 Upgrade your smart phone with Appalachian Wireless. Get $300 off selected models. Capture memories. Stream and stay connected. Put the latest technology. Visit one of our stores or AppalachianWireless.com right now. Appalachian Citizens Law Center will be hosting a black lung town hall Monday, July 24th at Letcher County Central. The meeting is open to minors and their families and will feature speakers from the National Institute of Occupational Safety and local researchers. What we've noticed in the last couple of years is, you know, looking back five years ago is that a lot of minors were coming out with this complicated black lung, which is essentially saying they were a lot sicker than we'd ever seen before. And so we thought it was really important to bring folks out and to really express what was going on in the community because I feel like sometimes this isn't often talked about. And then fast forwarding to today, we'd actually tried to do something like this last year and obviously the flood put a lot of plans on hold. And so we're really excited that we were able to host NIOSH, the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, and then also Dr. Krum, who's local at a high level, and just bring an opportunity to bring the community together to hear from these experts that oftentimes we are able to hear from, but the public isn't always access to. One in five veteran coal miners in Appalachia suffer from black lung. While the disease is commonly known to affect older generations, it is now affecting minors in their 30s. Central Appalachia specifically is seeing this very complicated black lung in very young minors. And the reason why I think it's so important for folks to know about that is because it's not just coal dust that's impacting them now. It's really silica dust. Obviously, IMSA just recently brought out a new silica rule, but as of right now, even with that rule being presented, minors are exposed to more silica dust than any other occupation in the United States. But it's very hard to see someone who's in their late 30s, early 40s, now with a disabling disease that will never be cured. And so we really think it's important to take a moment to just say that we're going to give you the information you need and what is your next step from here. So NIOSH will also be bringing, they'll be presenting opportunities for folks to get screened in the next couple of months after the public town hall. So that'll be a really great opportunity for folks to come out as well. The meeting will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. with a reception to follow. For more information, contact Appalachian Citizens Law Center at 606-633-3929. Reporting for Mountain Top News, I'm Brianna Robinson.