By Frank Kilgore

Earlier this year the Clinch River dumped tons of debris on the Bluebell Island Trail that runs through St. Paul in southwest Virginia. The trail has now been tidied and reopened, just in time for Bluebell season.

Tim Kaine beat a conservative Republican from rural Virginia to win the state's governorship, and now Kaine is on the short-list to be Barack Obama's vice president. He started as a liberal, but now...???

How can coalfield societies prosper? How can the economies of boom-and-bust rural regions gain stability? Ask that person in the cap and gown.

The poor health found in many communities is too often self-inflicted. It's time to teach our kids a new way of living.

Smoking is tied not only to bad health but to bad habits, such as littering. So why shouldn't states ban smoking?

Like many state legislatures, Virginia's General Assembly is struggling with an unbalanced budget and an extra dose of partisanship. Both parties have contributed to the sour atmosphere.

Poverty and poor health go hand-in-hand in the Central Appalachian coalfields. While a lack of services may be part of the cause, many of the region's worst woes result from personal choice, a resident of the region argues.