ARLINGTON, Virginia, Aug. 7 -- Americans for Prosperity issued the following news release: Americans for Prosperity (AFP) and a coalition of 24 partner organizations issued a letter to Administrator Paul Ray, the head of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, urging him to continue to hold agencies accountable for the implementation of Executive Order 13891, "Promoting the Rule of Law Through Improved Agency Guidance Documents." Agency compliance with Executive Order 1389  more

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Aug. 7 -- American Electric Power Corp. issued the following news release on Aug. 6: American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP) today reported second-quarter 2020 earnings, prepared in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), of $521 million or $1.05 per share, compared with GAAP earnings of $461 million or $0.93 per share in second-quarter 2019. Operating earnings for second-quarter 2020 were $534 million or $1.08 per share, compared with operating earnings of   more

CHARLESTON, West Virginia, Aug. 5 -- Appalachian Power issued the following joint news release: The Robert C. Byrd Institute at Marshall University has partnered with Appalachian Power to conduct a workforce assessment and skills analysis for a 23-county region in West Virginia. This assessment, known as West Virginia WIN (Workforce Innovation Now), is evaluating the regional workforce to identify transferable skills and compatible occupations for unemployed and underemployed workers. Input fr  more

NORTON, Virginia, Aug. 8 -- Appalachian Voices issued the following news release: Furthering its commitment to innovative mine reclamation projects throughout the Appalachian region, the Reclaiming Appalachia Coalition (RAC) announced its investment in five projects in Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Alabama as part of its inaugural mini-grant program. The coalition solicited mine reclamation and redevelopment project ideas from organizations around the region and ultimately selected five projects  more

RALEIGH, North Carolina, Aug. 3 -- Gov. Roy Cooper, D-North Carolina, issued the following news release: Today, Governor Roy Cooper announced appointments for boards and commissions throughout North Carolina. Gov. Cooper has appointed the following individuals to the North Carolina Addictions Specialist Professional Practice Board: * Johnny T. Bass of Elm City as a public member. Bass is a contract treasurer for a West Virginia coal mining company based in Raleigh. Bass formerly worked with t  more

CHARLESTON, West Virginia, Aug. 4 -- The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources issued the following news release: Gov. Jim Justice has directed the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources and the West Virginia National Guard to closely monitor rises in COVID-19 cases in both staff and patients at Beckley Appalachian Regional Hospital and Logan General Hospital and to assist where needed. DHHR's epidemiologists are working with the Logan County and Beckley-Raleig  more

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio, Aug. 8 -- Bowling Green State University issued the following news: As communities across the country face an uncertain road ahead, Bowling Green State University will now be able to expand its reach in helping northwest Ohio communities plan for economic recovery. The Center for Regional Development (CRD) at Bowling Green State University has received a $300,000 CARES Act grant to support economic and workforce development recovery strategies across a 27-county region in   more

WASHINGTON, July 29 -- The House Judiciary subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law issued the following testimony by Jeffrey P. Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon, at a hearing entitled "Online Platforms and Market Power, Part 6: Examining the Dominance of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google": I'm Jeff Bezos. I founded Amazon 26 years ago with the long-term mission of making it Earth's most customer-centric company. My mom, Jackie, had me when she was a 17-year-old high sch  more

WASHINGTON, Aug. 8 -- The Journal of Rural Mental Health, a peer-reviewed journal that says it features topics on improving or accessing care in rural environments, issues faced by underserved populations and disparities in mental health care from the National Association for Rural Mental Health, published research articles on the following topics in its July 2020 edition: Articles: * Implementing a home-based suicide prevention program with rural veterans. * Trauma-informed care (TIC) as a f  more

NEW YORK, Aug. 5 -- Little, Brown and Company will publish the following book on Aug. 18, 2020 titled "Soul Full of Coal Dust - A Fight for Breath and Justice in Appalachia" by Chris Hamby: The publisher provided this outline of the work: Decades ago, a grassroots uprising forced Congress to enact long-overdue legislation designed to virtually eradicate black lung disease and provide fair compensation to coal miners stricken with the illness. Today, however, both promises remain unfulfilled. L  more

OAK RIDGE, Tennessee, Aug. 6 -- The U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory issued the following news release: Each summer for the last 30 years, students and teachers from across Appalachia have travelled to the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory for a unique STEM summer camp experience - the Appalachian Regional Commission/ORNL Science-Technology-Mathematics Institute. The program was all virtual in 2020, but its research emphasis was as strong as ever, th  more

WASHINGTON, Aug. 5 -- Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-New Hampshire, issued the following news release on Aug. 4: Today, President Trump signed into law the Great American Outdoors Act, bipartisan legislation cosponsored by U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) to permanently fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and provide mandatory funding for deferred maintenance on public lands. The LWCF helps preserve and maintain critical lands for national parks, forests, wildlif  more

WASHINGTON, Aug. 5 -- Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-New Hampshire, issued the following news release on Aug. 4: Today, President Trump signed into law the Great American Outdoors Act, bipartisan legislation cosponsored by U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) to permanently fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and provide mandatory funding for deferred maintenance on public lands. The LWCF helps preserve and maintain critical lands for national parks, forests, wildli  more

NEW YORK, Aug. 8 -- S&P Global Platts, a subsidiary of S&P Global, issued the following news: Rallying forward gas prices at Dominion South are making for a bullish market outlook in Appalachia this winter - a scenario that's often fueled regional production growth in the past. Following pivotal changes to the industry this year, though, most producers are likely to keep output flat heading into 2021. On Aug. 6, Dominion forward strip prices for first-quarter 2021 settled at an average $2.61/M  more

WASHINGTON, Aug. 5 -- Sen. Susan M. Collins, R-Maine, issued the following news release on Aug. 4: Today, the president signed into law the Great American Outdoors Act, a bipartisan bill co-sponsored by Senator Susan Collins to provide full funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and to address the deferred maintenance backlog at our national parks, national wildlife refuges, and national forest lands. The legislation previously passed the Senate by a vote of 73 to 25. In June,  more

WASHINGTON, Aug. 6 -- Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-West Virginia, issued the following news release on Aug. 5: U.S. Senators Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), members of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today announced $2,948,456 from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to modify, improve, and rehabilitate airports across West Virginia. A portion of these funds were allocated in the CARES Act. "As we continue to create e  more

WASHINGTON, Aug. 6 -- Sen. Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia, issued the following news release on Aug. 5: U.S. Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), members of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today announced $2,948,456 from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to modify, improve, and rehabilitate airports across West Virginia. A portion of these funds were allocated in the CARES Act. "West Virginia airports are hubs of econom  more

WASHINGTON, Aug. 5 -- Sen. Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia, issued the following news release on Aug. 4: U.S. Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Gary Peters (D-MI), today introduced the Protect Our Services Today (POST) Act which mandates that the U.S. Postal Services cannot close any post office facility during the COVID-19 pandemic. Last week, Senator Manchin asked Postmaster General DeJoy for clarification on reported post office closures across West Virginia and received assurances there would b  more

WASHINGTON, Aug. 7 -- Sen. Mark Warner, D-Virginia, issued the following news release on Aug. 6: Today, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (D-VA) introduced legislation to strengthen the public's ability to evaluate the impacts of natural gas pipelines being considered by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). This bill makes it easier for the public to offer input and clarify the circumstances under which eminent domain should and should not be used. Among other guidelines, this  more

WASHINGTON, Aug. 7 -- Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Virginia, issued the following news release on Aug. 6: Today, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine introduced legislation to strengthen the public's ability to evaluate the impacts of natural gas pipelines being considered by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). This bill makes it easier for the public to offer input and clarify the circumstances under which eminent domain should and should not be used. Among other guidelines, this bill   more

WASHINGTON, Aug. 5 -- The Trust for Public Land issued the following news release on Aug. 4: Today, the President signed into law historic legislation that will dramatically expand needed access to parks and public lands with the full, dedicated, and permanent funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) as part of the Great American Outdoors Act. The Act includes two components: providing $900 million per year automatically to LWCF, and significant investments in longstanding mainte  more

LEXINGTON, Kentucky, Aug. 5 -- The University of Kentucky issued the following news: University of Kentucky President Eli Capilouto and faculty leaders in the African American and Africana Studies (AAAS) program on Wednesday announced the establishment of the proposed Commonwealth Institute for Black Studies -- a multidisciplinary program that will highlight UK's growing research around issues of race and racism. Capilouto and AAAS faculty on Thursday announced an initial $250,000 investment a  more