Katie Myers
Katie Myers is covering economic transition in east Kentucky for the ReSource and partner station WMMT in Whitesburg, KY. She previously worked directly with communities in Kentucky and Tennessee on environmental issues, energy democracy, and the digital divide, and is a founding member of a community-owned rural ISP. She has also worked with the Black in Appalachia project of East Tennessee PBS. In her spare time, Katie likes to write stage plays, porch sit with friends, and get lost on mountain backroads. She has published work with Inside Appalachia, Scalawag Magazine, the Daily Yonder, and Belt Magazine, among others.
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When miners and former miners seek a diagnosis for the disease, they must also seek a diagnosis from coal company-approved doctors. A recent study from the American Thoracic Society indicated that these doctors often show bias and conflict of interest. To contest the diagnosis, those seeking benefits, like Coleman, go to court.
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The initiative outside of Norton is called Project Intersection and strives to combine reclamation efforts with economic development. The planting project extends over three acres of land, though the strip mine site is close to 200 acres, encompassing an old high wall, a mining feature that can deteriorate and crumble.
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But Blockware Mining isn’t alone in Kentucky. As the technology takes off, a cryptocurrency mining boom is taking place in the state that’s known for mining coal. It’s a burgeoning industry that investors see as a cutting-edge economic opportunity. But critics say it’s compounding the world’s preeminent crisis – climate change.
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Privately, water board members say they’re tired of being held as the poster child of water problems in the state, but there’s not enough money or resources to fix it all. The process of fixing Martin County’s water lines is frustratingly manual — patching leaks, digging up lines one by one to see if they’re broken and repairing them. It’s agonizingly slow and highly labor-intensive, requiring frequent water shutoffs and boil-water notices.
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An hour into the shift, two-and–a-half miles down the tunnels of the Darby Fork mine, a roof collapsed on the 33 year-old. For a day he lay under the rock as crews and investigators tried to recover him, and his community held out hope that he was alive. When the news broke that Brown had passed, the community mourned.
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Workers at the Elkview location of the fast food chain have been in a months-long unionization effort, born after years of grievances about alleged verbal abuse, low pay and long hours.
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In the Southwest and Appalachia, Indigenous Organizers Want a New Economy for Their Coalfield Communities
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Paying for Black Lung: Renewal Deadline Looms for Overextended Federal Trust Fund
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Jay Justice, son of Jim Justice, governor of West Virginia, with whom he owns several mining companies, just announced the re-opening of four mines in Kentucky.
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Some residents in Ohio Valley communities are still struggling to keep their heads above water over a year into the pandemic. A main cause of concern: housing.