KentuckyWired, a bold plan to bring broadband Internet access to thousands of rural families, is set to make the Bluegrass State the envy of the nation. Eventually.That’s because the bipartisan plan to provide rural Kentucky families with high-speed Internet access is currently years behind schedule and $100 million over budget, as revealed in an ongoing investigation by the Courier Journal and ProPublica.
Tag: Appalachia
Finding Purpose In My Eastern Kentucky Roots
Growing up in Eastern Kentucky, I was often bored with small-town life. I was a rather shy and bookish girl of few words and many thoughts: thoughts about my family, my community, and more than anything, my future. I spent many days studying hard and dreaming about big cities with plenty of room for my most ambitious aspirations. By the…
What Teachers Can and Can’t Learn From ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ Author J.D. Vance
In his provocative memoir “Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis,” author J.D. Vance describes his childhood upbringing in Middletown, Ohio. Heavily influenced by his family’s Kentucky roots and their “hillbilly culture,” Vance uses his firsthand experiences with poverty to argue that these Appalachian, working-class values have ultimately impacted rural communities for the worse. That’s the…