Tagged: Eastern Kentucky

Republican Congressman Andy Barr is welcoming First Lady Michelle Obama to Kentucky this weekend, but took time to criticize the White House's energy policy in the process.

The First Lady will attend the spring commencement ceremony at Eastern Kentucky University on Saturday, where she will deliver the keynote address.

Mrs. Obama is speaking at EKU as part of her Joining Forces initiative to assist military families. Long lines are expected for those seeking to attend.

Barr says he hopes the visit will give the district an opportunity to showcase its local economy including the horse industry, but took a shot at the Obama administration's environmental regulations.

"I hope the First Lady will also take back with her to Washington a better understanding of the detrimental effects of the administration’s 'War on Coal' that is raising energy prices and crippling the futures of many of the very graduates to whom she will speak," he says. "It is my sincere hope that she will benefit from her time in the Sixth District and return with a new appreciation about the need to support policies that will get Kentuckians back to work."

LOUISVILLE, Ky.  — Artifacts recently unearthed during the filming of a new National Geographic Channel show appear to pinpoint the location of a turning point in the yearslong feud between the Hatfield and McCoy clans.

An editorial published yesterday in the Hazard Herald of Perry County lays out a cogent view of where the economy of Eastern Kentucky is headed, as the coal industry shrinks and utilities begin transitions to cheaper natural gas.  The editors of the Ha

According to the Associated Press:

Officials at a state park in eastern Kentucky are restricting some activities like swimming and feeding the ducks because of water contamination.

The contamination at Levi Jackson State Park has killed several fish. According to John Williams of the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife, the fish kill was caused by excess nutrients in the water, like cow manure washing into streams.

The water’s oxygen levels are well below average and high temperatures and low water levels are complicating the problem.

Over the past two years, the EPA has filed specific objections to 36 surface mining permits previously approved by the state of Kentucky to mining companies that wanted to dump waste into streams in Eastern Kentucky. This week, there were public hearings on the EPA's objection to the permits in both Frankfort and Pikeville, and the EPA is accepting written comments until June 21.