100 Days in Appalachia

They Needed Treatment for Drug Addiction. The Company They Turned to May Have Used Them to Commit Fraud.

Many credit Addiction Recovery Care with playing a key role in their sobriety. But most also said they felt betrayed by the organization.
100 Days in Appalachia

More ICE Detainees Ordered Released by West Virginia Judges: ‘A Threat to Anyone’s Constitutional Rights is a Threat to Us All’

This story was originally published by Mountain State Spotlight. Get stories like this delivered to your email inbox once a week; sign up for the free newsletter at ...
100 Days in Appalachia

In Virginia, People in Prison are Still Working For Pennies

Talib Muwahhid has a knack for woodworking, and over the years, he’s tinkered with a variety of different projects. “I was making things like little chess sets and storage boxes and stuff out of ...
100 Days in Appalachia

Are Data Centers the Next Frontier of Extraction in West Virginia?

Mingo County, West Virginia, was once thriving, but the coal industry’s decline left it one of the poorest counties in the US. Now, several data centers could be built in the region. Are data centers ...
100 Days in Appalachia

In Kanawha County, WV, Opioid Settlement Funding for Syringe Services Faces Barriers

In the early afternoon of Wednesday, Sept. 17, emergency rooms in Charleston, West Virginia, began experiencing an influx of people in the throes of a drug overdose. By the following morning, some ...
100 Days in Appalachia

‘In the Boat Together’: Post-Helene, Faith Communities Have Been Central to NC’s Long-Term Recovery

In late September of last year, Tropical Storm Helene dumped up to 20 inches of water in parts of western North Carolina. In Ashe County, where Reverend Blake Smaar leads the congregation at West ...
100 Days in Appalachia

Five Years After It Became a National Park, There’s a Growing Divide In West Virginia’s New River Gorge

The New River Gorge is a jagged area in the middle of Southern West Virginia’s coalfields. Shaped by one of the oldest rivers in the world, whitewater rapids roll under its high petrified sandstone ...
100 Days in Appalachia

In Jonesborough, TN, the Town’s Big Festival is Back After Helene Canceled It Last Year

Last September, the tents were up and businesses were getting ready for the annual National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough. At The Opposum’s Tale, a local pub, Elena Gonzales had filled ...
100 Days in Appalachia

The New Power Brokers: Big Tech, State Lawmakers, and the Grid

America is in the midst of a massive building boom many are beginning to notice. Across the country, nondescript warehouses are popping up on farmland or the edges of suburbs. Inside, out of public ...
100 Days in Appalachia

‘We Know What It’s Like To Be Exploited’: Tucker County, W.Va., Grapples With Future-Defining AI-Infrastructure Proposal

To fully appreciate the beauty of Tucker County, you must visit. Nestled at 3,500 feet in the gorgeous Allegheny Mountains along the Blackwater River, the town of Davis is at the highest elevation of ...
100 Days in Appalachia

The Price of Recovery

As millions in opioid settlement funds reach West Virginia, counties are making high-stakes choices about how to spend it — revealing the tension between political priorities, financial pressures and ...