100 Days in Appalachia

In Virginia, People in Prison are Still Working For Pennies

Talib Muwahhid has a knack for woodworking, and over the years, he’s tinkered with a variety of different projects. “I was making things like little chess sets and storage boxes and stuff out of ...
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

‘We Know What It’s Like To Be Exploited’: Tucker County, W.Va., Grapples With Future-Defining AI-Infrastructure Proposal

To fully appreciate the beauty of Tucker County, you must visit. Nestled at 3,500 feet in the gorgeous Allegheny Mountains along the Blackwater River, the town of Davis is at the highest elevation of ...
100 Days in Appalachia

Politically-Connected W.Va. GameChanger Program Receives Opioid Funds Amid Doubts from Experts

On a Tuesday afternoon, Michelle Allen is in her office in an empty Robert C. Byrd High School. Allen is the career and technical instructor at RCB and also runs GameChanger, the school’s prevention ...
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 ...
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

In West Virginia’s Southern Coalfields, a Grassroots ‘Jubilee’

On a late spring day in 2022, Rev. Brad Davis was riding along the twisting roads of McDowell County, West Virginia. Davis was soon to start his current job pastoring five United Methodist churches ...
100 Days in Appalachia

‘An Ecosystem of Dysfunction:’ West Virginia Still Has a Child Welfare Worker Shortage, and It’s Taking a Toll on Foster Kids and Families

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

‘They’re All Damaged.’ Despite Progress, West Virginia is Still Failing to Get Foster Kids the Mental Health Help 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

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

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 ...