skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

High-Speed Internet Transforms Local Economy in East KY Counties

play audio
Play

Monday, January 6, 2020   

MCKEE, Ky. -- It's been five years since a rural phone cooperative in Eastern Kentucky completed the installation of super-fast, fiber-optic cables across two counties, giving every home and business in the region high-speed internet. Today, advocates say that $50 million investment has brought an influx of jobs to the region, mainly in tech support.

Keith Gabbard is CEO of the Peoples Rural Telephone Cooperative in Jackson County, who spearheaded the effort. He said the area's unemployment rate has shrunk from 16% to nearly 5%.

"In the two counties we serve, we've seen over 1,000 jobs created. In both of our counties, over half the people actually typically drive to a surrounding county to work. So, that's the norm," Gabbard said. "Some of these people are working for Apple, they're doing tech support for Apple; they're working for a lot of different companies. And all of 'em are paying more than a lot of the minimum-wage things that are available around here."

Fiber-optic cables transmit electronic information at faster rates than standard copper wires. According to the Fiber Broadband Association, around 18 million households in the U.S. have this type of broadband service.

For some residents of Jackson and Owsley counties, high-speed internet has changed life in other ways. Gabbard said local veterans who can't make the long trip to the nearest Veterans Administration clinic can now speak with healthcare providers by video conference at the local public library, where his company has enabled free internet access.

"So, we worked out a partnership with our local public library. That's something the veterans are using more and more; it's really been well-received there," he said. "Veterans are spending all day to go to VA clinic in Lexington, Kentucky."

While he acknowledged broadband can't solve all the region's woes, Gabbard said it's bringing real opportunities to many Appalachian families.

"$50 million - we built a thousand miles of fiber at about $50,000 a mile. I have to say, that's probably the best investment our company ever made," he said. "We did not envision how important it would be when we first started."

He said the money for the project came from various sources, including federal grants and loans.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021