In communities across the country, Wal-Mart stores are destinations, but when a new store is announced, it's often met by protesters who say the big box retailer hurts small businesses and downtown commerce. Such a fight took place several years ago in Morgantown, WV on a significant archeological site where American Indian remains and artifacts were buried. The Wal-Mart plan was scratched, but a new study by a WVU Economics professor says Wal-Mart’s effect on small businesses isn’t as bad as it’s been portrayed.

Charleston, WV native Dave Evans spent two and a half weeks in Iraq this summer. He is an expert at fitting and making prosthetics. He has put that knowledge to use in a number of war zones, including Guatemala, El Salvador, and Sierra Leone. This work started for him when he lost both legs in an ambush in Vietnam when he was 18 years old. With the help of an internet phone connection, I talked to him from Iraq about what he’s seen. Dave Evans was scheduled to arrive back home in West Virginia Wednesday night.

Some Appalachian governors started this week discussion energy policy at the Southern Governors Association at the Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia. WV Gov. Joe Manchin left that meeting to see a different kind of energy first-hand. He stopped by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Greenbank, where students were gathered for the Governor’s School for Mathematics and Science.

August 16 is National Homeless Animals Day. In West Virginia, the Kanawha-Charleston Animal Shelter is marking the day by displaying more than 6500 dog and cat collars, one for each animal euthanized at the shelter last year. That means, on average, 17 animals were killed a day in the Kanawha county. A county over, in Cabell County, one organization takes a different approach. At Little Victories shelter, no animals are euthanized.

In Kentucky, middle and high school students returned to the classroom this week. Some may be asked by their teachers about what they did on their summer vacation. At least150 Lexington kids can say they got their first taste of the working world through the city’s summer youth employment program.

The Knouse Cooperative plant has made applesauce in the WV’s Eastern Panhandle since 1922. It will stop production at its Inwood plant around November 14. The closure of the the only applesauce producing plant in the region marks a change in the fruit-growing business.

Anna Pishner Harsh grew up in big family in Harrison County, WV, and they celebrated their Italian heritage. Harsh started the Allegro Dance company in Clarksburg 15 years ago to help carry on Italian traditions, but puts a new twist on technique. She combines traditional dance with modern movement, theatrical presentation and vocal performances. The Allegro Dance Company is now based in Wheeling, WV. One of the dance company’s practices is to learn more about this unique blend of performing art.

Author Donald McCaig has raised sheep and sheep dogs on his Virginia farm for 25 years. Now he sharing what he's learned with others who want to train their dogs. 

The next time you savor a beer, consider how it came to be. The process of making the tasty beverage creates waste material and uses loads of water, but some beers are becoming known for their sustainable manufacturing as well as their taste.

If you head to the western most part of KY, you will find an interesting town called Fancy Farm. This small community is nationally known for two things: its magnificent catholic church and the world’s largest one day picnic. As many as 15,000 people could flock to the 128^th annual Fancy Farm Picnic this weekend for a good dose of bingo, pork, and politics. The picnic is the traditional kick-off to the campaign season in the commonwealth. 

Last week, we told you about a national mental health group calling for the burial of the 120-year-old Philippi mummies. The two bodies are believed to be those of two former patients of the state mental hospital in Weston. For years, they've been the main attraction at the Barbour County Historical Museum.

But Laren Spiro of the National Coalition of Mental Health Consumer/Survivor Organizations calls the display  "shocking and horrifying."  (:13)

Essayist Colleen Anderson thinks Spiro and her organization are being a little too quick to judge. She went to Barbour County to see the mummies for herself last year, and came away impressed. (3:05)

Energy Plan: Gov. Beshear says he’s determined to make the state the Energy Capital of the World. 

Electricity Costs: KY boasts some of the cheapest electricity rates around, thanks to coal, but it now faces an energy dilemma. 

Wind Energy: Energy producing windmills could one day be operating in eastern KY. 

Coal to Liquid: Cong. Hal Rogers is urging colleagues to sign a petition to force consideration of the Coal to Liquid Fuel Act. 

When P. L Gaus writes a book, he gives his readers two mysteries. One is your standard who-done-it. The other is the world of the Amish. Gaus lives in Wooster OH and recently retired as head of the chemistry department at the College of Wooster. He started writing novels in 1995. His specialty is mysteries involving the Amish...who live in large numbers in neighboring Holmes Co. 

The Center on Education Policy just released an extensive study that tracks student progress since 2002, when the federal No Child Left Behind Law took effect. Test scores in reading and math have generally increased; the achievement gap between white and black students has decreased. In West Virginia, the study raises questions about the test given to students each year to measure their progress. Scores on West Virginia’s WESTEST, have risen steadily every year, but WV’s scores on a national test mostly are going down. State school officials say they already know about the discrepancy, and they have revamped both the test and the state’s educational goals in response.

West Virginia’s Consumer Advocate and the Public Service Commission staff want an investigation into Verizon’s telephone service in the state. They say more people are complaining about the company’s service while Verizon has decreased its workforce and its spending on infrastructure. This is also happening at a time when Verizon is working with the state to increase high speed internet access. 

Abraham Lincoln’s 200^th birthday isn’t until next year, but celebrations are already underway in Kentucky. This month, southerners in several states are celebrating the 200^th birthday of Jefferson Davis. Davis was the President of Confederate States of America during the Civil War.

It’s been four years since West Virginia native Morgan Spurlock hit the Hollywood jackpot with his McDonald’s documentary, Supersize Me. He’s been back home a lot lately. He spent a month working as a coal miner in West Virginia for his television show, “30 days,” and premiered that segment earlier near his hometown of Beckley this month. This week, Spurlock was in Charleston for a showing of his latest film, “Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?”  

In the 1930s to 1950s, tap dancing ruled the silver screen, but as times changed, tap dancing no longer enjoyed the same popularity. After a few decades out of the limelight, tap dancing was reborn: on the Broadway stage and in movies, concerts, and television shows. And throughout tap’s resurgence, one name has stood out: Savion Glover.

Recently, Esmark, Inc., parent company of Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel announced a merger proposal with Essar Steel Holdings, a company from India. Then, Severstahl of Russia matched the Indian company’s offer. The United Steel Workers Union backs the offer from Severstahl. Esmark Chairman and CEO James Bouchard says he and his board of directors will pick the deal that is in the best interest of shareholders, workers and the towns in WV, OH and PA that depend on Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel.

Doug Arbogast loves the outdoors.  He’s a rafting guide, so you’d expect he’d better love the outdoors.  Now he’s started his own business called Travel Green Appalachia.  His business is working to support and develop sustainable travel and tourism.  He loves the outdoors so much that when we interviewed him, he even took his phone outdoors.  Listen for the birds singing outside his home in Fayetteville, West Virginia.

There’s a new front in the battle over mountaintop removal mining in WV. It’s over selenium, a naturally occurring element that does no harm in small amounts. The problem is when earth is disturbed with practices like mountaintop removal mining, and it builds up in water and then moves up the food chain.  At a lake in Lincoln County, a study links excessive selenium levels to deformities in fish.

With increased rainfall in many areas of Appalachia this spring, a much sought after treasure has been springing up on the forest floor: morel mushrooms.