Mountain News & World Report
Mountain News and World Report is WMMT's bi-weekly public affairs program on life in Central Appalachia, featuring stories from folks you may or may not know, items of interest to us all, and shining moments in our living history. Join us for these stories every other Thursday at 6 p.m. or every other Sunday at 10:30 a.m., and enjoy browsing our streaming archives here.
Also, we are now podcasting! To subscribe to the Mountain News Podcast, either click here to subscribe through Itunes or copy and paste the following url into the podcatcher of your choice: http://appalshop.org/wmmtfm/archives/category/mountain-news-world-report/?feed=atom
Mountain News – I Love Mts Day Report
 Retired coal miners, college students and citizen activists lined the steps of the capitol in Frankfort, Kentucky on Tuesday for the seventh annual I Love Mountains Day rally, organized by Kentuckians for the Commonwealth. The record turnout of 1,200 people called upon Governor Beshear, legislators and members of Congress to stop the damage being done to Kentucky’s land and water through mountaintop removal mining and valley fills, and to invest in economic alternatives for mountain communities.
While the event is often tagged by the industry as being “anti-coal,” the first speaker of the day, Ada Smith, of Letcher County, pointed to how safe and responsible coal mining must be a part of Kentucky’s transition towards a clean energy economy, and stressed that those who oppose destructive forms of surface mining, including mountaintop removal, are not seeking an immediate end to all kinds of coal mining. Hear from more of the event’s speakers and participants in this WMMT report.
 Richard Trumka MNWR 2-9-12 and 2-12-12
This week’s edition of Mountain news & World Report (February 9, 2012) looks at the importance, and the difficulty, of landowners getting legal advice in making a lease with a gas company; we profile a project that helps forest owners get income from non-timber products; and we hear a re-enactment of an important speech by Rich Trumka of the AFL-CIO on climate change and coal communities.
MN & WR for 1/26/12
Hosted by Sylvia Ryerson – In this edition of Mountain News and World Report, we share a new report from our Making Connections series on a program called How$martKY, a project of the Mountain Association for Community Economic Development, which allows customers to make energy efficiency upgrades to their homes using their energy savings to cover the expenses.
We also report on the Clean Energy Opportunity Act (HB 167) currently under review by the Kentucky General Assembly, share a new episode from our radio documentary on natural gas drilling in the region, and listen to voices from the Martin Luther King day celebration that took place in McRoberts last week.
Mountain News and World Report – January 12, 2012
 Main Street in McRoberts, KY, with a gas rig visible on the hill overlooking town This episode of MN & WR is a special one, as we debut the first installment of Fractured Appalachia, a 7-part documentary series WMMT has produced to inform residents on issues surrounding the increasing presence of oil and natural gas extraction in central Appalachia. This introductory segment, Geology, gives a background on what exactly is under our feet here in the coalfields and why it’s so valuable, as well as an introduction to “fracking” and how the process works. Future installments will delve deeply into all facets of the process, including legal issues, forced pooling, drilling, regulations, the effect on the economy, and much more. For tons more information or to hear all seven parts of our documentary before you hear them on the radio visit the series website, fracturedappalachia.org. This site features resources for landowners curious about the process, an f.a.q. section, and helpful links for those seeking to learn more. Stay tuned, as we will also be holding public forums on oil and gas extraction in both southeast Kentucky and across the mountain in southwest Virginia.
 Green, at left, with Dock Walsh This podcast also features a story from Candy Hughes, a local student who recently took part in the Appalachian Media Institute’s 2011 Fall Media Lab, a program which trains middle and high school students in producing radio story. Candy put together a fantastic story on high-school dropouts, and we’re proud to showcase her work.
Finally, this episode also includes an update on how Kentuckians can use the Low Income Home Energy Assistance (LIHEAP) program this winter, a report on prescription drug abuse in our state, and a segment from the Western Folklife Center in which the late folklorist Archie Green gives a background on the ballad “Factory Girl.”
Mountain News and World Report for 12-15-11
In this edition of Mountain News and World Report, we’ll hear about a project that empowers low-income women in Appalachia, we’ll hear a classic mountain Christmas song sung by our late friend Ken Childers, and we’ll update a story from our last edition on what the U.S. postal service’s eminent financial crisis would mean for our region. As the situation continues to rapidly unfold, this week we extended our story with the latest news.
MN & WR 12-1-11
This edition of WMMT’s bi-weekly news show features a report on the possible closing of a number of Letcher County post offices and on what that would mean for those communities; a report on high-school dropout rates; and some stories inspired by a history of moonshine making in Virginia.
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Donate using our secure site. featured underwriter:Listeners from Central Appalachia and beyond. making connections  Making Connections is a project for sharing news, stories, and information highlighting opportunities and challenges for building a healthy future for Appalachia's people and the land. fractured appalachia  Fractured Appalachia is a series of radio broadcasts, public forums, and an online resource developed to inform residents on issues surrounding the increasing presence of oil and natural gas extraction in Central Appalachia. |
