Voting Rights And An Update From Inside Appalachia's 'The Struggle To Stay'

On this West Virginia Morning, we hear about those around the Ohio Valley who have recently had their voting rights restored and learn about others who remain disenfranchised from the democratic process. Also, we hear the latest on which counties will be virtual learning-only this week, and we listen back and check in with Mark Combs who was featured in Inside Appalachia’s “The Struggle to Stay” series.

Twenty-seven of West Virginia’s 55 county school systems will be remote learning-only this week due to “heightened” and “substantial” community spread of the coronavirus. Education reporter Liz McCormick has more.

The Ohio Valley saw historic voter turnout this year in part due to changes in voting rules that expanded ballot access. Among those changes, some people with past felony records were permitted to vote in Kentucky for the first time. Thousands of people have had their voting rights restored, but as the Ohio Valley ReSource’s Alana Watson reports, thousands more around the region are still disenfranchised.

You might remember a few years back our Inside Appalachia team featured a series called “The Struggle to Stay.” For about a year, they followed several people who loved Appalachia, but were unsure they could really make it in the region. The latest Inside Appalachia episode re-aired the story of Mark Combs, but with an update. Mark spoke with Inside Appalachia’s co-host Caitlin Tan.

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