Mountain News & World Report

The extent of the opioid crisis in Central Appalachia is not a secret. It has been covered extensively by national media in terms of statistics and the degree to which pharmaceutical companies are to blame. However, the solutions to the problem springing up within the communities themselves, and the current ramifications of having lost a generation of community members to addiction have long been overlooked. Communities throughout the coalfields are grappling with statistically significant problems when it comes to meeting the needs of preschool and school aged youth being born to addicted parents. This episode of Mountain News & World Report takes an in depth look at the reality and the solutions being tried. Image courtesy of patrisyu at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

This episode looks deeper into the struggle that many Appalachian people experience with wanting to remain in the place they came from to live, work, and raise their families. With fewer economic opportunities, many are choosing to leave the region they call home simply to find work. Yet, there's always the pull to face the struggle and stay home come hell or high water. West Virginia Public Broadcasting's Inside Appalachia, and the Ohio Valley ReSource with WMMT contribute to this episode. Additional music is "Oh Girl" by The Chi-Lites as played by Kentuckian Issac Boone Davis.

In this special edition episode, Mountain News & World Report takes a look at some of the pieces of the "silver buckshot" theory of economic diversification for coalfields Appalachia, trying all the ideas to see which ones work. Some of the most tangible ideas are farming, tourism, reclamation, and cultural arts. Join us for a look into the region's reality, history, and future for each of these endeavors. Segments for the show this week were produced by Ohio Valley ReSource, Allegheny Mountain Radio, The Allegheny Front, and Folk Life Fieldnotes.

-Visit Wirt Co., West Virginia with Ohio Valley ReSource reporter Aaron Payne to see why it is among some of the counties in Central Appalachia that is beating the statistical odds with better than expected health outcomes. -Three regional reporters from the Ohio Valley ReSource offer their analysis of possible new ideas to bring jobs and well being to mining country. -WMMT's Randy Wilson pays tribute to Knott Co., Kentucky author and artist Verna Mae Slone. Slone is best known for her memoir - What My Heart Wants to Tell.

-Malcolm and Jennifer Wilson of Humans of Central Appalachia speak with Dock Frazier, owner of the Farm House General Store in Ermine, Kentucky about connection to the land and the entrepreneurial spirit. -Dr. Stephanie (May) Lang of the Kentucky Historical Society stops in Prestonsburg, Kentucky to listen to the community's reasons for loving Kentucky, problems they feel Kentuckians face, and what we can do to make things better, as Kentucky celebrates 225 years as a commonwealth.

-Ohio Valley ReSource's Glynis Board, reports on new companies in the region that are creating jobs by restoring properties disturbed by mining and other large scale development activities. -OVR's Mary Meehan brings us a picture of what President Trump's 21% proposed cut to agriculture funding would mean to those who need nutritious food, and those farmers who provide it. -WFPL of Louisville's Erica Peterson shares the story of a coal company working with a renewable energy partner to create Kentucky's largest solar panel array on a former strip mine in Pike County, Kentucky. -For Wade Mainer, the Grandfather of Bluegrass, a birthday tribute from Appalshop Archive.

-Mimi Pickering and Benny Becker report on how the digital divide is affecting one east Kentucky community and how they’re working to remedy the situation through working toward access to true broadband internet services. -The Kentucky Homebirth Coalition is a grassroots organization who have been working diligently to pass legislation to license certified professional midwives to fill some of the void when it comes to access to prenatal and birthing care throughout the state. Kelli Haywood shares the story.

- The Ohio Valley ReSource explores how the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare) expanded substance abuse treatment for thousands, including recovering addict Wendy Crites. Producers Glynis Board and Rebecca Kiger bring us the story of Crites’ struggle for sobriety, told in her own words. -Crime statistics show human trafficking is on the rise, including here in the Ohio Valley region. Now, some former victims of trafficking are raising awareness, and they've teamed up with some unlikely allies. -Tim Sanders and his wife Becky have moved back to Tim's boyhood home here in eastern Kentucky after 45 years to live the self reliant lifestyle, but quickly found they were part of a new economy building itself in coalfields Appalachia.

This is an episode dedicated to the Ohio Valley ReSource, a regional news collaborative of seven radio stations across three states. WMMT is one of those stations, and our reporter Benny Becker represents eastern Kentucky in the OVR. - Benny Becker has the story of the troubled past of water quality in Martin County, Kentucky and how many have lost trust in their water and their government. (This piece was recently picked to air on NPR.) - Aaron Payne delivers the startling statistics and stories behind the region's infants born to addicted mothers in - Born Addicted: The Race to Treat the Ohio Valley's Drug Addicted Babies. Payne is based in Athens, Ohio at WOUB. - WMMT's Kelli Haywood speaks with Jeff Young who is the managing editor of the Ohio Valley ReSource and works from WFPL in Louisville, Kentucky, about the importance of regional journalism and the OVR model in these questioning times.

Hazard, Kentucky: Boom or Bust? Take an in depth look at community efforts to revitalize downtown Hazard with WMMT's Kelli Haywood. An entire half hour devoted to the voices of Hazard sharing their dreams, disappointments, bumps in the road, and successes as they try to rebuild a livable community through food, arts, culture, and more.

-Kentucky River Community Care's Sapling Center in Whitesburg offers transitional youth a safe place to access basic necessities, technology, mental health services, and support for transitioning into independent living. -The Boone Youth Drop-In Center (Appalachian Media Institute) also in Whitesburg offers a safe and sober place for those ages 14-22 to spend time, access technology, create art, play music and games, take workshops, learn creative skills, and be fully themselves. -Stephanie Chernyaskiy (aged 24) a Letcher County native shares her optimism about the next 4 years with Donald Trump as president. Hannah Adams (aged 18) also of Letcher County shares what those of us living in small coalfields towns do with divided politics and no place to hide from them.

-Mary Meehan of the Ohio Valley ReSource finds changing opinions in one eastern Kentucky community toward the increased risk of HepC and HIV outbreak due to IV drug use and needle exchange programs. -WMMT's Mimi Pickering talks to healthcare service providers and economy experts regarding the boost the Affordable Care Act has given to the health of the people and the economy of eastern Kentucky, and what its repeal might mean for the future. -Glynis Board with the Ohio Valley ReSource speaks with photographer Rebecca Kiger about documenting the transitioning economy of coalfields Appalachia.

-NPR's Howard Berkes delivers the final segment of his two part investigative reporting collaboration with WMMT's Benny Becker with the Ohio Valley ReSource on the resurgence of complicated black lung disease among miners in Central Appalachia. -West Virginia Public Broadcasting's Jessica Lily interviews Howard Berkes on the making of his newest radio series on black lung disease. -WMMT pays tribute to former West Virginia Democratic Congressman, Kenneth William Hechler who passed away on December 10th, 2016.

-Benny Becker of WMMT and the Ohio Valley ReSource highlights the struggle and immense strength of the Branham family of Pike County, Kentucky whose father at the age of 38 was diagnosed with the most severe form of black lung disease and rendered unable to work. -Howard Berkes of NPR in collaboration with Benny Becker and the Ohio Valley ReSource reports on the data revealing an alarming increase of the form of black lung Mackie Branham Jr. is experiencing across all of Central Appalachia. -WMMT’s Kelli Haywood shares the progress of The City Built on Coal Project funded in Jenkins, Kentucky by the National Endowment for the Arts – Our Town Program, and the unveiling of a new mural at one entrance to Jenkins.

-With regional obesity rates some of the highest, Ohio Valley ReSource reporter Mary Meehan explores a new way of thinking about food – mindful eating. -Russell Huff of Harlan County, Kentucky tells the story of the late building of access roads from many of our eastern Kentucky hollers to the major roads and highways in his contribution to the Humans of Central Appalachia Project. -Central Appalachia Wonders (CAW) welcomes Mike Hansel, a local Environmental Manger for a Regional Energy Co., and Jason Forson, an Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College, answering our very first listener question submitted by John Skaggs about the condition of our roads in coalfields Appalachia.

-How do regional rates of opioid misuse affect the potential for transitioning the economy of coalfields Appalachia? Report Kelli Haywood speaks with business owners, healthcare providers, and government officials about employment and addiction. -Carrie Mullins, author of debut novel Night Garden, speaks with Kelli Haywood about the crisis of addiction and the humanity in the midst. -Aaron Payne of the Ohio Valley ReSource gives an update on the use of the overdose drug naloxone. Kelli Haywood shares a special public service announcement for all persons and families navigating active addiction.

- Reporter Kelli Haywood visits the small community of Hemphill, Kentucky to learn how volunteers are turning a circa 1943 elementary school into a happening place to be on Friday nights. -Jeff Young of the Ohio Valley ReSource interviews authors J.D. Vance and Nancy Isenberg on their respective works on the issues facing the white working class. -Gwen Johnson of Neon, Kentucky tells the town of how her oddly named hometown received its moniker

-NPR's Howard Berkes reports on West Virginia gubernatorial candidate Jim Justice being the nation's top delinquent mine owner, owing millions in back taxes and safety violation fines. -With WMMT and OVR, Benny Becker reports on Justice's most troubling debts and damaged lands in eastern Kentucky. -WVPB's Ashton Marra interviews Howard Berkes on the process of reporting on Jim Justice and why such reports are pertinent around election day.

- Contributor Beth Bingman shares the story of the first successful racially integrated summer camp in Appalachia - Fellowship House Day Camp in Knoxville, TN. - Eula Hall (healthcare activist and founder of the Mud Creek Clinic) shares the harrowing story of her mother's brush with death during childbirth due to lack of medical care. - Citizens in Prestonsburg, Kentucky speak out about their concerns over Governor Matt Bevin's proposed changes to Medicaid.

-Mary Gail Adams tells the story of her mother and the Hound Dog Hookers, a group of wool rug makers in Blackey, Kentucky established in the 1960s as part of Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty effort. -The Administrator of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration, Jay Williams, speaks on the correlation between the economic difficulties of eastern Kentucky and that experienced in his hometown of Youngstown, Ohio with the collapse of the steel industry. -Along with the Humans of Central Appalachia project, WMMT pays tribute to Whitesburg, Kentucky’s beloved artist, restaurateur, volunteer, and grandmother – Judith Vermillion.