BOONE, North Carolina, April 24 (TNSRep) -- Appalachian Voices issued the following news release: A White House interagency group released a report outlining a range of processes and programs to support and revitalize the economies of communities historically dependent on coal mining and coal-fired power plants as the Biden administration ramps up its national agenda on creating jobs and addressing climate change. The White House Interagency Working Group on Coal and Power Plant Communities an  more

WASHINGTON, April 23 -- Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, issued the following opening statement as part of a remote hearing entitled "21st Century Communities: Capitalizing on Opportunities in the Clean Energy Economy" on April 22, 2021: * * * First, I want to take a moment to acknowledge the verdict in Minnesota Tuesday, and the tragic shooting that same day, in Columbus in my state. While Tuesday's guilty verdict was the right   more

WASHINGTON, April 21 -- Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, issued the following opening statement as part of a remote hearing entitled "An Economy that Works For Everyone: Investing in Rural Communities" on April 20, 2021: * * * For years, the work of the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs has been far too much about Wall Street, far too little about housing, and almost nothing about people's everyday lives in urban an  more

WASHINGTON, April 22 -- The U.S. Department of Commerce issued the following remarks on April 20, 2021, by Secretary Gina Raimondo to the Senate Appropriations Committee: * * * Chairman Leahy, Vice Chairman Shelby, and members of the committee - it is an honor to come before you today to discuss the American Jobs Plan. The American Jobs Plan puts forward historic public investments necessary to ensure every American has the opportunity to get a decent, well-paying job. Investments that are cr  more

WASHINGTON, April 15 (TNSOps) -- The Environmental Working Group issued the following news release: A coalition of public interest, environmental and economic justice organizations is demanding that Duke Energy, which has more customers than any other investor-owned electric utility, reverse years of company practices that have punished its low-income ratepayers and communities of color. The Duke Energy Accountability Coalition (https://www.eyeondukeenergy.org/) published a full-page ad (https  more

WACO, Texas, April 22 (TNSAwa) -- The American Football Coaches Association issued the following news: The AFCA is excited to announce the 2021 Spring AFCA FCS Regional Coach of the Year winners. The AFCA recognizes five regional Coach of the Year winners in each of the Association's five divisions: Football Bowl Subdivision, Football Championship Subdivision, Division II, Division III and NAIA. The winners are selected by active members of the Association who vote for coaches in their resp  more

MORGANTOWN, West Virginia, April 22 (TNSRes) -- West Virginia University issued the following story: Water researchers at West Virginia University hope to turn a pollutant - acid mine drainage - into a technological resource through the continuation of a $2.1 million contract from the National Energy Technology Laboratory. The West Virginia Water Research Institute, a program of the Energy Institute at WVU, earned the funding to explore a nationwide supply chain, based on acid mine drainage t  more

WASHINGTON, April 24 -- The House Oversight and Reform Subcommittee on Environment issued the following testimony by Peter Erickson, senior scientist and climate policy program director of the Stockholm Environment Institute's U.S. Center, a research affiliate of Tufts University, as part of a virtual hearing entitled "The Role of Fossil Fuel Subsidies in Preventing Action on the Climate Crisis" on April 22, 2021: * * * My name is Peter Erickson, and I am a senior scientist and the climate pol  more

FRANKFORT, Kentucky, April 21 -- Gov. Andy Beshear, D-Kentucky, issued the following news: Gov. Andy Beshear announced the Kentucky Division of Abandoned Mine Lands (AML) is seeking economic and community development proposals that will attract new industry and jobs to Kentucky's Appalachian counties. The 2021 Abandoned Mine Land Pilot Program has $10 million in federal grant money available through the federal Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) and the Kentucky Divis  more

PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania, April 20 -- The U.S. Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory issued the following news on April 19, 2021: As part of the ongoing POWERGEN+ series of presentations, NETL's Tom Sarkus provided an in-depth look at how the power plant workforce will change in both the near- and long-term, as markets shift toward renewables, new technologies and operations emerge and workplace demographics and expectations evolve. "The new Administration is committed t  more

NEW YORK, April 23 (TNSOps) -- The Open Space Institute issued the following news release on April 22, 2021: The Open Space Institute (OSI) today announced that a new series of trail enhancement projects aimed at improving access to OSI-protected lands in the northern section of Clarence Fahnestock Memorial State Park are underway. The trail construction began in November 2020 and is on-track to be completed by the end of the year. The trail improvements consist of key updates to the 9.5-mile   more

WASHINGTON, April 24 -- Rep. Carol Miller, R-West Virginia, issued the following news release on April 23, 2021: Congresswoman Carol Miller (R-WV) today announced a grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) worth $1,936,080 for the Webster County Broadband Initiative Phase II. This project will construct and deploy a wireless broadband network serving 830 households and 80 businesses with up to 50Mbps service. "I am thrilled that Webster County will receive this much-needed funding   more

WASHINGTON, April 21 -- Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, issued the following opening statement on April 20, 2021, at a hearing entitled "An Economy that Works For Everyone: Investing in Rural Communities": * * * For years, the work of the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs has been far too much about Wall Street, far too little about housing, and almost nothing about people's everyday lives in urban and rural commun  more

WASHINGTON, April 23 -- Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, issued the following opening statement on April 22, 2021, at a hearing entitled "21st Century Communities: Capitalizing on Opportunities in the Clean Energy Economy": * * * First, I want to take a moment to acknowledge the verdict in Minnesota Tuesday, and the tragic shooting that same day, in Columbus in my state. While Tuesday's guilty verdict was the right one, we cannot  more

WASHINGTON, April 22 -- Sen. Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia, issued the following news release on April 21, 2021: Yesterday, U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, questioned Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan, Department of Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Marcia Fudge during the Senate Appropriations   more

WASHINGTON, April 21 -- Sen. Edward J. Markey, D-Massachusetts, issued the following news release on April 20, 2021: Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14) today introduced the Civilian Climate Corps for Jobs and Justice Act, which establishes a Civilian Climate Corps (CCC) administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service within AmeriCorps. This legislation updates, modernizes, and expands the concept of the New Deal-era Civilian  more

WASHINGTON, April 23 -- Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, issued the following remarks at the Alaska Trails statewide conference where she announced the upcoming introduction of new legislation recognizing the incredible trail systems throughout the state: * * * U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) delivered remarks at the Alaska Trails statewide conference where she announced the upcoming introduction of new legislation recognizing the incredible trail systems throughout the state. "The COVID-19   more

WASHINGTON, April 21 -- The Senate Appropriations Committee issued the following testimony by Commerce Secretary Gina M. Raimondo at a hearing entitled "The American Jobs Plan: Infrastructure, Climate Change, and Investing in Our Nation's Future" on April 20, 2021: * * * The American Jobs Plan puts forward historic public investments necessary to ensure every American has the opportunity to get a decent, well-paying job. Investments that are critical to ensure that we build back better and mor  more

WASHINGTON, April 22 -- Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-West Virginia, issued the following news release on April 21, 2021: U.S. Senators Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), members of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today announced $418,872 from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) for two West Virginia rural healthcare providers. This funding is part of the HRSA community-based Rural Health Care Services Outreach Program, which expands and improves   more

CHARLESTON, West Virginia, April 24 -- Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-West Virginia, issued the following news release on April 23, 2021: U.S. Senators Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), and Joe Manchin (D-WV), members of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today announced $14,443,862 for Head Start programs across West Virginia. This funding was made available through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Head Start Emergency Supplemental grants that were allocated in the yea  more

WASHINGTON, April 22 -- Sen. Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia, issued the following news release on April 21, 2021: U.S. Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), members of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today announced $418,872 from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) for two West Virginia rural healthcare providers. This funding is part of the HRSA community-based Rural Health Care Services Outreach Program, which expands and improves rural healt  more

WASHINGTON, April 24 -- Sen. Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia, issued the following news release on April 23, 2021: U.S. Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), members of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today announced $14,443,862 for Head Start programs across West Virginia. This funding was made available through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Head Start Emergency Supplemental grants that were allocated in the year-end funding package to supp  more

WASHINGTON, April 23 -- The U.S. Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration issued the following news release on April 22, 2021: The U.S. Department of Labor, in partnership with the Appalachian Regional Commission and the Delta Regional Authority, today announced the availability of approximately $29.2 million in a third round of grant funding for the Workforce Opportunity for Rural Communities Initiative. Grant awards will range from $150,000 up to $1.5 million. Administere  more

GAINESVILLE, Georgia, April 21 -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture's U.S. Forest Service unit - Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest - issued the following news release: The U.S. Forest Service - Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests is pleased to share the news that Frank Riley, Executive Director for the Chestatee-Chattahoochee Resource Conservation and Development Council, received a 2021 Silver Smokey Bear Award - the highest honor an individual can receive for outstanding wildfire preven  more

WASHINGTON, April 24 -- The White House issued the following fact sheet on April 23, 2021, entitled "Biden Administration Outlines Key Resources to Invest in Coal and Power Plant Community Economic Revitalization": * * * The White House Interagency Working Group on Coal and Power Plant Communities and Economic Revitalization released a report that was delivered to President Biden and included the initial recommendations from the Interagency Working Group to catalyze economic revitalization, c  more