Making Connections News

06/14/2025

Concerned about cuts to Medicaid? Come to Hemphill Community Center on Tues 6/18 to share your story. Gift cards available for participants.

06/12/2025

Tonight on WMMT FM members of the Westmoreland Mine Rescue Team discuss their experiences as the first to enter the Scotia Mine for rescue and recovery after the deadly explosions in March 1976. Its almost 50 years ago but their memories are vivid, detailed and at times painful. What brave young men they were! MT also airs at 10 am Sunday and 11 am Monday.

01/31/2025

Some facts on the positive impact of immigrants on Ketncuky's economy.

NEW: Immigrants bring much more than economic contributions, but misinformation used to demonize our neighbors makes it necessary to quantify their contributions to KY’s economy.

This new fact sheet shows immigrants are a vital part of Kentucky communities. w/ Immigration Research Initiative

01/22/2025

Don't miss our WMMT FM Mountain Talk on new Letcher County Boys and Girls Clubs of Appalachia, and Conan Coa, summer intern at Appalachian Citizens' Law Center, who talks about Black Lung Disease in China and US

09/18/2024

Hey you don't want to miss seeing this very cool film about young people, media making, the flood - all by our Japanese friends Atsushi and Akiko Tabakotani Kasezawa. tonight in Prestonsburg, tomorrow in Whitesburg, Monday at Cowan!

09/14/2024

https://www.thepostathens.com/article/2024/09/jd-vance-misrepresents-appalachia-hillbilly-elegy
"As a public figure, Vance has extreme influence over the public’s perception of Appalachia, and he also has the power to influence policymaking...If Vance's false depictions of Appalachia are widely accepted, that could have serious consequences for the region’s people, in terms of both social stigma and policymakers not making an effort to fix systemic issues."

Sen. JD Vance has perpetuated a misguided view of Appalachian people that could have widespread negative effects.

09/14/2024

Hemphill Community Center increases energy efficiency to keep doors open for community use!

EnergyResilience in Action: How Hemphill Community Center is Powering Through Hard Times with Solar Energy August 21, 2024Share: “You’ve just got to roll up your sleeves. Do we fail and fall straight on our face with things? Yes, everything from a recipe to someone going back to jail or the floo...

08/21/2024

A tribute to the amazing Betty Jean Hall. UMWA President Cecil E. Roberts called Hall a “remarkable woman” and a “fearless advocate who revolutionized the coal mining industry for women.”

Betty Jean Hall, an Appalachian attorney and federal administrative judge who paved the way for women to enter the coal mining workforce, has died. She was 78.

08/20/2024

Kentucky Power wants US to invest in THEM but what we really need is for KPC to INVEST IN US. Right now, KPC is anticipating building a new gas plant in 2029 and charging us $100s of millions of dollars to build it. But it would be way cheaper to instead invest a large portion of that money in energy efficiency and other demand-side management tools to save us $$ and stop construction of another fossil fuel power plant. Send a comment to the PSC here - https://www.k4ed.org/kpc.html
It does make a difference when they hear from us!!!

08/09/2024

This is not the kind of "economic development" we need in . Send your comments opposing FCI Letcher by Mon. Aug 12 to [email protected] or use bit.ly/BOPcomment to reach Congress and the BOP.

07/16/2024

We lost a true Appalachian hero with the passing of Frank Kilgore.

The St. Paul lawyer was instrumental in creating the Mendota Trail, Clinch River State Park, the Appalachian School of Law and the Appalachian College of Pharmacy.

06/14/2024

More good news! WV gets $140 million to clean up abandoned mines! Thanks to the Biden Administration and the Infrastructure Bill for this funding.

West Virginia will receive $140 million to clean up legacy pollution in regions decimated by decades of coal mining. The money is part of $725 million in Abandoned Mine Land funding that the Biden Administration is providing to more than two dozen states. According to state data, more than 150 years...