Cancelling Study on Mining and Health: an Update

By John McFerrin For years, and probably decades, coalfield residents have known in their bones that living near surface coal mines made people sick.  This common knowledge began to be…

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Watching Birds and Seeing Who’s Boss

Through its Project Feeder Watch, the Cornell Laboratory or Ornithology has begun gathered data on what it calls “dominance hierarchy.”  This involves watching birds’ behavior at feeders and learning…

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A Giant, and a Friend, Passes

Born in Watertown, Wisconsin, Dianne was the oldest of eight children that Josephine and John McFarland would bring into the world, followed by Jerry, Betty, Linda, Hannah, Monica, Dan,…

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JUNCO

Seen with the eye of contemplation, creatures are             vestiges, the very footprints of God.   — St. Bonaventure A gray bird in a red bush, an empty stream of stones and…

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An Open Letter to Governor Jim Justice

Office of the Governor State Capitol 1900 Kanawha Boulevard, East Charleston, West Virginia 25305   Honorable Governor Justice, There are, and have been a number of plans for new electricity transmission lines and natural gas…

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Meanwhile, in state news

In September the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality has rejected the Atlantic Coast Pipeline’s erosion and sediment control plan.  While the rejection was a hopeful signal that the…

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Resilient (?) Forests Act of 2017: a Bill Worth Watching

This summer’s wildfires have focused attention on forest management practices that could make fires less devastating.  While there is widespread agreement that changes in forest management have that potential,…

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Rule to Prevent Methane Waste on Public Lands Reinstated

By John McFerrin Once again the rule that would both reduce emissions and increase revenue from gas produced on public lands has survived Congressional and Legislative efforts to kill it. …

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Gerrymandering…or Mole Crickets?

It seems as if there’s always a great deal that I want to learn about and share.  But sometimes different topics wrestle for my attention.  Mole Crickets pulled me…

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