West Virginia
In West Virginia, US-China personal exchanges find a home, flown in from Yunnan
Over time, the house has become a small oasis for people-to-people ties amid high-level US-China tensions.
The very reassembling of the house tells a grass-roots story of bilateral cooperation.
It began as a joke, Flower recalled. Hearing that the colourful yet otherwise unassuming structure was to be demolished to make place for a dam, Flower mused to its previous owner, Zhang Jianhua, ‘I wish I could take it home’.
And so he did – with the help of hundreds of Chinese and American volunteers, young and old.
Zhang sold the house to him for US$6,000, and Flower returned in 2017 with a few former students, a fellow history teacher from the Sidwell Friends School in Washington and a guitar maker from Virginia.
Together with local craftsmen of the Bai ethnic community, they began the arduous tasks of deconstructing the three-decade-old wooden structure and convincing the local government to let them move the planks out of Yunnan.
Flower had always intended to find the house a setting similar to its former mountain home, aiming to take it “from the Himalayas and Mekong River to the Blue Ridge and the Shenandoah”. What sealed the deal was an offer from the Friends Wilderness Centre, a Quaker non-profit group, which leased the land in West Virginia to him for US$1 a year.
The planks arrived in the US in September 2017. What didn’t arrive with them were craftsmen whom Flower had hoped would help with the reassembly – they could not get visas.
So in 2019, the reassembly project broke ground with a group of Sidwell students and a West Virginia timber framers guild. Over the next few years, Flower said, volunteers logged at least 21,000 hours restoring the house and its surroundings.
“It usually takes a village to make a house,” he said, “but in this case it took a house to make a village.”
As the project began, Flower established a non-profit, the China Folk House Retreat, hoping to attract enough financing to turn the structure into an educational centre.
Flower, who started visiting China in 1991, was drawn to the house because it reflected China’s diversity. The house’s original owners were ethnically Tibetan; the architecture was a mix of Bai, Han and Tibetan; and the village in which it was located had a Naxi chieftain. He was also struck by its simplicity and its potential to tell stories about ordinary Chinese life.
“The house is a living text,” Flower said, as he passed out bowls of Yunnan noodles to visitors.
Inspired by his educational mission, a university in Yunnan sent over some 15,000 roof tiles and Chinese architecture models to be featured in the house.
Flower is in the process of staging thematic rooms to showcase different aspects of rural Chinese life, putting architectural models and explanatory plaques on display, and cultivating a garden with plants used in Chinese cuisine.
His partners in Yunnan were thrilled that Chinese culture and architecture would be shown to a wider, international audience.
But for Flower, the project was only partly about preserving and sharing a piece of Chinese cultural history. He also hoped that the house would become – as it increasingly did – a link between two countries whose leaders were at odds, particularly as first Covid-19 restrictions and then schools’ increasing liability concerns about travel hindered exchange.
If he couldn’t bring students to China, he thought, he could bring China to them.
Flower only returned this summer, citing airfares that have yet to recover from the pandemic for the delay. A group of American high school and college students went with him.
For students unable to travel to China, he and his wife, anthropologist Pam Leonard, host an annual summer camp where participants learn about Chinese traditions and architecture while helping to rebuild the house and its surroundings.
The mostly reassembled structure, open to the public by reservation from March to December, has already attracted hundreds of visitors, offering something different for everyone.
Chinese tourists have flocked to it, impressed by the couple’s dedication to preserving Chinese architecture. A local gardening club took interest in the plants surrounding the structure.
Diplomats, too, have taken notice. In 2022, Qin Gang, then China’s ambassador to the US, visited the house and dedicated a piece of calligraphy on the structure – after belting out John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads”, now one of West Virginia’s state songs.
The house has also earned the support of Chinese and American financial backers who share Flower’s belief in taking US-China relations into their own hands. Since 2018, the house has accepted grants from the likes of The Asia Group Foundation and Dalio Philanthropies.
He Daofeng, an entrepreneur from Yunnan who is a major donor, was drawn to Flower’s initiative for its potential to connect young students from the two countries. “We can’t control the relationship between the governments, but we can do something on the people-to-people level,” he said.
He was initially sceptical about the project but Flower’s commitment impressed him: The cost of deconstructing and shipping the house alone was US$40,000.
“He’s a crazy person who walks the talk,” He said of Flower. “I don’t even think Chinese people themselves would have the courage to do something like this.”
He was also moved by Flower’s long history with China. After studying Chinese history and philosophy at the University of Virginia, Flower gave up a tenured position at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in 2007 to teach Chinese history at the high school level. Since 2009, Flower has brought his students to rural China.
He, the Yunnan native, never saw the house in its original location, but like many Chinese tourists said that the reconstructed version tells a story of his upbringing.
Still, despite the abundant support from his community, Flower, now 64, said that the burden of maintaining the house remained mostly his and Leonard’s. He left his position at Sidwell Friends earlier this month to focus fully on it.
As the project grows, Flower is trying to strike the balance of keeping the initiative grass-roots and finding sufficient funding – with all the complications and conditions that may come with it.
Other Americans have found the house an inspiration for their own efforts to build connections with Chinese people. Jesse Appell, a Massachusetts native trying to overcome bicultural misunderstandings through comedy and sharing Chinese tea culture, is one of them. In March, he brought a group of friends to see the house and film it for social media.
“When I go to DC, I hear a lot of downer stories about US-China,” Appell said. “This is such a refreshing breath of fresh air … it’s definitely after my own heart.”
For Terry Lautz, the author of Americans in China: Encounters with the People’s Republic, efforts like Flower’s help provide “a more balanced, multidimensional understanding” of China’s behaviour.
“Americans tend to analyse China’s actions and motives exclusively in terms of its top leader, Xi Jinping,” he said.
“Looking at Sino-American relations and Chinese society from the perspectives of individual Chinese and Americans presents a far more nuanced and complete picture. It also allows us to see where there is room for shared interests and common ground.”
In the near future, Flower hopes to lay the final tiles on the house’s roof and complete the education centre. He also has new initiatives under way, including running more trips to Yunnan; facilitating exchanges between Chinese and American craftsmen; and co-hosting an intensive Chinese-language programme with the University of Pennsylvania, with the house as its venue.
Yet, amid these grand plans, Flower still remains committed to making each guest feel personally welcomed. “I can’t promise Yunnan noodles to every visitor,” he said, “but I’ll try.”
The No. 17 West Virginia Mountaineers (17-4, 5-1) are in a top 25 road matchup and look to remain atop the Big 12 Conference standings against the No. 22 Arizona State Devils (18-6, 4-2) for a three-game weekend series. Game one is Friday night with the first pitch set for 9:30 p.m. EST (ESPN+) game two is Saturday at 9:30 p.m. EST (ESPN+) and the series finale is scheduled for Sunday night at 9:00 p.m. EST (ESPN2).
West Virginia comes into the game on a six-game winning streak after taking two of three from Baylor, sweeping BYU and knocked off Marshall Tuesday night.
Two Mountaineers reside in the top five of the Big 12 in batting averaging. Paul Schoenfeld has emerged as the Mountaineers leader at the plate, hitting a team-high .418, which ranks third in the conference with a team-best 26 RBI. The senior is currently on an 11-game hitting streak.
Gavin Kelly is fourth in the league with a .416 batting average and is riding a 17-game hitting streak. The sophomore leads the team in hits (37), runs (28) and doubles (11).
Senior Matthew Graveline has clubbed a team-high four home runs, while junior Armani leads the Mountaineers in stolen bases with 12.
On the mound, West Virginia is expected to start Dawson Montesa in the series opener. The junior right hander threw seven innings in his last outing against BYU, tying a season-high, with seven strikeouts. He holds 4-0 record with 4.65 ERA and 39 strikeouts.
Lefty Maxx Yehl is scheduled to move to the middle of the series after closing out each of the first six series of the season. The redshirt junior is second in the conference in ERA at .084, allowing a mere three runs in 32.0 innings of work. In the last two outings, he has recorded a combined 23 strikeouts, upping his season total to a team-leading 44 strikeouts on the season.
Chansen Cole will start game three. The right-handed sophomore had his toughest outing of the season last weekend against BYU. He allowed six earned runs in three innings, but registered six strikeouts. He is currently 3-0 with a 4.00 ERA with 29 strikeouts.
Arizona State is 11-2 after a four-game skid against SEC opponents, and notched its series wins over TCU and Kansas State.
Sophomore Landon Hairston leads the team with a .458 batting average, tie with fifth-year senior Dean Toigo with 11 home runs, 11 doubles, 36 runs, and 34 RBI.
Junior lefty Cole Carlon is slated to counter with Cole Carlon (2-1, 3.19 ERA), junior right-hander Alex Overbay (0-0, 5.19 ERA), is set for game two, and senior righty Kole Klecker (3-1, 5.61 ERA) is scheduled for the series finale.
This is the first meeting between the two programs.
West Virginia
West Virginia Agencies Shielding Details on $1.44B DOE Coal Bail-out Loan from Public – CleanTechnica
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West Virginians Are On the Hook to Pay DOE for Short-Sighted Projects with Big Health Impacts
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Following two postponements, the West Virginia Department of Commerce has informed Sierra Club’s West Virginia Chapter that there are “no non-exempt records” responsive to the Club’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request pertaining to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) plans to loan local utilities $1.44 billion to fund refurbishment projects at six unnamed West Virginia coal-fired power plants.
The DOE and Governor Patrick Morrisey first announced the $1.44 billion in coal refurbishment projects as part of a larger $4.2 billion suite of fossil-fuel expansions in November 2025. The projects are intended to extend the lives of the six coal plants up to 20 years. However, regardless of how long the coal plants manage to continue operating, payments on the low-interest DOE loans will be passed on to West Virginians’ electric bills for decades.
According to the West Virginia Department of Commerce, “certain public records within the scope” of the Sierra Club’s FOIA request are, “exempt from disclosure.” In the January FOIA filing, Sierra Club requested a detailed list of the six plants set to receive loans, as well as information on the cost and the specific upgrades proposed at each plant.
In addition to funding the projects, West Virginians will also shoulder the public health impacts. According to a Sierra Club study, West Virginia’s in-state coal plants currently account for hundreds of expensive hospital visits and 20 West Virginian deaths annually. West Virginia’s coal plants also account for 335 out-of-state deaths annually.
“West Virginians are being kept in the dark,” said Bill Price, Sierra Club West Virginia Chapter Chair. “Our local state agencies, tasked with serving the public interest, are expecting the public to repay billions of dollars in loans — blindfolded. No honest lender operates this way. No reasonable borrower would accept it. So why ask us to go along with the Governor’s deal without any details? In this time of increasing energy costs and high bills, people need to know where their money is going. We will continue to seek the answers and transparency West Virginians deserve.”
“West Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act states quite clearly, ‘The people, in delegating authority, do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know. The people insist on remaining informed so that they may retain control over the instruments of government they have created.’ Before the State loads down West Virginia citizens with over a billion dollars in loans, they should at least tell us what this is for, what we have to pay back, and who profits from these loans,” added Jim Kotcon, Conservation Chair for Sierra Club West Virginia.
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person’s right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.
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CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WCHS) — New CDC data shows a sharp decline in overdose deaths across West Virginia, dropping nearly 50% over a recent 12-month period. However, the report does not identify a single cause for the decrease.
New CDC data shows a sharp decline in overdose deaths across West Virginia, dropping nearly 50% over a recent 12-month period. However, the report does not identify a single cause for the decrease. (WCHS)
Organizations across the state say progress is likely due to a combination of prevention, treatment and long-term recovery efforts.
The West Virginia First Foundation, which distributes opioid settlement funds, says it has invested heavily in those areas.
“We’ve committed nearly $40 million to over 170 projects throughout the state in those categories,” Executive Director Jonathan Board said.
Board says the collaboration among groups statewide has been key.
“It is all of us and all programs working together with a camaraderie that you rarely see in this space,” he said.
That includes recovery programs like Pollen8, which works directly with people overcoming addiction. Founder and CEO Cheryl Laws says funding has made a noticeable difference.
“There’s momentum, right? That 48% decrease with the funding that has been given is the biggest thing,” Laws said.
While progress is encouraging, Laws says continued effort is critical.
“It has to be a continuum of care. Every piece is important, from harm reduction to longer-term inpatient. I think you see more success rates with that,” she said.
Organizations say maintaining that momentum will be essential to continuing the decline in overdose deaths.
“We still need that momentum going. We just built it. We do not need to go backwards. We need to keep going forward,” Laws said.
Board agrees, emphasizing the long-term impact of the work underway.
“We understand that generations from now people will look back and ask us what we did with the time that was gifted to us. We need to make sure that we respect them,” he said.
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