s going to be interesting to see. It can get real fun real fast or it can still be a grind, you hope for the best, but you plan for the worst, so we’re just going to go out and we’ll kind of see what’s what then and see where we go, but I’m really pleased with the effort the girls are giving,” Daniel said.

Among those returnee’s is 5^th year senior forward Erica Woods. She said this group is different than last year’s team.

“I have never in all my life seen a group of young ladies come together and jell at once so quickly. Obviously still have a ways to go and there is always room for improvement and things like that, but definitely willing to want to get it right, not be right, but get things right, we’re all about us and not just one person,” Woods said.

Not only is the team changing, but the conference the women play in is changing quickly. With 8 new schools, some of which have had previous national success, play could be tougher than it’s ever been. Woods said with the addition of all the new girls they can play the style that Coach Daniel wants.

“We just have girls that are ready to get after it day-in and day-out and everybody seems to be buying into Coach Daniel’s concept and like I said in practice everything is full speed. And if we don’t go full speed, we run and nobody wants to run, so we just try to do as he says and get in and get out,” Woods said.

Among the newcomers is transfer Talequia Hamilton, who said her transfer back home from Cincinnati was about playing in front of the people she cares about.

“I missed home, I really did. Of the two years I was there I wasn’t

really sure that my heart was in it, but I knew back home that I would get to play in front of my friends and my family, so I’m going to put my all into it,” Hamilton said.

Daniel hopes that home mentality for the local girls can be one of the keys to resurgence.

Nature Conservancy celebrates 50 years in W.Va.

Fifty individuals or organizations who contributed to the protection and restoration of West Virginia’s natural heritage over the past 50 years are being…

Fifty individuals or organizations who contributed to the protection and restoration of West Virginia’s natural heritage over the past 50 years are being honored by The Nature Conservancy, which has announced the Mountain State’s “Conservation Heroes.”

The Heroes were identified by the staff of the Conservancy, which celebrates 50 years of conservation in West Virginia this year. Those named were chosen from the thousands of dedicated conservationists who have supported the Conservancy mission over the past half century, said Rodney Bartgis, director of The Nature Conservancy’s program in West Virginia.

“We wish to honor the leadership of the conservation movement in West Virginia. These are our partners, our champions in government, our friends,” Bartgis said.

The “Heroes” program honors West Virginians living and remembers those who have passed on. A few examples include:

Charlie Baer, a retired professor of ecology at West Virginia University, where the Conservancy has its West Virginia roots,
The late U.S. Sen. Robert Byrd, who during his many years in Congress tirelessly supported the protection of public lands, especially significant natural areas that are now part of the Monongahela National Forest,
The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, whose leaders have worked closely with the Conservancy on many critical conservation projects over the years,
Ed Maguire, the Conservancy’s first West Virginia state director, who organized the scattered forces of enthusiastic volunteers across the state and helped launch the private land conservation movement in West Virginia.
Volunteers like Steve and Terry Bailes, whose maintenance and public programs at the Conservancy’s Ice Mountain Preserve has brought a greater public appreciation for the National Natural Landmark,
And corporate partners, including Dominion, which has supported conservation and stewardship of our Bear Rocks Preserve.

“The Heroes come from all corners of West Virginia and represent a variety of backgrounds,” Bartgis said, “but all exemplify the same standards of persistence, generosity, and enthusiasm for West Virginia’s wild places.”
The Heroes will be honored at the Conservancy’s 50^th Anniversary celebration on Friday Oct. 25 in Morgantown.

http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/northamerica/unitedstates/westvirginia/

Lumberjackin Bluegrassin Jamboree celebrates 31 years

The Lumberjackin’ Bluegrassin’ Jamboree took full swing earlier this month at Twin Falls State Park. The annual event includes speed competitions,…

The Lumberjackin’ Bluegrassin’ Jamboree took full swing earlier this month at Twin Falls State Park. The annual event includes speed competitions, vendors, and bluegrass music.

Three school clubs from Penn State, Virginia Tech, and West Virginia University competed in various team events such as a log roll, cross cutting, chainsaw, bolt splitting and chopping. The students’ participation exposes them to the timber industry.

Twin Falls Activity Coordinator, Brian Danford, oversaw the student competition.

“All these students are learning how to, basically what people did in the olden days because they used cross cut saws and hand axes because, to fell trees,” Danford said. “Now days it’s more mechanized and they have chainsaws and everything else in order to get the wood out. But we want to teach them the culture so and get them some good competition.”

The co-ed teams competed for most of the day. There were male, female and co-ed events, including the jack and jill competition, where a male and female crosscut saw team would go against a team from another school.

The jamboree celebrated its 31st year. It’s a community event that focuses on the importance of the timber industry in West Virginia.

According to the West Virginia Forestry Association, the industry contributes just over $3 billion dollars to the state’s economy. Traditionally, timber ranks as one of West Virginia’s largest major industries following coal.

When the western Virginia, now West Virginia, virgin forests were discovered, they were filled with large trees, some reaching heights of 140 feet and 27 feet in diameter, which included oak, maple, poplar and the American Chestnut.

The chestnuts were killed off in the early 20th century by a fungus. Efforts are currently underway by the American Chestnut Foundation to restore the tree. Other trees under attack include the state’s hardwoods by the gypsy moth and hemlock trees by the hemlock woolly adelgid. The West Virginia Department of Agriculture is working to combat the adelgid through chemicals and natural predators. But Amanda Cadle who was watching the competition, shared a unique way of replanting hemlock trees, which she learned from a family friend.

“And so my friend, wanting to preserve the memory of his father,” she explained, “took his idea and cut some branches off of that tree right after they cut it. Probably about the size of a seedlin, you know about this big around. You just take a hatchet and you just kinda split the end and you just plant it in fertile soil.”

Cadle added that soaking the branches in water before planting them is helpful. She says her technique is working. However, her trees are in an isolated area away from the adelgid’ at a lower elevation and therefore in a somewhat protected environment. Whether or not her technique will work in other locations remains to be seen.

In addition to the lumberjack and jill competition, the Lumberjackin’ Bluegrassin’ Jamboree held a variety of other attractions including vendor’s arts and crafts, bluegrass music, square dancing, and hayrides.

The three day jamboree usually hosts around 3,500 visitors.

This year, Penn State came in First, WVU second, and Virginia Tech came in third.