Horses on Porches & Money to Burn
What's Going on Around WestVirginiaVille | thursday.dec10.2020
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1| Horses on Porches
Yes, this is a horse stepping onto a friend’s porch, way out in West Virginia. He was a sweet creature who likely assumed … Well, humans are on the porch. Why not me? Maybe you’ve never gone deep into what a writer friend calls being “At Home in the Heart of Appalachia.” Or as an out-of-stater, perhaps your images of West Virginia are of gap-toothed losers. My horsey friend would beg to differ. We had to shoo him from our company and distract him with a bunch of crunchy carrots. Good-hearted horses headed to the porch are one thing I give thanks for when visiting the heart of the heart of the country. Thanksgiving is past, but we’re still glad to be here.
MORE: PHOTO-ESSAY: Five WV Variations on the Art of Thankfulness
2| Where’s the Beef?
One thing we’re NOT thankful for is WV Gov. Jim Justice's confounding inaction in allotting $1.25 million in CARES Act Covid relief funding to businesses and families in West Virginia. Like many business owners, Charleston WV restaurateur Keeley Steele is hurting: “We’re dipping into our own pockets, and our own savings, or our own retirement, just to keep our business afloat.” Meanwhile, families are going hungry. “There’s just so many different areas that the money could be spent on that will directly help the people,” says Pam Garrison of the West Virginia Poor People’s Campaign. In a reprint of a Mountain State Spotlight story, Douglas Soule takes the pulse on why these funds are sitting in limbo and the many folks they could help.
MORE: With deadline looming, critics question governor’s CARES Act priorities
3| "What’s In a Name?”
Our 16-minute, WestVirginiaVille.com mini-documentary, “WHAT’S IN A NAME: A West Virginia Community Confronts a Confederate Legacy,” will screen at 7 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 13, 2020, on WVPB TV. The documentary details the successful effort to strip the name of Confederate General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson from a middle school in West Virginia’s capital city. We encourage teachers, groups, and families to use the occasion for a thoughtful discussion on the history of racism in America—and how institutional racism continues to affect our daily life. See the resources at the link.
MORE: ATTENTION, TEACHERS: And students at home: “What’s In a Name?”
4| “Japanese Fire”
CLICK VIDEO TO VIEW | a production of TheStoryIsTheThing
One gift of daily life and nightly living in West Virginia is the chance to gather round a fire. These gatherings make take place on a hilltop up a serpentine mountain road. Or on a deck in the outback, so far from light pollution you can spy the length and breadth of the Milky Way. Here's a 'short-media' experience of one such fire we gathered around recently, set to a cool Japanese koto score.
MORE: MAKEITSHORT: Three Not-the-News, Under-a-Minute Videos
5| Eye of the Needle
The City of Charleston WV's attempts to quash the distribution of clean needles to drug users has curtailed efforts by a group called SOAR. This has had the consequence of increasing the hazards of addiction and may have no legal grounding—that’s the conclusion of an excellent, street-level WVPB audio piece by Kyle Vass. Listen first-hand to a user describe the black market in used needles. Then, click to our “5 Questions” with Vass on the art and craft of audio storytelling. The Huntington-based, multimedia reporter has trained with Ira Glass of “This American Life” and also contributes to Trey Kay’s “Us and Them” podcast.
a) AUDIO: When Clean Needles Disappeared, People Turned To Used Ones
b) 5 QUESTIONS: Kyle Vass on street-level addiction reporting & telling audio stories
P.S.| “Buddha Birdy”
There’s this Buddha statue on my deck. And there’s this birdy, a Carolina wren. Carolina comes by regularly. The only place she flits and lands is on Buddha’s head—where she loves to sing. Here’s what this looks like and sounds like.
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