Jan 18 Arts and Culture Black Lives In Red States: Art And Life Converge For Two Women In A Tumultuous Year Two young Black women thought they would produce a play. But then 2020 happened, and life and art converged in a crazy year. By Sydney Boles, Ohio Valley ReSource Jan 18 Arts and Culture Black Lives In Red States: Art And Life Converge For Two Women In A Tumultuous Year Sydney Boles, Ohio Valley ReSource
Dec 22 Essential Worker Essential: Hit Hard By Pandemic, Restaurant Servers Get ‘Adopted’ Stay-at-home mom Sarci Eldridge has a big heart. So when Kentucky entered its second round of restaurant restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic, her first thought was for her favorite server, Jessica Carey. “Me and my mom were talking, and we were just like, you know, we should just get Jessica something to get her […] By Sydney Boles, Ohio Valley ReSource Dec 22 Essential Worker Essential: Hit Hard By Pandemic, Restaurant Servers Get ‘Adopted’ Sydney Boles, Ohio Valley ReSource
Dec 21 Environment Judge Denies Former CEO’s Move to Liquidate Blackjewel Coal A federal bankruptcy judge has denied a petition from former Blackjewel coal executive Jeff Hoops to liquidate the company. The decision means the reorganization of the company will continue under Chapter 11 bankruptcy as former employees, creditors and state agencies seek to recover millions owed by the company. Hoops cited “permanent negative cash flow” at […] By Sydney Boles, Ohio Valley ReSource Dec 21 Environment Judge Denies Former CEO’s Move to Liquidate Blackjewel Coal Sydney Boles, Ohio Valley ReSource
Dec 14 Economy Blackjewel Coal Alleges ‘Intentional, Willful’ Self-Dealing By Former CEO The filing instigates a civil lawsuit against Hoops, a major escalation in a protracted case with broad implications for the coal industry. By Sydney Boles, Ohio Valley ReSource Dec 14 Economy Blackjewel Coal Alleges ‘Intentional, Willful’ Self-Dealing By Former CEO Sydney Boles, Ohio Valley ReSource
Dec 3 Economy Blackjewel Coal Moves To Liquidate, Leaving Millions Unpaid To Workers And Regulators The convoluted bankruptcy of coal company Blackjewel has hit another turn of events as the company’s former CEO moved to liquidate the company. A federal judge is considering a motion submitted last week to convert the bankruptcy from Chapter 11 to Chapter 7. That would mean that instead of exiting bankruptcy as a new company […] By Sydney Boles, Ohio Valley ReSource Dec 3 Economy Blackjewel Coal Moves To Liquidate, Leaving Millions Unpaid To Workers And Regulators Sydney Boles, Ohio Valley ReSource
Nov 23 Economy Ohio Valley Economic Outlook Grim As COVID Aid Programs End With hundreds of thousands across the Ohio Valley struggling to make ends meet, a suite of coronavirus aid packages, including rent and utility relief funding, eviction moratoriums, and expanded unemployment benefits, is set to expire at the end of December. The consequences could be far-reaching. Poverty rates have soared as some federal programs, including the […] By Sydney Boles, Ohio Valley ReSource Nov 23 Economy Ohio Valley Economic Outlook Grim As COVID Aid Programs End Sydney Boles, Ohio Valley ReSource
Nov 16 Environment Federal Watchdog Finds Coal Safety Regulator Not Protecting Miners From Silica Dust The Mine Safety and Health Administration is not doing enough to protect coal miners from deadly silica dust, according to a new report from the Department of Labor’s Office of the Inspector General. The IG found that MSHA’s standards for exposure to deadly silica dust were out of date, and MSHA lacked the ability to […] By Sydney Boles, Ohio Valley ReSource Nov 16 Environment Federal Watchdog Finds Coal Safety Regulator Not Protecting Miners From Silica Dust Sydney Boles, Ohio Valley ReSource
Nov 6 Election 2020 Ohio Valley Lawmakers React to Trump’s False Statements Undermining The Election Polls had barely closed in the U.S. when President Donald Trump falsely alleged voter fraud and claimed prematurely to have won the election, saying “We will win this, and as far as I’m concerned, we already have won it.” The results of the election had not yet been called, and the counting of legally cast […] By Sydney Boles, Ohio Valley ReSource Nov 6 Election 2020 Ohio Valley Lawmakers React to Trump’s False Statements Undermining The Election Sydney Boles, Ohio Valley ReSource
Nov 2 Election 2020 The Ohio Valley Has Some Of The Nation’s Lowest Voter Turnout. What Could Change That? This fall, Lexington, Kentucky, activist and artist Devine Carama launched a different kind of road trip across his home state. He visited a dozen cities and towns, from Pikeville, in the state’s Appalachian east, to Paducah, near where the Ohio River joins the Mississippi. He carried a sign that said “I’ll walk 400 miles if […] By Jeff Young , Suhail Bhat , , Alana Watson and Sydney Boles, Ohio Valley ReSource Nov 2 Election 2020 The Ohio Valley Has Some Of The Nation’s Lowest Voter Turnout. What Could Change That? Jeff Young, Suhail Bhat, , Alana Watson and Sydney Boles, Ohio Valley ReSource
Oct 30 Election 2020 International Election Observers Show How Ohio Valley States Measure Up Ohio Valley states fall short of international elections standards in several key areas, according to an interim report from international elections observers the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. The OSCE conducts regular election observations in 57 nations including in the U.S. The group noted that Kentucky lacks a paper backup to its voting […] By Sydney Boles, Ohio Valley ReSource Oct 30 Election 2020 International Election Observers Show How Ohio Valley States Measure Up Sydney Boles, Ohio Valley ReSource
Oct 16 Environment Environmental Risks Remain As Blackjewel Bankruptcy Nears Its End Environmental advocates worry a coal company liquidation plan will leave dozens of coal permits in eastern Kentucky unreclaimed, according to filings in the bankruptcy proceedings of Blackjewel L.L.C. The bankruptcy case has dragged on since last July, when the once-mighty coal company’s Chapter 11 filing left hundreds of Appalachian coal miners suddenly without work, and […] By Sydney Boles, Ohio Valley ReSource Oct 16 Environment Environmental Risks Remain As Blackjewel Bankruptcy Nears Its End Sydney Boles, Ohio Valley ReSource
Oct 13 Environment Ohio Valley Mayors Aim For A Green Recovery Amid Coronavirus And Climate Change In the long run, the mayors say, the long-term cost of inaction is far greater than the cost of investing in sustainability now. By Sydney Boles, Ohio Valley ReSource Oct 13 Environment Ohio Valley Mayors Aim For A Green Recovery Sydney Boles, Ohio Valley ReSource
Oct 2 Community New Appalachian Journalism Outlets Tackle Stereotypes, Media Economy It wasn’t too long ago that Michael Farmer, a pastor in Charleston, West Virginia, received an email asking him a question that was already on his mind: “As a Black Southern Baptist pastor in West Virginia, what is my role in telling our stories?” The email was from Ashton Marra, the managing digital editor of […] By Sydney Boles, Ohio Valley ReSource Oct 2 Community New Appalachian Journalism Outlets Tackle Stereotypes, Media Economy Sydney Boles, Ohio Valley ReSource
Aug 28 Environment ‘False Hope’ Or Four More Years? Ohio Valley Stakeholders Reflect On Trump Energy Policy Many in Ohio Valley coal regions are reading the tea leaves on what another four years of a Trump administration might look like. By Sydney Boles, Ohio Valley ReSource Aug 28 Environment Ohio Valley Stakeholders Reflect On Trump Energy Policy Sydney Boles, Ohio Valley ReSource
Aug 21 Environment Mine Safety Officials Won’t Do More To Protect Coal Miners From COVID-19 MSHA is declining to issue an emergency temporary standard that could protect coal miners whose jobs make them vulnerable to the coronavirus. By Sydney Boles, Ohio Valley ReSource Aug 21 Environment Mine Safety Officials Won’t Do More To Protect Coal Miners From COVID-19 Sydney Boles, Ohio Valley ReSource