Echoes of Appalachia
“Stories, culture, and memories from the heart of Appalachia.”
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recent posts
- Hidden in Plain Sight: Why Homelessness in Appalachia Reached a Breaking Point in 2024 and 2025
- Immigrants and Appalachia: The Hidden Story That Built a Mountain Civilization
- Urban Appalachia: Rural Memory Inside the Modern City
- My New Book Has Been Published
- Beyond Appalachia: Venerable Monks, the Walk For Peace, and a Nation Searching for Common Ground
about
Author: Tim Carmichael
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Every August, as the early morning mist settles over the valleys and the sun begins to rise behind the ridgelines, some Appalachian families start counting fogs. Not because they are keeping track of weather for its own sake, but because each fog means something. One fog, one bean in a jar. And by the end…
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Appalachia is a place of deep roots, hard work, and long memories. The mountains stretch across West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia, and beyond, home to generations of families who have weathered both opportunity and exploitation. Today, the region is facing an environmental reckoning that has been building for decades. Abandoned mines, shrinking federal support, threats to…
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The Appalachian Regional Commission will continue its work across 13 states after Congress restored its full funding. The agency had faced a proposal to eliminate nearly all of its budget. Now, rural communities across the Appalachian region can continue to move forward with projects that improve infrastructure, develop the workforce, and support local economies. The…
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The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is entering a period of significant change, and for communities across Appalachia, the consequences could be both immediate and long-lasting. Recent developments including projected premium increases, legislative changes introduced in the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” and the potential expiration of enhanced premium subsidies are converging in a way that may…
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In a sweeping victory driven by determined grassroots organizing, residents of Pittsylvania County, Virginia, have successfully blocked Balico LLC’s proposal to build what would have been Virginia’s largest natural gas power plant at 3,500 megawatts alongside a hyperscale data center campus spanning 750 to 2,200 acres. Their resistance highlights deep concerns over air pollution, health…
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When it comes to the majestic Appalachian Mountains, those ancient ridges that define the landscape and heritage of East Tennessee, residents expect their elected officials to protect the land that feeds their identity, economy, and culture. Yet, for years, Senator Marsha Blackburn has offered little more than political lip service. While the Appalachian region faces…
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Appalachia at Risk: Trump Era Green Light Lets Bankrupt Coal Firm Invade Monongahela National Forest
The Monongahela National Forest remains one of the few untouched stretches of the central hardwood region, home to black bears, endangered bat species, and some of the cleanest headwaters in the eastern United States. But in the final days of Donald Trump’s presidency, a controversial permit was granted to a bankrupt coal company to expand…
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Since September, Appalachia has been overwhelmed by a string of natural disasters that have pushed the region into a state of constant recovery. Towns tucked into the valleys of the Appalachian Mountains, once known for their scenic beauty and tight-knit communities, are now struggling against a surge of what meteorologists have called 1,000-year floods. The…
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Foreign investors are steadily acquiring farmland across the Appalachian region, raising questions among locals, lawmakers, and watchdogs about who’s behind these purchases, what they plan to do with the land, and what it means for the future of the region’s rural communities. While the full picture is often hidden behind layers of LLCs and incomplete…
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Ten months have passed since Hurricane Helene devastated the Appalachian region in September 2024, but signs of recovery remain uneven at best. Entire communities are still struggling to pick up the pieces, and for many, life has not returned to anything resembling normal. The storm was one of the most catastrophic weather events in the…
Echoes of Appalachia 