Appalachia News

Epidemiologists at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health say they've identified the largest cluster of advanced black lung disease ever reported, a cluster that was first uncovered by NPR 14 months ago.

President Trump defined himself as the "last shot" for coal country, igniting strong support in the Appalachian coal region, an area that has long suffered from poverty and dwindling coal jobs. But with his proposed budget, he writes Appalachia off.

Durham - North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory had already declared a state of emergency covering 25 drought-ridden western counties with over 20 wildfires, but by Saturday evening, the situation went from bad to worse.

Almost 1.2 million people live in the Appalachia region of the Eastern United States. The region is best known for the mountaintop removal mining (MTR) that is carried out by coal companies to extract the fossil fuel needed to meet our coal demands. .

Mountaintop removal mining (MRM) is an economically advantageous way for companies to extract coal from the Earth, removing over two-and-a-half-times the amount of coal per worker hour than can be done with underground mining. But there is a downside.

Washington - It's with much sorrow that we report today the passing of Senator Robert C. Byrd. A son of West Virginia, Byrd devoted his life to the Mountain State. His enduring dedication to improving the lives of each person he represented will live on forever.