The History Of Christmas, This West Virginia Morning

On this West Virginia Week, the National Guard stays in Washington, D.C. for now, a deadline looms for Real IDs and West Virginia band, The Carpenter Ants, celebrate the holidays with a new record....

This week, when you’re the only doctor in a rural mountain county, you’ve got to think ahead to keep your practice going. Also, a West Virginia baker draws on her Finnish heritage to make a different kind of cinnamon roll. And, if you bought a live-cut Christmas tree this year, there’s a good chance it came from Appalachia....

Health care options are shrinking across rural Appalachia. In November, an urgent care center in rural Patrick County, Virginia closed. In the wake of the closure, Inside Appalachia’s Mason Adams went to Stuart, Virginia, to meet with the county’s only doctor....

Before he became the first Black justice on the U.S. Supreme Court, Thurgood Marshall spent decades using the law as a tool for social change. On Us & Them, Trey Kay hosts a community conversation on Marshall’s legacy — featuring excerpts from Becoming Thurgood: America’s Social Architect — and asking what his civil rights victories mean today, as hard-won reforms face renewed challenge....

The first African American U.S. Supreme Court Justice, Thurgood Marshall, used the law to achieve social change. On the next episode of Us & Them, Trey Kay hosts a community conversation, sponsored by West Virginia Public Broadcasting, highlighting Marshall’s legacy through a new Maryland Public Television (MPT) documentary called “Becoming Thurgood: America’s Social Architect.” ...

The Christmas season for many is not all merry and bright but laced with an emotional weight that at times can be overwhelming. Those challenging emotions prompted a Cabell County musician to compose a different kind of Christmas song....

The Trump administration plans to weaken the Endangered Species Act, and that could impact the fate of an ancient creature found in Appalachia: the eastern hellbender salamander. The Allegheny Front’s Julie Grant recently visited a new preserve dedicated to hellbenders and found not only natural history – but American history....

The Carpenter Ants have been a staple of the state’s music scene for decades. For the holidays, the band released “There Ain’t No Sanity Claus,” a Christmas record featuring friends like Mountain Stage’s Larry Groce, actress/singer Ann Magnuson and singer/songwriter John Ellison. Bill Lynch talked with guitarist Michael Lipton about the album....

On this West Virginia Week, another round of school consolidations in the state, the Republican caucus lays out plans for the upcoming legislative session and a Nashville poet and songwriter channels a connection to LIttle Jimmie Dickens. ......