100 Days in Appalachia

W.Va. Opioid Settlement Funds are Supposed to Reverse Years of Crisis. In Several Counties, They’re Being Used to Pay Regional Jail Bills.

In rural Wyoming County, West Virginia, Ann Reed is the sheriff’s department’s only social worker. Funded through a temporary grant from a local mental health center, Reed provides resources and care ...
100 Days in Appalachia

Big Tech Comes to Tucker County, WV

Pamela Moe was reading the paper in late March when she spotted a public notice from a company she’d never heard of. Fundamental Data, a Virginia-based company, had applied for a permit from West ...
100 Days in Appalachia

From Flooding to Fires: Appalachia’s Recreation Industry Faces Climate Change Challenges

The impacts of climate change are steadily and exponentially being felt here in Appalachia just as they have across the globe, and environmental activists, scientists and outdoor enthusiasts alike ...
100 Days in Appalachia

In West Virginia’s ‘Poultry Capital,’ Immigrant Workers Struggle to Find the Help and Support They Need

This story was originally published by Mountain State Spotlight. Get stories like this delivered to your email inbox once a week; sign up for the free newsletter at ...
100 Days in Appalachia

Are Data Centers the Next Frontier of Extraction in West Virginia?

Mingo County, West Virginia, was once thriving, but the coal industry’s decline left it one of the poorest counties in the US. Now, several data centers could be built in the region. Are data centers ...
100 Days in Appalachia

In Kanawha County, WV, Opioid Settlement Funding for Syringe Services Faces Barriers

In the early afternoon of Wednesday, Sept. 17, emergency rooms in Charleston, West Virginia, began experiencing an influx of people in the throes of a drug overdose. By the following morning, some ...
100 Days in Appalachia

Five Years After It Became a National Park, There’s a Growing Divide In West Virginia’s New River Gorge

The New River Gorge is a jagged area in the middle of Southern West Virginia’s coalfields. Shaped by one of the oldest rivers in the world, whitewater rapids roll under its high petrified sandstone ...
100 Days in Appalachia

What is the New Apostolic Reformation? How a Religio-Political Movement is Affecting U.S. and Appalachian Politics

Apostles and prophets. Spiritual warfare. Dominionism and the New Apostolic Reformation. You might come across these terms if you follow politics these days. Here’s some context and clarity about the ...
100 Days in Appalachia

Across Appalachia, Photo ID Requirements Complicate Voting

When Amanda Saint went to vote in the 2020 election, she didn’t anticipate having any problems. For years, the 36-year-old nurse had been living and voting just outside of Huntsville, Alabama. But ...
100 Days in Appalachia

‘In the Boat Together’: Post-Helene, Faith Communities Have Been Central to NC’s Long-Term Recovery

In late September of last year, Tropical Storm Helene dumped up to 20 inches of water in parts of western North Carolina. In Ashe County, where Reverend Blake Smaar leads the congregation at West ...
100 Days in Appalachia

The Price of Recovery

As millions in opioid settlement funds reach West Virginia, counties are making high-stakes choices about how to spend it — revealing the tension between political priorities, financial pressures and ...
100 Days in Appalachia

North Carolina County Wanted New Court to Stem Its Opioid Crisis. Then Came Trump’s Cuts.

This article was published in partnership with The Marshall Project, a nonprofit news organization covering the U.S. criminal justice system. Sign up for their newsletters, and follow them on ...