 August is hot and so are the savings at Appalachian Wireless, where all smartphones are 50% off. Even the 64, 128, and 256-gig models, two-year agreement required. Better service, bigger savings. That's today's Appalachian Wireless and East Kentucky Network Company. Many in our region are working to diversify the economy. In Mingo County, under a Coldfield Development non-profit umbrella, Reclaim Appalachia is working to diversify, grow, and feed the local economy. Our purpose really is to take mining-impacted lands and develop those into a variety of different kinds of sustainable development projects. Reclaim Appalachia has obtained land on 22-mine road for an experimental agroforestry site with the intent to expand within the next year. This is a place where the Mingo County Redevelopment Authority has given us about 200 acres to experiment with a variety of different kinds of agricultural and forestry projects to see what's going to work the best on strip-mined lands. There are several rotational grazing plots on site. The five-acre plots contain either chicken, goats, or hogs. The whole time they're all adding different kinds of manure to the site. They're really building up the nutrients, the organic matter, and the health of the soil. And so over the long term, you know, these lands where these different animals have been on, that's going to become much more healthy for them transitioning into other kinds of crops. Along with the rotational grazing plots, the site houses experimental orchards with several different crops and plants. This is very rocky ground, you know, any kind of land that's reclaimed ground after strip-mining. It's not going to have a whole lot of organic matter, basically no topsoil, but it's got a lot of minerals. The project works alongside refresh Appalachia and plans to process the animals and sell eggs to local restaurants, farmers markets, and businesses. In Dale Barton, Shelby Still, EKB News.