I have seen the confederate flag flying in Ohio and New York. Corbin does have an ugly racist past, yes

Oh come on. There are worse places north of the Ohio River

Laurel, next door to Pulaski and geographically central Appalachian though not demographically, was also a gainer.

I’ll also note that my home county, Pulaski, added the most residents of Kentucky’s central Appalachian counties.

On the periphery of this region, Madison County, Kentucky, gained nearly 9,000 residents from 2020 to 2025, while Kanawha County, West Virginia, lost more than 8,000. Last year, I moved from Kanawha to Madison, so I’m part of the trend.

Those 15 counties added more than 12,000 residents in those five years. The 60-county region lost 49,000. Kentucky’s 30 central Appalachian counties lost 16,000.

Census shows some central Appalachian counties gained residents Fifteen out of 60 central Appalachian counties gained population from 2020 to 2025, according to census estimates last month, all of them in Kentucky and Tennessee.

Fifteen of 60 central Appalachian counties gained population from 2020 to 2025, bucking the trend of population loss in the region. All 15 are in Kentucky and Tennessee. www.weku.org/the-commonwe...

Berea College eminent domain case headed for Kentucky appeals court Earlier this month, Judge Kristin Clouse ruled that East Kentucky Power could not take property from the Berea College Forest through eminent domain for a transmission line. The utility last week file...

An eminent domain case involving Berea College and East Kentucky Power is heading for an appeals court. The utility wants to build a transmission line through a portion of the college’s popular research forest. www.weku.org/the-commonwe...

A bit of good news: The CDC’s mobile black lung screening clinic is back on the road. Also a setback: the long-awaited silica dust rule is on indefinite pause. It was supposed to help protect miners with black lung or prevent them from developing it in the first place. www.weku.org/the-commonwe...

Trump EPA officials came to Kentucky in February to announce steps to boost coal. In March, federal data show solar came closer than ever to generating as much power as coal. If the current trends continue, solar will overtake coal in the months to come. www.weku.org/the-commonwe...

I came up with a term to describe my friends who are transit advocates but not necessarily conventional railfans: Transit-oriented friends.

In the bigger picture, coal is in a years-long decline as fuel for the nation’s electricity.

Central Appalachian coal, which eastern Kentucky produces, is $87 a ton. Western Kentucky produces Illinois Basin coal, along with Indiana and Illinois. That’s currently $56 a ton.

Powder River Basin coal, mainly from Wyoming, is $15 a ton, though that’s before rail transportation costs.

Where is it coming from? Illinois, Wyoming, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana.

Kentucky last used more of its own coal in 2019, state data show For five out of the past six years, Kentucky has relied on coal from other states to generate electricity more than its own.

Every year since 2019, Kentucky has used more coal from other states than the coal it produced. That trend coincides with a decline in coal mine employment statewide, which is now lower than it was in 2020, when COVID curtailed production and demand. www.weku.org/the-commonwe...

2 Miners Die In Separate Accidents In 24 Hours In W.Va. - West Virginia Public Broadcasting Fatal mine accidents occurred in Marshall and Raleigh counties in the last 24 hours in West Virginia.

wvpublic.org/story/energy...

We made it to April without any coal mine fatalities in Appalachia. Sadly, there have been two in one day. And days before the 16th anniversary of Upper Big Branch, where 29 were killed.

The last time Americans went to the moon, my great-grandmother was 90.

She grew up without automobiles, airplanes, electricity, telephones, radios, televisions, air conditioning, refrigerators and internet.

She lived into an era that included everything but the last thing.

Kentucky electricity bills increased below U.S. average since 2021 Average electricity bills in Kentucky have increased 20% since 2021, below the national average of 28%. That’s according to Heatmap, a climate news website.

Very useful interactive data from @heatmap.news and @mitpress.bsky.social. In Kentucky, it shows residential electricity costs rose below the U.S. average. One outlier: Kentucky Power, with the highest average bill in March and the biggest increase since 2021.
www.weku.org/the-commonwe...

Indictment is four counts of Class D felonies for exceeded contribution limits to Gov. Andy Beshear's campaign and the Kentucky Democratic Party. Indicted by a Laurel County grand jury.

London Mayor Randall Weddle has been indicted on four state counts of excessive campaign contributions. according to Kentucky AG.

I've updated the story with an interactive map that shows how much population Kentucky's coal-producing counties, east and west, have lost in the past several years. Pike, where Clintwood is based, has the biggest numeric loss.

In addition to the wages and benefits Clintwood JOD LLC may owe to its former workers, the company owes millions in severance taxes, property and mineral taxes in two states, and a $1 million bill to Kentucky Power.

As U.S. Census data released this month show, Kentucky’s coal-producing counties – east and west – experienced the largest population losses from 2020 to 2025.

Since the beginning of the year, more than 700 workers at two coal mines in West Virginia were notified of their termination under the WARN Act. Adding 300 more in Kentucky who were not, more than 1,000 coal jobs have been cut in both states in 2026.

Worker sues bankrupt Pike coal operator for wages, benefits According to the complaint, Clintwood did not provide its affected workers with the 60 days notice required by the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, or WARN Act.

According to the complaint, they were not notified of their termination as required by the WARN Act. www.weku.org/the-commonwe...

With all the actions the current administration has taken to boost coal jobs, coal country continues to lose them. The 300 former workers of a bankrupt Pike County operator have sued in federal court to recover the 60 days of wages and benefits they should have been paid through April.

Pretty good turnout in Lexington today. I talked to the guy with the flag but the recorder may have stopped recording when I cleaned up after the dog. I did get the guy with the lemon pound cake sign, though.

Judge dismissed charges against officers accused of falsifying warrant in Breonna Taylor raid The U.S. Department of Justice under President Donald Trump had moved to give up their prosecution of the two officers last week.

Joshua Jaynes and Kyle Meany were facing federal charges for lying on the search warrant application for the police raid that killed Breonna Taylor in her home. The Trump DOJ is now dropping the charges.

I think it's significant that the two fastest growing Kentucky counties have public universities as anchor institutions: www.americancommunities.org/universities...