Pat Gish’s legacy, as well as husband Tom’s, should inspire today’s Appalachian reporters...

Eastern Kentucky laid to rest one of its fiercest advocates this week: Pat Gish, who with her husband Tom, ran The Mountain Eagle weekly newspaper in Whitesburg, Ky., for more than 50 years. (Lexington Herald-Leader photo by James Kenney, used with permission: Pat, with husband Tom) The Gish’s “spoke truth to power . . . through their crusading weekly newspaper,” writes the Lexington Herald-Leader’s Bill Estep in this excellent piece about Pat’s life and legacy. From the piece: “‘We’ve lost another true bulldog of journalism. Pat and Tom were inseparable when it came to what they believed was right and wrong and neither hesitated to go after the truth,’ said David Thompson, executive director of the Kentucky Press Association.” The Gish’s were never afraid to print the truth about local politics and the abuses of the coal industry against miners and communities, even though printing that truth in the local paper at that time was practically unheard of. Even after threats, business boycotts of the paper, dropped ads, and after The Mountain Eagle office was firebombed by a police officer, the Gish’s kept publishing their paper. They knew they had a duty to their community, and they helped uplift it and propel it forward. “We are convinced that knowledge is power and that the more the Eagle can help inform its readers about local and far-away developments that affect them, the more good things can happen,” said the couple in a 2000 commentary. The Gish’s were champions of rural journalism, writes Tim Mandell of...

SOAR offers hope for Eastern Kentucky’s transition

By now you’ve probably heard about the Shaping Our Appalachian Region (SOAR) conference that was held last week in Pikeville – it’s certainly been all over the news here in Kentucky and we’ve been sharing more stories as they come in on our Facebook page. While the stage was dominated by bigwigs – with a few notable exceptions – the audience was filled with far more “regular folks,” people from the region who are hungry for action on economic diversification in the region. And at a time when it’s so easy to be pessimistic, the tone at SOAR was one of optimism. The morning was full of presentations and panels, some more useful than others. One of the most interesting speakers was Jenn Noble, a young entrepreneur (and the only Appalachian woman to speak) from Hazard who owns the Treehouse Café and Bakery. An artist, she had the opportunity to go to New York City but, she said, “My community needed me more than New York City,” and so she came back home.  Also interesting was the presentation by two brothers from the iron mining region of Minnesota, which suffered the same downturn in their industry that we are facing today. Their story was familiar – massive job losses, once-vibrant towns emptying, young people leaving to find opportunities elsewhere – but what they did about it is something we can learn from. The Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board was founded in the 1940s and is funded with mining taxes....

Highlander Center still accepting applications for Appalachian Transition Fellows...

The Highlander Center in East Tennessee will start its Appalachian Transition Fellowship Program next year, and as Erica Peterson of WFPL News in Louisville reports, the program will “select 15 communities in the Appalachian areas of Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, West Virginia and North Carolina. With input from those communities, they’ll select 15 fellows to undertake one-year economic development projects.” We've discussed the program on this blog before. (Photo by: AppFellows.org) Program coordinator Elandria Williams hopes this program will operate through a different framework than others: “What we’re saying is … the leaders we … must invest in are people from our area.” We hope program fellows will start important conversations in their Appalachian communities about the future of the region – conversations that will hopefully spur excitement and concerted action and effort around revitalizing and renewing Appalachia’s economy. The Highlander Center is currently accepting applications for fellows, and will be taking them until February. You can learn more about the Appalachian Transition Fellowship Program, and apply to be a...

Appalachia needs strong leaders

The Hazard Herald of Hazard, Ky., wanted to know in this editorial where the leadership in Frankfort has beenhiding while coal jobs in eastern Kentuckycontinue dropping, leaving thousands out of work without viable alternative opportunities. "We don’t know what Gov. Beshear has up his sleeve, or how much he had to do with any of the positive job creation we’re seeing in other parts of the state, but he can’t expect to put his name on those successes while washing his hands of the declining economy in Eastern Kentucky. We’re hearing next to nothing from Frankfort about creating a new economy beyond coal. We need a new vision." We agree that the region does need a new vision, and it seems like it will come from within before those without will take action. The Mountain Association for Community Economic Development has recently developed what could be a good series of steps folks in the region could take to create a new vision to diversify the economy and move the region forward into a bright future. You can read a bit about their plan in this editorial from MACED’s Executive Director, Justin Maxson. Basically, they give four strategies: Better support local entrepreneurs and enterprises. Grow key sectors that build on Central Appalachia’s great assets. Provide workers with financial support, retraining and job matching tied to growing sectors. Better invest financial resources already available, and actively search for more. They say these four strategies should be supported by increased conversation about the issues...

“Another way is possible”

Earlier this month, we featured an op-ed with some great words from Kentucky Rep. Leslie Combs about how the region needs to focus less on pointing fingers and more on working together to create a different future. Today, the Lexington Herald-Leader posted another op-ed in response to Rep. Combs' welcome leadership, this time from MACED's own Justin Maxson, offering some concrete ways forward. What can we do to bring more people – legislators included – on board? At the Mountain Association for Community Economic Development we believe, as state Rep. Leslie Combs does, that "the time has come to … focus more on how coal-mining regions can move forward" and not only survive, but thrive. That's why we are very appreciative of Combs' call for a more constructive, solutions-oriented conversation about the region's economic future — a conversation with less heat and more light. MACED has been working to help the people of Appalachia rebuild their economy from the ground up for almost 40 years. We believe there are some important things that can be done now to help promote economic transition in Appalachia. First, we agree with her and others who say the state's coal severance tax should be used better. Currently, only about half of the severance tax dollars collected is returned to our coal-mining counties. County governments then use the funds for several different things, including local infrastructure improvements. It's no secret to the people of Floyd County, and surrounding counties, that the amount of coal severance...

“Focus on how we can move forward”

We often lament here the lack of political leadership in preparing Appalachia for a low-coal future, so it was refreshing to read an op-ed from Kentucky state Rep. Leslie Combs that called for less fighting over coal and more support for a more robust Appalachian economy. "We need to be talking about the new reality of less mining because we've known this day was coming," she wrote. Combs, along with another Eastern Kentucky coalfield legislator, pre-filed a bill that would return all coal severance taxes back to the counties where the coal was mined (currently they get less than half). It's a bill that is unlikely to pass, as Combs admits, but if it's a catalyst to get the legislature talking about Eastern Kentucky's economic development, then that's a start.  In response to Rep. Combs' op-ed, the Herald-Leader wrote its own editorial, praising Combs for "her eagerness to lead on this challenge," and stating that "Combs' bottom line — 'focus less on placing blame and more on how coal-mining regions can move forward' — is unassailable." But it also pushes some of her ideas farther: "We could also support returning more of the severance tax to coal counties, but only if there is a smart plan based on sound economics and governance that would be democratic, transparent and accountable with quantifiable measures of success and failure." Comprehensive, participatory strategic planning is absolutely crucial to Appalachia's transition. How many news stories have been written about a huge new investment into a project that fails to...

A West VA Town’s Community-Sponsored Rebirth

The little town of Williamson, WV is getting some great press these days, and deservedly so. Known as “the heart of the billion-dollar coalfield,” Williamson is proud of its coal heritage but is also actively preparing for what’s next. Sustainable Williamson is an initiative that has brought together the numerous community health, development and workforce training projects happening in the town. They’ve put together a fantastic video about their work, which you can – and should – watch at their website. Recently, the Charleston Gazette ran a lengthy story about Williamson. It’s an inspiring story, and the kind of thing we need more of throughout central Appalachia. And it began with people talking to each other: All those people – and others with their own dreams — started comparing notes. Sometimes they sat around the town’s little coffeehouse and talked. Sometimes they talked at meetings or on the street. They began to see they were working on pieces of the same picture. That was three years ago. “We saw we were all working on improving our quality of life and the local people’s health, and we shouldn’t just be looking at one little piece of the puzzle, like a campground or a 5K or a farmers market,” McCormick said. “Our project became more about the way all these smaller projects are related.” They saw that a health center would bring the city millions of dollars and lots of jobs. The city could help start the regular 5K run/walks Hatfield...

A Few Lessons for Appalachia’s Future

The folks over at Yes! Magazine featured MACED – and several other great Appalachian organizations – in their recent article “Don’t Be Like the Past: 3 Lessons for Appalachia’s Post-Coal Economy.” Like the author of yesterday’s post, Yes! is optimistic about Appalachia’s ability to make it through coal’s downturn. So what happens when Appalachia is coal country no more? What will it take to build a new economy in a region that has been defined by the unsustainable extraction of natural resources (including natural gas and poorly managed timber in addition to coal)? Throughout Appalachia, local, grassroots groups are hard at work on those questions. Outsiders might be surprised to learn that the region is full of organizations working to reform old industries and promote more sustainable ones, to build local entrepreneurial capacity, and to make sure the region’s resources benefit residents over the long haul. These organizations are often heavily interconnected, creating a growing, region-wide support network for residents who are looking to create something new. And new is the name of the game—a recurring theme is the need to build economies designed to avoid the problems of Appalachia’s past. These groups see the necessity of an economic transition as a chance to create economies more diverse, more resilient, and far less polluting than what came before. Read the whole article by clicking here....