Check out the latest news, features, opinions, and more from Appalachia, the Midwest, and other Postindustrial Communities.
ASHEVILLE
Blue Ridge Public Radio: Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-N.C.) is rejecting the House Ethics Committee’s conclusion that he sexually harassed two female former staff members. Edwards, who has represented North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District since 2023, is making his case to colleagues ahead of a possible censure vote next week.
ATLANTA
Runners pay tribute to Ahmaud Arbery in Atlanta, raising $50,000 in donations
11 Alive Atlanta: Hundreds of runners came together at Shirley Franklin Park today to honor Ahmaud Arbery and support the young people his legacy continues to reach. Arbery was 25-years-old when he was chased and killed while jogging in a Brunswick neighborhood in 2020.
BALTIMORE
Remains of Maryland World War II pilot return home 83 years after his death
CBS Baltimore: U.S. Army Air Forces 1st Lt. Walter Bateman was 22 years old when the B-24D Liberator bomber he was piloting was shot down Aug. 16, 1943, during a bombing mission targeting enemy airfields in Foggia, Italy.
Illinois prosecutors fed ICE information about immigrants, leading to arrests and deportations
Chicago Sun-Times: As enforcement ramped up under President Donald Trump, prosecutors shared the vital information without criminal warrants, public disclosure or legislative oversight. Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul wouldn’t say whether they’re bound by a state law that strictly limits cooperation with immigration enforcement agents.
CINCINNATI
Candidates for Ohio governor work to define themselves and their opponents
Cincinnati Public Radio: Neither candidate has ever been elected to public office. But their names may be familiar. Democrat Amy Acton was Ohio’s health director during the earliest days of the COVID pandemic. And Republican billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy ran against President Trump in the 2024 primary and has his endorsement for governor.
CLEVELAND
Ohio’s 2026 governor candidates target different futures for state’s gun laws
Cleveland.com: The 2026 Ohio governor’s election could prove to be an important crossroads for the future of the state’s gun laws, with the three candidates on the ballot offering sharply different visions for whether Ohio should tighten restrictions or further expand gun rights.
COLUMBUS
Columbus mayor proposed restrictions on Flock cameras, but defends use of technology
Ohio State Public Media: Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther announced new protocols for how Columbus police use the city’s 65 Flock automatic license plate readers.
DETROIT
In Her Honor – A portraiture series giving the Black Maternal Health epidemic a face
Detroit Public Radio: In Her Honor – Detroit is a part of a three-day event using art, storytelling, remembrance and action to honor the mothers lost to maternal mortality.
INDIANAPOLIS
Power is back on in northwest Indiana, but life isn’t back to normal
Indiana Public Media: After more than two weeks, electricity has been restored for nearly all of the 375,000 customers in northwest Indiana who lost power Aug. 11 following severe weather. It’s the largest outage in the history of NIPSCO, the area’s electric utility.
LOUISVILLE
Louisville students say “Ragtime” controversy was an emotional rollercoaster
Louisville Public Media: “Ragtime,” based on the 1975 novel by E.L. Doctorow, centers the lives of Black families, immigrants and upper-class white Americans hoping to achieve “the American Dream” in 1900s New York City.
MILWAUKEE
Southwest Wisconsin measles outbreak spread escalates
Wisconsin Examiner: The measles outbreak reported earlier this month in Southwest Wisconsin has increased markedly this week, the state health department reported.
MORGANTOWN
Paula Kaufman writes for West Virginia Watch: “Hope Gas increases profit. Rates spike. In 2024, Hope Gas requested an astonishing 40% rate hike. In 2025, they reduced their initial ask to 21%. (Notice how they increase it as high as they can get away with?) It’s unconscionable.”
NASHVILLE
Group from Tennessee among the missing in Nepal’s deadly flooding
Nashville Public Radio: The group posted an emotional video statement online, confirming that 77 followers and three volunteers are unaccounted for since the disaster occurred. Of those, 22 members are American, including at least one Tennessean.
PHILADELPHIA
Pennsylvania may not have a youth voter apathy problem. Registration is the hurdle, experts say
Philadelphia Public Radio: Low voter turnout among teens and young adults in Pennsylvania may have less to do with apathy than with registration, a report from the Civics Center suggests. In major elections, registered 18-year-olds turn out at rates comparable to registered voters ages 45 to 79.
PITTSBURGH
Paintings made with mining sludge will benefit Central Pennsylvania creek cleanup efforts
WPSU: Inspired by a personal connection to central Pennsylvania, an artist who lives in Shenandoah County, Virginia, is using her paintings to raise awareness and money to help clean up polluted sections of Moshannon Creek.
WHEELING
Volunteers build 30 beds for Wheeling children in need
WTRF.com: The sound of hammers, saws, and wood sanders echo throughout the parking lot of Lowe’s in South Wheeling as over fifty volunteers gather for what can only be describes as a labor of love.
YOUNGSTOWN
Final summer prayer walk to stop violence held in Youngstown
WKBN 27 Youngstown: “We try to change the atmosphere in the community where the neighborhoods have been riddled with violence. And we do that with our presence. It’s okay to pray about violence and hear from our churches and our pulpits, but we need to be in the community where the people are feeling the pain and facing the effects of the violence,” organizer Reverend Kenneth Simon said.
