When you think of “Appalachian cooking,” what comes to mind? For a lot of folks, it’s savory comfort foods like biscuits with sausage gravy, crispy fried chicken and mashed potatoes loaded with butter. But, what about folks who want that comfort food, without involving animals? Jan Brandenburg is a pharmacist and poet in Eastern Kentucky. Over the last 30 years, she’s collected and perfected recipes that take a plant-based approach to the Appalachian table. Producer Bill Lynch spoke with Brandenburg about her new book The Modern Mountain Cookbook.
Company Owned by Gov. Jim Justice Giving Away Tickets to Event at Resort (Also Owned by Justice)
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The Greenbrier resort has announced it’s giving away prizes and tickets to an upcoming golf tournament. A coal company controlled by the family of West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice is paying for the tickets.
The Professional Golfers’ Association will hold a tournament, dubbed “A Military Tribute”, at the Greenbrier resort from Sept. 9 to Sept. 15. The Associated Press reported the resort announced there are 30,000 tickets available for fans who register online starting Friday, Aug. 16.
During the tournament the resort says there will also be several drawings for a total of 150 prizes, those being valued at $1,000 or more. Those interested can also register online.
Tickets are courtesy of coal mining company Bluestone Resources. Justice owns both Bluestone and the Greenbrier resort.
Credit Jesse Wright / West Virginia Public Broadcasting
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West Virginia Public Broadcasting
West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice gives a speech during a Department of Tourism conference Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2018, at the Morgantown Event Center.
He and his companies have recently been under fire for being rife with conflicts of interest — the businessman turned governor operates dozens of companies regulated by state agencies he oversees. The Greenbrier’s PGA announcement comes one day after the Charleston Gazette-Mail published a roughly 6,000-word expose on Justice and his conflicts of interest, in partnership with ProPublica.
Since last summer, the plant has hardly operated at all, including during a cold snap in January that resulted in a record for electricity usage in the PJM region, which includes West Virginia.
In an agreement filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia last month, the companies agreed to pay $125,000 by Feb. 27 and the remaining balance due by May 1.
Demonstrators with the group Mountaineers Indivisible are calling on West Virginia’s Congressional delegation to oppose the Trump administration’s broad-reaching cuts to federal programs.
Last June, when Justice was still governor of West Virginia, the court ordered him to pay Western Surety, a Chicago-based insurance company, $3.2 million, plus $100,000 in interest.
