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Inside Appalachia- Oct. 19, 2013

A new Kentucky café caters to Alzheimer’s patients and their families.Arts and Culture provide economic development in one Kentucky county.A new book…

A new Kentucky café caters to Alzheimer’s patients and their families.

Arts and Culture provide economic development in one Kentucky county.

A new book profiles one of West Virginia’s most picturesque river valleys.

And ink lovers turn out for the first WV tattoo expo.

KY Memory Café: In Kentucky, Louisville has joined a growing number of U.S. cities creating a place for people with Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia and their caregivers to socialize and share a meal.   As Kentucky Public Radio’s Rick Howlett reports, it’s called the Memory Café.

WV Inspiring West Virginian: In a final installment of Inspiring West Virginians, we meet a woman from Beckley who has distinguished herself on a global stage in science, technology, engineering, mathematics AND business.  Jean Snedegar visited Linda Powers, a bio-engineer, and builder of ground-breaking scientific instruments.

KY Elliot County Economic Development: In the 1990s, Elliot County Ky. was declared the poorest county in the nation. But rather than going the usual route and focusing efforts on recruiting outside companies to come in, leaders in Elliot County took a different approach to the problem, and looked towards their own strengths.  Many years later, these efforts are paying off, and Elliot County is making a name for itself in asset based approach to rural economic development through Arts and Culture. WMMT’s Sylvia Ryerson reports.

WV Cacapon River Valley Book: Stories and photographs from West Virginia’s Lost and Cacapon River valley are featured in a book just released by West Virginia University Press. Listening to the Land features the stories of several owners throughout the watershed who have chosen to preserve their land through the Cacapon and Lost River Land Trust.

PA Perch and Climate Change: A favorite entrée at fish fry’s is the yellow perch. And that fish on the dish might have come from the Great Lakes. But warmer lake waters and a changing climate threaten the population of perch as well as other species- like walleye. The Allegheny Front’s Jennifer Szweda Jordan headed out with researchers on Lake Erie to learn more.

Create W.Va. conference takes over a town

A statewide conference will be taking over the small town of Richwood in Nicholas County this weekend.  Create West Virginia is holding its sixth annual conference there.  Rather than meeting at a large state resort park, attendees at the conference will hold their discussions about creative economic development in buildings throughout the town.  Entrepreneurs will set up pop up shops in some of the empty storefronts on Main Street in Richwood.  Young entrepreneurs like textile maker Nellie Rose Davis will debut her latest fashion line.  Cutting edge technology will be featured in a makers lab that features 3-D printers and the like.  

“West Virginia’s most creative minds should meet. I don’t care if they’re scientists, or teachers.  If they are creative artists in the way that we understand creative artists, painters and sculptors.  If they are creative economic developers looking at what so many people would look at as a handful of despair. So if you think you’re creative, come on.” Rebecca Kimmons, 2013 Create WV conference director

Create West Virginia is a grassroots organization that’s striving to build creative communities and businesses for an innovative economy.

Credit Create W.Va.
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Create W.Va.
Downtown Richwood in Nicholas County will become a vibrant, creative community during the Create W.Va. conference Oct. 24 – Oct. 26.

The Create West Virginia conference opens in Richwood on Thursday, October 24 and runs through Saturday, October 26.

http://createwv.org/

Where's the best place for fall foliage this weekend?

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Regional Forester Tom Cover says foliage close to the New River Gorge Bridge should be near peak for this Saturday’s Bridge Day.

“Overall, this weekend should provide the best viewing opportunities for this area of West Virginia,” said Cover, who oversees West Virginia Division of Forestry operations in 16 counties in the eastern and southern portions of the state. “Foliage in the upper portion of the New River Gorge around Grandview is more advanced than foliage in the lower portions of the Gorge, but those mountain slopes will be showing excellent colors, including a variety of orange, yellow, gold and red.”

Cover reports Hawks Nest State Park also should be near peak this weekend.

While much attention will be focused on the southern part of the state this weekend for Bridge Day, good fall color also can be seen in other areas of West Virginia. A drive north along I-79 from Charleston is recommended. From Charleston to Big Otter, color is reported to be 20 percent to 30 percent peak, but from Big Otter to Weston, foliage is 40 percent to 60 percent peak with isolated pockets of exceptionally bright color.

Taking U.S. Route 33 from Weston to Buckhannon, foliage gradually increases from 40 percent peak to 85 percent peak. Continuing on U.S. Route 33 from Buckhannon to Elkins, color varies from 85 percent peak to 95 percent peak at higher elevations and back to 80 percent to 85 percent peak at Elkins. Very bright colors are reported along this stretch of road with reds, oranges and yellows taking center stage. 

Leaving Elkins on U.S. Route 219 and heading to Parsons, color goes from 80 percent peak to 40 percent peak. Traveling from Parsons to Thomas, foliage increases to 80 percent peak as the elevation gets higher. Although the top of the mountain is past peak, there is still quite a bit of color reported.

Credit wikimedia / ForestWander.com
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ForestWander.com
Mountain foliage in W.Va.

Additional recommended drives and places of interest for the weekend include:

•Camp Creek State Forest in Mercer County

•Tomlinson Run State Park in Hancock County

•Any drive along the Cheat River

•Peters Mountain in Monroe County

•The Summersville and Craigsville areas of Nicholas County

•Greenbrier River Trail

•I-64 from Sandstone to Beckley

•Lower Elk River in Webster County

•State Route 16 in Calhoun and Pleasants counties

•State Route 18 in Doddridge and Tyler counties

WVU baseball team celebrates groundbreaking of new stadium

West Virginia University’s baseball team is going to have a new home in a few years. A groundbreaking on the stadium occurred Thursday.The stadium is…

West Virginia University’s baseball team is going to have a new home in a few years. A groundbreaking on the stadium occurred Thursday.

The stadium is located in the community of Granville just west of Morgantown near I-79. That part of Monongalia County is growing by leaps and bounds. With the stadium will come a new interchange for easier access from the Interstate  to the ballpark. It’s been a lot of change for Patricia Lewis, mayor of Granville. She’s been the mayor since 1991.

“In my wildest dream, I never could have imagined that a small town in Monongalia County could become home to a WVU sports team. We are excited, it’s a wonderful thing,” said Lewis.

The baseball stadium will also host entertainment events, like concerts, as well as games for a minor league baseball team. Lewis says it’s hopefully going to bring even more growth to her community.

“This is an exciting chapter for us, we are a small community. All the development up here has been wonderful for our economics, for our small town,” said Lewis.

"If you want to be nationally competitive with teams like that, your facilities have to be competitive. I think we are not only going to be competitive, but I think we are going to surpass some teams in the league with the facility we plan on building." WVU Coach Randy Mazey

Randy Mazey, the head coach of the WVU baseball team, says this new stadium will play a vital role in the stability and success of his program.

“With the move to the Big 12 conference last year, it’s one of the best baseball conferences in the nation. If you want to be nationally competitive with teams like that, your facilities have to be competitive. I think we’re not only going to be competitive, but I think we are going to surpass some teams in the league with the facility we plan on building,” he said.

Officials hope the stadium will be ready for the 2015 baseball season. The minor league team expected to make the stadium home will be from the New York Penn League.

Listen to Thao & The Get Down Stay Down, Ben Sollee, The Bottle Rockets & More on Mountain Stage

This week’s premiere broadcast of Mountain Stage with Larry Groce features the banjo-clad indie pop of Thao & The Get Down Stay Down. Roots rock heroes The Bottle Rockets close out the show with some new songs and old favorites like “Thousand Dollar Car” and “Radar Gun.” Kentucky native and cello master Ben Sollee fuses chamber pop, hip hop, classical, and jazz. Energetic string band The Howlin’ Brothers make their first visit to the show, and electric lap steel guitar players The Slide Brothers bring their church-bread style of playing to the airwaves.

Listen this Sunday at 2 pm on West Virginia Public Radio, or on one of over 130 stations across the country.

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