This week, when an award-winning Asheville chef decided to launch a restaurant, she returned to a rich community tradition. Also, the popularity of weaving waxes and wanes. At the moment, it’s having a renaissance. And, during Lent, Yugoslavian fish stew is a local favorite in Charleston, West Virginia.
NPR and Member stations in Appalachia and the Mid-South have launched a collaboration aimed at strengthening local news coverage and bringing more stories from this region to the rest of the country. The new Appalachia + Mid-South Newsroom is a collaboration between West Virginia Public Broadcasting, WPLN and WUOT in Tennessee, LPM, WEKU-Lexington/Richmond, WKMS-Murray and WKU Public Radio in Kentucky.
With a final budget now approved by both the House and Senate and headed to Gov. Patrick Morrisey for a signature, West Virginia budget watchers say there are looming expenses that haven’t been taken into consideration. Also, more Americans than ever have access to a kind of savings account that lets them set aside pre-tax money for medical expenses. But this option takes a little effort to set up and navigate.
Recovering from substance use disorder is hard at the best of times. How did people working on recovery during the February 2025 floods hold on to their sobriety? As we approach the one-year anniversary of those deadly floods, we wanted to check in on this often overlooked issue.
A challenge lawmakers are struggling with this session is how to pay for public schools in a state where there’s falling enrollment, especially in rural counties. Also, the Appalachia + Mid-South Newsroom explains snow mold.
We hear from Senate President Randy Smith who in last week’s episode of The Legislature Today discussed his goals for supporting small businesses in the state. Also, the Appalachia + Mid-South Newsroom examines how cold can affect your body.
We hear from House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay, who outlines his goals for the 2026 West Virginia Legislative session. Also, if you’re newly pregnant and haven’t been able to afford health insurance, there’s a good chance you qualify for Medicaid.
Pearls are prized gemstones that have been crafted into jewelry for millennia. They can be found in the wild, but they’re also cultivated on farms. We hear a report from North America’s lone freshwater pearl farm located along Kentucky Lake in Tennessee.
If you’re looking to sign up for a new gym membership this year, it’s worth looking into whether your health insurance will help with some or all of the cost. And, soaring electricity costs and the slow growth of renewable energy.
If you feel under the weather, how do you know when it’s time to see a doctor? Also, a growing movement to make Appalachia the “truffle capital of the world,” is being led by a small-town farmer in southern Kentucky.
A job loss or an unexpected change in coverage costs might mean that you’re starting the year without health insurance. If you’re looking for care, there might be an affordable option near you that you’ve never heard of.
The 54-year-old plant in West Virginia has a concrete cooling tower with structural problems, and the utility will need to seek permission to charge electricity customers to pay for a fix.
Eastern Kentucky is full of isolated, rural towns that have experienced decline alongside the coal industry. But some who want to stick around are trying to revitalize the region’s downtown spaces. For the Appalachia Mid-South Newsroom, Shepherd Snyder reports.
Low-head dams across Appalachia have been responsible for many deaths, causing state officials to label them as public safety hazards. But some community members are hesitant to have the fixtures removed.
Joseph Mitchell was one of two coal miners killed in West Virginia this month. Mitchell was pinned underneath the supply car after it and two locomotives derailed after striking another piece of equipment, MSHA’s preliminary report says on the Nov. 6 incident.
A miner was killed at the Mountain View Mine in Tucker County, West Virginia, on Nov. 6, according to the Mine Safety and Health Administration. Alliance Resource Partners owns the mine. That company is owned by Kelly and Joe Craft, who are prominent political donors in Kentucky.
The settling parties want the Kentucky Public Service Commission to approve Kentucky Power’s proposal to preserve its half of the Mitchell plant beyond 2028.
Kentucky utility regulators could approve a rate increase for Louisville Gas & Electric and Kentucky Utilities customers. They’ve approved new power plants to meet the electricity demands of data centers. Customers may not have known about the hidden cost they’re paying for two coal plants. Appalachia + Mid-South Newsroom Managing Editor Ryan Van Velzer spoke with WVPB’s Curtis Tate about his reporting on those plants.
Behind the rates paid by the companies’ customers is a hidden cost that doesn’t show up on their bills. Customers receive electricity from two aging, out-of-state coal plants that lose a lot of money.
On this West Virginia Week, despite a government shutdown and the closure of national parks across the country, parks in West Virginia are staying open – for now. Also, a new book looks at the last public hanging in America. And, they’re out …
Fall brings with it many changes, but perhaps none more striking than the turning of the leaves. West Virginia officials are working to make sure leaf peepers visiting the state maximize their autumn experience.
Curtis Tate of West Virginia Public Broadcasting reported the story for the Appalachia-Mid-South Newsroom. He spoke with deputy managing editor John Boyle about his work.
Public anger is growing over rising electricity prices nationwide. In West Virginia, Appalachian Power customers have been paying hundreds of millions of dollars in hidden costs.
Despite a drop, the issue of student-athlete harassment by bettors has become more prevalent in recent years with the rise of online gambling. So has the prevalence of problem gambling among younger bettors.
On this West Virginia Morning, we hear from those shaping the debate over transgender rights and a mother and son from Gaza have spent two months in Louisville, Kentucky for medical care that would be nearly impossible to get back home.
On this West Virginia Morning, we hear about grassroots opposition to an energy project in Tucker County, and dive into a unique form of Appalachian singing.
On this West Virginia Morning, cicadas annoy some, but have profound meaning to others. And a new radio and television series highlights some of the brightest, clearest skies in the nation.
On this West Virginia Morning, a festival highlights the grassroots movement to reclaim the Black roots of folk and country music, and a new tourism trail highlights the brewers and distillers of southern West Virginia.
New coal mine safety requirements from the Mine Safety and Health Administration were supposed to take effect this month until a federal court blocked the rollout.
It’s been 15 years since the Upper Big Branch Mine disaster in West Virginia. Family members and others from the community gathered over the weekend to remember those who lost their lives in one of the worst mining accidents of the past half century.
On this West Virginia Morning, we hear from Gov. Patrick Morrisey offering thoughts on his legislative agenda, a discussion from The Legislature Today about the future of microgrids and why counties aren’t enthusiastic about bringing t…
The rule was aimed at reducing miner inhalation of silica dust, which has been shown to worsen cases of black lung disease and cause an earlier onset of the disease in younger miners.
Appalshop, an Appalachian arts and media hub based in Kentucky, faced archival damage during a devastating flooding incident in 2022. Now, the organization says restoration efforts have brought much of the archive back to life.
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.
U.S. District Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove increased a contempt fine against Jim Justice’s son, Jay Justice, and associate Stephen Ball, to $1,000 a day from $250 a day.
During last month’s cold snap, Huntington’s low barrier homeless shelter stayed at full capacity. The shelter director says the facility – with its limited restrictions – is unique in West Virginia, but now faces an uncertain future.
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On Thursday, Governor Patrick Morrisey ordered state and local law enforcement support for President Donald Trump’s Jan. 20 “Securing Our Borders” executive order.
As the apple industry continues to struggle, West Virginia growers hope a change in government administrations won’t mark the end of federal and state aid.
Dozens of people packed into a farmhouse at a Martinsburg apple orchard Thursday for a regional forum on food business, and the federal and state financial support available to food entrepreneurs in the Appalachian region.
The Boring Company has officially begun drilling a tunnel between downtown and the airport. City officials and residents remain unclear about the potential impact to Nashville’s underground environment, the company’s plans for extreme weather, and the supposed public benefit of the tunnel.
Ford's EV battery plant in Glendale was supposed to be the biggest economic development project Kentucky has ever seen. Now that the plant has shuttered, some former workers feel spurned, but community leaders remain cautiously optimistic.
The Boring Company has officially began drilling a tunnel between downtown and the airport. City officials and residents remain unclear about the potential impact to Nashville’s underground environment, the company’s plans for extreme weather, and the supposed public benefit of the tunnel.
The federal government is running out of a key ingredient for nuclear weapons: high-purity depleted uranium. Now they want to manufacture it in rural Tennessee.
Ford’s EV battery plant in Glendale was supposed to be the biggest economic development project Kentucky has ever seen. Now that the plant has shuttered, some former workers feel spurned, but community leaders remain cautiously optimistic.
The Boring Company has officially began drilling a tunnel between downtown and the airport. City officials and residents remain unclear about the potential impact to Nashville’s underground environment, the company’s plans for extreme weather, and the supposed public benefit of the tunnel.
The federal government is running out of a key ingredient for nuclear weapons: high-purity depleted uranium. Now they want to manufacture it in rural Tennessee.
Ford’s EV battery plant in Glendale was supposed to be the biggest economic development project Kentucky has ever seen. Now that the plant has shuttered, some former workers feel spurned, but community leaders remain cautiously optimistic.
The Boring Company has officially began drilling a tunnel between downtown and the airport. City officials and residents remain unclear about the potential impact to Nashville’s underground environment, the company’s plans for extreme weather, and the supposed public benefit of the tunnel.
The federal government is running out of a key ingredient for nuclear weapons: high-purity depleted uranium. Now they want to manufacture it in rural Tennessee.
Ford’s EV battery plant in Glendale was supposed to be the biggest economic development project Kentucky has ever seen. Now that the plant has shuttered, some former workers feel spurned, but community leaders remain cautiously optimistic.