Small airports throughout Appalachia are served by
regional carriers. A group of family
members whose loved ones died last year in the crash of Flight 3407 outside Buffalo, New York,
is imploring West Virginia Sen. Jay Rockefeller to come to a compromise on
flight safety legislation. The group came to Charleston
this week to raise awareness of what it says are risks associated with flying
on regional carriers.
The Obama Administration announced
a plan this week they say will benefit Appalachia. They're pouring
money into carbon capture and sequestration, which is technology that captures
the carbon dioxide emitted by coal-burning power plants. Kentucky is
among eight states participating in the research. Assistant Secretary of Energy James Markowsky
(pictured) says this equipment could be attached to existing plants. He says the technology
would also guarantee continued demand for the high sulphur coals mined in Kentucky
and West Virginia. The research work will be funded with $67 million in federal
grants.
In West Virginia, the steel
manufacturer, Severstal Wheeling, idled most of its plants in the Northern
Panhandle area last April because of a weak economy and high production costs.
Now time is ticking away for workers whose unemployment benefits are running
out. The loss of steel jobs is also turning some of these
steel communities into ghost towns.
In March, the state of Tennessee
got a big surprise. Tennessee and Delaware were the only two states to win the bid for federal Race to the Top
dollars. Forty-one states applied for the first round of money, which was
earmarked to improve education. Tennessee
received $502 million, twice the amount recommended for states its size.
State education officials hope to use that money for what they’ve dubbed
their 'First to the Top' initiative. The goal is to move Tennessee
from 41st in the nation in student achievement to #1. They
have four years to do it in, and they’re starting with the data.
To commemorate the one hundredth anniversary of
the Commonwealth’s capitol building in Frankfort, Kentucky
Public Radio has been profiling notable political figures by remembering ten of the outstanding political leaders who
worked there. Today, we take a
look at the life and legacy of Happy Chandler.
Cecelia Mason, Mona Seghatoleslami
Now that Sen. Robert Byrd has been laid to rest, attention turns to closing his offices at the U.S. Capitol and in West Virginia. Ray Smock, director, Robert C. Byrd Center for Legislative Studies at Shepherd University, said this means 60 years worth of papers and memorabilia has to be removed in the next two months and much of it will go to the Byrd Center. (pictured)
Also: In 1978, Senator Robert
Byrd recorded his album “Mountain Fiddler.”
Although it had been out of print for years, the album was released on
CD this past week. The re-release had been planned for nearly a year:
Plus: KY: Mountaintop removal, childhood obesity, Afghan agriculture ... TN: Jobs ,,,WV: Priosn jobs ... and more