 This trustee August is hotter than ever at Appalachian Wireless, as they are slashing all normal contract pricing on all smartphones by 50% when you sign up for service. Better service, bigger saving, serving you for the last 25 years at Appalachian Wireless. The Food and Drug Administration made several stops in the region Wednesday for a listening tour. FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf traveled to both Williamson and Pikeville for roundtable discussions with health officials on the opioid epidemic in the region. It's one thing to hear about statistics and numbers and reports. It's entirely different to hear the first-hand frontline experience. It really motivates you, but it also gives you insight into what needs to be done. After making a stop at the Williamson Fire Department, Dr. Califf traveled to Pikeville Medical Center. Health officials, doctors, pharmacists, law enforcement and emergency management services were present during both roundtable discussions. The FDA thought central Appalachia should be the focal point of the listening tour due to the high rate of addiction in the area. It's amazing the extent of the epidemic and the problems it is causing, but equally amazing the spirit of people to try to combat it and deal with it. And we've heard a lot of great ideas, some things that are working, some issues that we need to go back and work on in Washington to help people get their jobs done here. Pikeville Medical Center hopes a solution to the epidemic is found soon and is happy to be included in the discussion. They wanted to know not only about how bad the problem is, but what solutions can we come up with. I think we're lucky enough to participate in this conference and I think that we'll be part of the solution. The FDA will take feedback from its listening tour into consideration when developing final guidance on the topic. Reporting in Pikeville for EKB News, I'm Shelby Steele.