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Posts Tagged Bath County

The Paradox of a Rural County: Few Cases of COVID but a Big Economic Impact

Posted by Nick Gilmore in Virginia's News on July 17, 2020

The Omni Homestead employs 700 people in Bath County. It closed for three months due to COVID, reopening in late June. (Credit: Omni Homestead)

While the COVID-19 pandemic has largely spared rural Virginia, the economies of many communities have taken a big hit. That’s clearly the case in Bath County – a tourist mecca on the West Virginia border where meal and lodging taxes dropped dramatically and unemployment rose to more than 20%. Sandy Hausman paid a visit and filed this report.

And in this report, Sandy Hausman details how locals in Bath County are still hopeful, and how a creative spirit is spreading as they find ways to survive the economic downturn.

Bath County, Coronavirus, COVID-19

Controlled Burns Boost Songbird Populations

Posted by Nick Gilmore in Virginia's News on June 26, 2018

Nikole Simmons (left) and Laurel Schablein count birds following several controlled burns in the forests near Warm Springs.

Year after year, scientists report falling numbers of songbirds in Virginia. One likely reason – changes in the places they like to feed, mate and nest. To provide them with more healthy habitat, the Nature Conservancy is doing something bold – burning large sections of an 18,000 acre forest in western Virginia. Sandy Hausman reports.