When drugs come into our downtowns, businesses suffer. Downtown merchants are fighting back. Mid-June southern West Virginia news brief: “Former Employee Accused of Setting Deli on Fire.” Firefighters spotted the smoke early and doused the downtown Logan blaze before it became serious. Police caught a suspected arsonist and sent him to jail. Crime solved, one might say. But the untold backstory…
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The people of Grafton and Matewan could get up to $150,000 to turn their towns around. Will they? We’re in Matewan, at the United Mine Workers of America headquarters downtown, which is serving as the Turn This Town Around meeting space for the evening. We’ve been there for two hours, watching PowerPoint presentations and talking about grant proposals; it’s now…
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The people of Grafton and Matewan could get up to $150,000 to turn their towns around. Will they? We’re in Matewan, at the United Mine Workers of America headquarters downtown, which is serving as the Turn This Town Around meeting space for the evening. We’ve been there for two hours, watching PowerPoint presentations and talking about grant proposals; it’s now…
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One glassblower is romantic in art, but practical in business. Chip Turner loves glass. The bright colors, the glossy finish, the magic of watching it take shape inside a kiln—he can wax poetic about the stuff for hours. But when he talks about his company, Appalachian Glass, he’s all business. “In the glass industry you have to constantly strive,” he…
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West Virginia’s young people are fleeing the state. How do we get them to return? “As a teenager, all I wanted was to get out of the state to get better opportunities and different attitudes. I felt like there was nothing I could do to help my home, and I couldn’t find the kind of jobs I wanted,” says Amanda…
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