Mapping The Mon River, This West Virginia Morning

In rural communities across America, there are people traveling many miles from home to deliver babies. In the past five years, nearly 125 rural hospitals have stopped delivering babies or announced that they will. That’s about two closings a month. On the next Us & Them, host Trey Kay hears from families facing that change, and how it’s affecting prospects for their rural cities and towns....

Online gambling commercials in the state seem to dominate the television and radio airwaves. Those messages are not lost on our college students. Marshall University Broadcast Journalism senior Abigail Ayes just completed an impactful story about student online gambling for the campus news program, MU Report. Randy Yohe, who is also Ayes’ instructor, spoke with the student reporter about her findings....

The annual Mothman Festival has a competition for the title of ‘most unusual Appalachian celebration.’ Bath County, Kentucky, celebrated a historic occurrence this week. The meat shower of 1876. That’s when pieces of meat mysteriously fell from the sky onto a farm....

With a final budget now approved by both the House and Senate and headed to Gov. Patrick Morrisey for a signature, West Virginia budget watchers say there are looming expenses that haven’t been taken into consideration. Also, more Americans than ever have access to a kind of savings account that lets them set aside pre-tax money for medical expenses. But this option takes a little effort to set up and navigate....

On this West Virginia Morning, a James Beard award winner is cooking up her twist on the old-fashioned fish fry, and the West Virginia Legislature completes a budget....

WVPB had a conversation with Us & Them host Trey Kay earlier this week on the significance today of the 250th anniversary of America’s founding. This week, WVPB is hosting a special screening event at Marshall University with excerpts from Ken Burns’ The American Revolution, and Kay will lead a panel discussion. We once again hear from Kay, this time speaking with one of the panelists — Marshall University political science professor George Davis — about why revisiting the nation’s founding story still matters. ...

After a frigid winter, we are now in the month that will bring us spring. The Allegheny Front, a public radio program based in Pittsburgh, that reports on environmental issues in the region, brings us this look at how climate change might affect just how early spring flowers bloom....

WVPB will be screening excerpts of Ken Burns’ recent PBS documentary series "The American Revolution" this week at Marshall. Us & Them host Trey Kay will moderate the event, and he spoke recently with WVPB News Director Eric Douglas about why revisiting the nation’s founding story matters today. Also, a bill to temporarily delay moving a child to homeschooling during an active case of abuse or neglect hit a snag in the Senate on Monday....

West Virginians gathered at the capitol last week to urge lawmakers to take action on rising electric bills. Also, state leaders have been quick to respond to news of the U.S.-led attack on Iran. And, Larry Kump, a Republican member of the West Virginia House of Delegates, died over the weekend....

We listen to an excerpt from the latest Inside Appalachia and learn about the influence and contributions of Oscar Micheaux, an African American filmmaker who lived in Virginia in the 1920s and shattered stereotypes....

Millions of people are addicted to opioid pain medication. Some use medication-based treatment for their addiction. But that has created a divide in the world of recovery. We listen to an excerpt from the latest Us & Them, exploring the difference between an early medication called methadone and suboxone, which is often used now. ...

On this West Virginia Morning, we learn about radioactive materials and other contaminants in solid fracking waste, and the state Legislature is still working its way through next fiscal year’s budget, but Gov. Patrick Morrisey wants the body to follow his lead....

A West Virginia cabinetmaker describes his journey to becoming an accomplished poet. Also, state lawmakers have taken an important step to funding the state’s EMS. And, the Trump administration announced it would roll back a rule on power plant emissions of mercury....

Issues with CPS and the state foster care system are persistent. The West Virginia Legislature faces questions on how to correct the problems that arise every year. We spoke with Dels. Jonathan Pinson, R-Mason, and Hollis Lewis, D-Kanawha, on last week’s The Legislature Today to get their take on the issue....

Connie Jordan Green has been writing most of her life. We talk with her about her poems and growing up in a secret city in Tennessee – Oak Ridge. Also, House Finance approved a budget for consideration of the full chamber. And, under a bill passed by Senate Health, pregnant women could have access to a prescription that might reverse the effects of abortion medication in time to save their pregnancies....