Last Wednesday in Portsmouth, Ohio, a team of organizers with River Valley Organizing Project was out canvassing and encountered a man outside a corner store who was overdosing. The organizers were having folks fill out a survey—asking them what they love about their community, what they’d like to see changed, […]
Read MoreAuthor: Jack Shuler
‘Don’t Forget the Beauty’: Appalachian Town Pushes Back Against National Narrative of Despair
It was billed as a press conference and pep rally, a chance for community leaders to respond to negative national media coverage. On a recent Thursday evening, high school cheerleaders and beauty queens lined the back wall of an amphitheater alongside the Ohio River. Shawnee State University’s mascot, Shawn E. […]
Read MoreThis Storied Football Town in Ohio is Looking to Revitalize its Stadium — and Fight the Opioid Epidemic
On a late June afternoon, a slight breeze blew as rolling clouds framed the Kentucky hills on the other side of the Ohio, just a stone’s throw away. A new semi-pro football team called the Portsmouth Stealth gathered in a parking lot outside Portsmouth, Ohio’s Spartan Municipal Stadium, home to […]
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