In March, broadcast journalists from Virginia and West Virginia were recognized when the Virginias Associated Press Broadcasters met to present awards for notable stories produced in 2023. 

This week, we listen back to some of our award-winning stories. 

In This Episode:

How Angelo’s Old World Italian Sausage Gets Made

Zack Harold is the unofficial foodie for Folkways. Last summer, he took us to see how the sausage gets made with Angelo’s Old World Italian Sausage. The recipe originated in the Calabria region of Italy, but it’s made in West Virginia. 

Make Way For The Mushroom Hunters

Gathering foods like ramps, sassafras or blackberries from the forest has always been a part of Appalachian culture. In recent years, mushroom hunting has been having a moment.

Folkways Reporter Wendy Welch spent time with mushroom hunters in Virginia and West Virginia and brought us the story. 

Winter Wassailing In Asheville

Not many folks are thinking about winter holiday traditions this time of year. But back before Christmas, Folkways Reporter Rebecca Williams explored the old English tradition of wassailing in Asheville, North Carolina. A group of friends there got into this old singing tradition as a way to connect to their roots. Williams reported.

Season Of The Witch

In Appalachia, witchcraft goes way back. Wise women still practice herbology or trace the patterns of the moon. H. Byron Ballard is a practicing witch in Asheville, North Carolina. She’s also the author of several books, including Small Magics: Practical Secrets from an Appalachian Village Witch. Last fall, she spoke with producer Bill Lynch about her way of life – and quizzed Bill on cryptids. 

We also want to congratulate WVPB reporters and Inside Appalachia contributors Emily Rice and Breana Heaney, news director Eric Douglas and Us & Them host Trey Kay. Each of them won awards from the Virginias Associated Press Broadcasters. 

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Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by Christian Lopez, Dave and Tim Bing, John Inghram, Marissa Anderson, Frank George and Hank Williams Jr.

Bill Lynch is our producer. Zander Aloi is our associate producer. Our executive producer is Eric Douglas. Kelley Libby is our editor. Our audio mixer is Patrick Stephens. We had help this week from Folkways editors Chris Julin and Nicole Musgrave.

You can send us an email at InsideAppalachia@wvpublic.org.

You can find us on Instagram, Threads and Twitter @InAppalachia. Or here on Facebook.

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Inside Appalachia is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

PARKERSBURG, W.Va. (WTAP) – Alex Mooney made a trip into the community in Wood County.

Throughout his campaign, he has engaged in meet-and-greets and door-knocking events to meet as many voters as possible to remind them of his voting records.

Mooney says if he is elected as a Senator, he wants to continue to fight for conservative values and the residents deserve that.

“Well, I am the only candidate with a proven conservative voting record in this race, and West Virginia deserves a conservative US Senator; that’s me. My name is Alex Mooney. For ten years, I have represented West Virginia in the US House of Representatives, and my voting record is clear on pro-life, Second Amendment, and less taxes. My opponent is liberal, so that is why I am running because West Virginia deserves a conservative. People in Wood County deserve someone who will fight for them for their conservative values and their freedoms. I have done that already as their congressman for the past two years, I have been in Congress for ten years, but I have represented Wood County for the past two years and I have shown that, so if you want someone who has been shown to actually be a fighter against the democrat establishment, I am your guy.” said Alex Mooney, candidate for U.S. Senate

Mooney is currently the U.S. Representative from West Virginia’s Second Congressional District.

Copyright 2024 WTAP. All rights reserved.

West Virginians — let’s say quintessential state residents Toby and Edith, for example — have gotten a jump toward improving broadband connectivity after the state became one of the first three approved to unlock millions of federal dollars.

That doesn’t mean state residents with poor or zero internet access will gain it right away. But this week’s announcement that West Virginia can start drawing down $1.2 billion is a major step toward progress in a state where connectivity has been an uphill battle.

“It is somewhat dependent on where you live, the applications that will address that target region and target project area,” West Virginia Economic Development Mitch Carmichael said this week.

“But without this funding, you could be Toby and Edith and never have broadband access. So this does enable it, and we’re within a very fast timeframe.”

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration has approved Kansas, Nevada and West Virginia’s initial proposals for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, a cornerstone of the Biden-Harris Administration’s “Internet for All” initiative.

The designation will enable the states to request access to funding and begin implementation of the BEAD program.

Of the three initial states, West Virginia will draw down the most:

• Kansas: $451.7 million
• Nevada: $416.6 million
• West Virginia: $1.2 billion

The BEAD program is a $42.45 billion state grant program authorized by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The states were allocated funding to deploy or upgrade high-speed internet networks to ensure that everyone has access to reliable, affordable, high-speed Internet service.

So there is still a lot more work ahead, but officials celebrated the milestone.

“It’s a huge deal,” said Evan Feinman, director of the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program with the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration.

“There’s no two ways about it. This has been a problem that has really made economic development, has made education, has made access to healthcare, a real challenge to folks who work in urban centers in West Virginia. This is the day that we’re going to start to really solve that problem, close the digital divide and make sure we can get every West Virginian online.”

In a conference call with reporters, Feinman described the hard work, motivation and organization of West Virginia officials. “Everybody we talked to was extremely motivated to get this problem solved for West Virginia,” he said, focusing his comments on the state Office of Broadband.

“It is the case that it’s one of the finest broadband offices in the country, and they just consistently do really, really excellent work.”

Feinman said West Virginia “took a pretty unique approach that it took me a while to get my head all the way around — target regions comprised of different sub-target areas and a really aggressive approach toward making sure low-income folks in West Virginia were going to be able to take service and afford it.

“So it really required a lot of thinking, hard work and late nights and a clear understanding that this was a shared endeavor.”

Kelly Workman director of the state Office of Broadband, acknowledged this is a major step but availability won’t be immediate.

“With a $1.2 billion program, you can imagine that there must be a very detailed plan for execution. So the plan is approved,” she said. “The second part of this is we have to detail the budget.

“There’s a deployment phase. Once we ensure that we can reach all the unserved locations in West Virginia, we can move on to non-deployment activities. So, we’ve proposed some non-deployment activities related to workforce. We’ve proposed $50 million for workforce development related to the broadband industry to carry out this massive infrastructure program.”

Carmichael emphasized that as the program is carried out, “It will reach every address, every single address or you don’t get any of it.

“This is a monumental leap forward to get every single address. And we’re doing it post-haste. As fast as you can move it.”