❗Help close the gap: We still need to raise $40,000 by the end of March. Donate now

Buying a house means more opportunities for this first-time owner

Jan 31, 2024
"As a result of me being a homeowner ... if I need to take money out, I can do that," says Monique Coleman of West Virginia.
Monique Coleman and her daughter, Zoey, outside their home in Charles Town, West Virginia.
Courtesy Monique Coleman

When coal miners can't breathe, getting compensation is an uphill legal battle

Sep 2, 2020
In his new book, journalist Chris Hamby describes miners' struggles to receive the health benefits they've been promised.
A coal worker near Welch, West Virginia, in 2017. Miners who are stricken with black lung disease often face obstacles in their efforts to receive benefits.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

West Virginia foster parents say they need more support

Oct 9, 2019
Roughly 5% of the state's babies are born with neonatal abstinence syndrome. Families taking them in say they feel unprepared for the task.
A memorial in Huntington, West Virginia, in 2017.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images

Inside West Virginia’s overwhelmed foster care system

Oct 9, 2019
About 85% of the children in state custody have a parent who struggles with substance use disorder. The system is straining to care for them.
A homemade sign says "Think drugs gets you high give God a try," on a front lawn in Big Stone Gap, Virginia. The town in Wise County has been hit hard by the opioid epidemic.
Julia Rendleman/Marketplace

Coal boss threatened to shut mines following safety complaints

Apr 8, 2019
A secretly recorded speech by Murray Energy boss is at center of a legal dispute.
Robert Murray (L), chairman of Cleveland-based Murray Energy Corp., listens to a colleague after the evening news conference at the command center where it was announced that rescue efforts to drill relief holes to six coal miners trapped 1,500 feet beneath the surfaces are going slower than expected at the nearby Crandall Canyon coal mine on August 9, 2007 near Huntington, Utah.
David McNew/Getty Images

West Virginia effort to aid Puerto Rico is caught in Trump’s solar tariffs

Jun 1, 2018
With 2018's hurricane season starting, some families are still recovering from last year's storms.
Months after the storms, many communities on the island have no electricity.
Courtesy of Rebecca Kiger

Teachers still haven't recovered financially from the recession

Apr 6, 2018
Flat or reduced spending in education has meant lower or stagnant salaries and reductions to benefits.
West Virginia teachers, students and supporters hold signs on a Morgantown street as they continue their strike on March 2.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

In West Virginia, teachers get a victory

Mar 1, 2018
West Virginia teachers head back to the classroom Thursday morning after a four-day teacher’s strike culminated in a deal with the governor for a 5 percent pay increase. It’s being seen as a victory for teachers unions across the country. But is that true? Click the audio player above to hear the full story.

Some former coal towns turn to nature tourism as a new economic driver

Feb 28, 2018
Tourism economy around natural beauty is starting to replace extractive industries in some former West Virginia and PA coal towns.
Cyclists cross a bridge over the Youghiogheny River, veering off the Great Allegheny Passage, to check out downtown West Newton.
Courtesy of Rick Armstrong

Playing hardball: doctors start negotiating with doctors

Oct 26, 2016
The lives of doctors — especially primary care doctors — are evolving in this post-Obamacare world.
Lefteris Pitarakis - WPA Pool/Getty Images