Have you heard the news? Appalshop is proud to welcome Francesco Aglieri Rinella as our newest artist-in-residence! Francesco is an Italian documentary photographer who is “committed to capturing landscapes altered by human intervention and their interconnectedness.” We are thrilled to welcome him to our neck of the woods, and to lead this wonderful cultural exchange.
Francesco arrived in Letcher County earlier this week, and will be hosting an artist talk at the WMMT Studio on Friday, November 21 at 6 PM. You can hear him discuss his practice, see some of his images, and enjoy a meal with him and other community members. There will be soup beans and cornbread served for all attendees. This event is free and open to the public.
We hope you’ll join us at 253A E Main Street in Whitesburg on Friday to help give Francesco a warm welcome!
If you’d like to learn more about Francesco, you can visit his website at www.francescoaglieri.com.
Mountain Talk Spotlight
From Monongah in 1907, to Upper Big Branch in 2010, and—given the awful tragedy that recently claimed the life of a miner in Nicholas County, WV—right up into the present, coal disasters have, sadly, been an all-too-frequent feature of life in Appalachian communities. And, of course, maybe even more tragic is that, in so many of these disasters, it would be found later that they could have been prevented, were it not for negligence on the part of coal companies.
As a mine rescue and recovery expert, over the course of Leonard Fleming’s career, he responded to mine disasters like these all over the country. But Leonard, a longtime resident of Kona, in Letcher County, Ky., was also there for one of the darkest chapters in our own local coal history: the Scotia Disaster of 1976, when 26 men lost their lives, after two different explosions rocked through the Scotia Mine, near the community of Eolia, in Letcher Co. (And Scotia was, sadly, one of those disasters that didn’t have to happen; it was well-known even before the explosions as a “gassy” mine, and it was later discovered that inadequate ventilation practices on the part of the company allowed explosive levels of methane to build up underground).
In the latest episode of WMMT’s weekly program Mountain Talk, we had the rare & special opportunity to sit down with Mr. Fleming, to hear about his experiences as part of the Beth-Elkhorn Mine Rescue Team, which led him to be one of the beyond-brave souls who went into the Scotia mine, looking for survivors. In this conversation, which was led by Dr. Brian McKnight, of UVA-Wise, and Appalshop’s own Mimi Pickering, we also hear about Leonard’s rich & varied experiences in the coal industry: as a miner, a high-ranking mine inspector for the state of Kentucky, and as a mine rescue expert for the UMWA who responded to coal disasters both near and far.
As a final note, this interview was recorded on April 4, 2025; we were so, so saddened to hear that Mr. Fleming passed away in October. Our thoughts are with his family, and loved ones. We’re honored to have been able to meet him, and to share his story.
“I had seen Leonard at local meetings related to mine health and safety and understood that he had quite an interesting history. I didn’t realize he had been a member of one of the rescue teams that did recovery work after the Scotia Disaster until he spoke out at a panel with the Westmoreland Mine Rescue Team that was held at the Harry Caudill Library last spring. Dr. Brian McKnight, who organized the panel, and I asked if we could interview Leonard later about his mining experiences. This was something I had been wanting to do for quite awhile and I’m so glad we did. When Dr. McKnight set up the interview, Leonard said to hurry up as he felt his health was failing him. We talked primarily about the Scotia Disaster but I wish we could have talked for several more hours as he had more to tell. I don’t know how much folks around here knew about his storied career. I’m glad we recorded at least some of it.” – Mimi Pickering, Appalshop Filmmaker
You can find the episode on our Youtube page, or on our Mountain Talk Soundcloud.
ACLC Hosts Meetings Over Proposed Kentucky Power Rate Increase
Last week, Appalachian Citizens Law Center held a discussion about the proposed rate increase by Kentucky Power. Kentucky Power is proposing a 14.9% rate increase for residential customers and a 13-15% commercial and industrial customers. If approved, these changes could take effect as early as March of 2026.
Appalshop filmmaker Nik Lee attended and filmed the discussion, hosted by Deputy Director Mary Cromer of ACLC.
For more information about the proposed rate increase, please visit ACLC’s Take Action page.
The Appalachian Citizens Law Center has also created an informational packet about the proposed increase.
If you are interested in commenting on the proposed rate increase, these are the dates where in-person comments can be made to the Kentucky Public Service Commission:
- Nov 20 @ 5pm. Pike Co Public Library, 126 Lee Ave, Pikeville
- Dec 18 @ 5pm. Perry County Courthouse, Hazard
- Jan 8 @ 5pm. Ashland Transportation Center, Ashland
More info can be found on ACLC’s website. If you’d like to watch footage from the first meeting, please visit our Youtube page.
November’s Pay-What-You-Want Album
As you might have seen, June Appal has recently been celebrating the release of Featherbed by Sarah Kate Morgan and Leo Shannon. In the spirit of gifted musical duos, our November PWYW album is Wade and Julia Mainer’s In the Land of Melody—this married bluegrass pair made gorgeous guitar and banjo pickin’ gospel tunes. Also featured on our Bandcamp page is footage of Julia and Wade performing at the 1991 Seedtime on the Cumberland Festival.
You can learn more about them, stream the album, and purchase it for any price you choose (including FREE!) by visiting our Bandcamp page.
