Martin and Georgia West have been married 41 years and live in their native county of McDowell, in southern West Virginia. Martin West, 62, has worked in the mining industry, been the county magistrate and now serves as the county’s sheriff and treasurer. He’s also the pastor at the Pentecostal […]
Read More100 Days, 100 Voices
‘It could be me next,’ warns Jimmy Pan
Jimmy Pan, 27, is a first-year student at the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine in Lewisburg, W. Va. He’s originally from Hong Kong, and now calls Charlotte, N.C. home. Pan says he’s voted in three presidential elections, but this time his pick was not the winner. He took a break […]
Read More‘You have to be hopeful,’ says Bernie Sanders supporter
Aimee Anderson, 23, works as a bartender at the Kanawha Lounge in Buckhannon, West Virginia. The television at the bar is always on Fox News and, as a Bernie Sanders supporter, Anderson described the election season as tense. Post inauguration Anderson said the atmosphere is quieter, “We still watch the news […]
Read MoreWe ask a Muslim-Appalachian with Kurdish roots her response to Immigration ban
Sara Berzingi was born in Erbil, Iraq. Her family left Iraqi Kurdistan as refugees through operation Pacific Haven, which brought them to the United States in 1997. Sara and her family have called West Virginia home for a decade. She considers her family’s story a classic story of “the American Dream,” but […]
Read More‘100 Days of US’ funds 25 community projects to start in first 100 days
Ryan Coon is a program officer with The Sprout Fund, a nonprofit organization based in Pittsburgh. He explained the ‘”100 Days of US” project. The Sprout Fund awarded $120,000 to 25 projects leading a civic response for the first 100 days of the new administration. Our team attended The Sprout Fund […]
Read MoreA community college president shares 10 things to do in the first 100 days
Dr. L. Marshall Washington, 47, is president of the New River Community and Technical College in Beaver, West Virginia. Washington was photographed in Lewisburg, West Virginia as part of a Martin Luther King celebration. Dr. Washington was the keynote speaker at the event. The following is an excerpt from the speech […]
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