'It was like a heartbeat': Residents at a loss after newspaper shutters in declining coal county
Months after the last newspaper closed in a declining coal community in West Virginia, residents say they are already experiencing challenges getting and sharing information WELCH, W.Va. -- Months after Missy Nester ended The Welch News' 100-year run, she can barely stand to walk through the office doors of the news paper her mother taught her to read with growing up in West Virginia's southern coalfields. It’s still too painful. The Welch News owner and publisher's desk is covered with unpaid bills and her own paychecks — a year's worth — she never cashed. Phones that used to ring through the day have gone silent. Tables covered with typewriters, awards and a century's worth of other long-abandoned artifacts are reminders that her beloved paper has become an artifact, too. Wiping away tears, Nester said she wishes people understood why she fought so hard to protect the last remaining news outlet in her community, and why it feels like the people left behind by...