Commentary

Just Another Wednesday: When the DOJ Purdue Plea Agreement Was Announced, Harm Reduction Activists in Appalachia Were Busy

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, […]

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Communities Brace for Loss of Another Industry as Minor League Baseball Plans to Leave Appalachia

Major League Baseball’s plan to shrink its minor league system is upending a century of professional baseball in West Virginia and throughout Appalachia.  The contraction plan, culling more than a quarter of its current teams, is forcing small towns to scramble for alternatives, including joining college or independent leagues. It’s […]

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No One Knows Appalachia’s Story Quite Like We Do – So We’re Going to Tell It.

Four years ago, our country was in the midst of one of the most divisive elections in history — one that deepened the divide between rural and urban America. Misrepresentations and overgeneralizations in national media coverage contributed to a homogenized, simplified portrayal of Appalachia – but that’s not a new […]

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Students enter the classroom in Godley, Texas, on August 5. Godley is a town of approximately 1,000 residents about 30 miles southwest of Fort Worth. The school district is among the first to open in Texas for the fall term. Photo: AP Photo/ LM Otero

Commentary: Rural Schools’ Crumbling Infrastructure Was a Health Threat Even Before the Pandemic

Parents had to worry about the safety of their school children long before COVID-19 became a problem. It’s time to invest in education to address these disparities, starting with the pandemic relief package. Rural schools are sick, and it’s not just the coronavirus. As the nation’s gaze turns to the […]

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