Remembering Jimmy Weekley, Frog Watching in Va.

In Pennsylvania, there’s all sorts of noises associated with natural gas drilling.  One company is trying to be sensitive.

In West Virginia, we remember Jimmy Weekley – the last man on the mountain.

And in Virginia, an executive chef is looking for frogs, not for their legs, but for their distinctive sound.

How noisy is natural gas development? Well, it depends on what you’re hearing… whether it’s drilling, fracking, or processing gas. This summer state regulators are trying to get a handle on one of the most persistently noisy places… compressor stations.

For more energy and environment news click here: http://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/

Remembering Jimmy Weekley: A former coal miner who in the 1990s helped fight the first major case against Mountaintop removal mining died last Friday. James, or “Jimmy” Weekley, of Blair, W.Va. was 74 years old. He lived in Pigeonroost Hollow, the community at the base of Blair Mountain all his life. Like most West Virginians, Weekley saw coal as the economic lifeblood of his community. Then in the 1990s, Arch Coal moved into his area and began work on the Spruce Number One mine. It was one of the largest mountaintop removal mining sites ever proposed, and it was virtually in Weekley’s backyard. Almost overnight, he was transformed into an unlikely anti-mining activist.  Three years ago, Joe Richman and Samara Freemark of Radio Diaries visited Weekly and produced this story of The Last Man on the Mountain.

Frog Watching: If you’re interested in birds, you’ve probably heard of the Christmas bird count.  On December 25^th, volunteers head out to see what feathered friends are in their area and report to a national data bank.  You may not know that a similar enterprise is underway for frogs.  In fact, the North American Amphibian Monitoring Project is looking for help in Virginia