July 11: 7 p.m. at the La Belle Theatre / South Charleston Museum. West Virginia premier of "Coal Country." See www.sierraclub.org/scp/coalcountry.aspx.

Mari-Lynn Evans has announced that her new film about the effects of coal mining, "Coal Country" will have its West Virginia premiere on July 11th, 7 PM, sponsored by The South Charleston Museum in the La Belle Theater. It is produced by Evening Star Productions. Evans and director Phyllis Geller have been working on the film ever since they completed "The Appalachians" in 2005. A book and CD will also be released in conjunction with the release of the film. Kathy Mattea, Judy Bonds, OVEC board member Chuck Nelson, Ken Hechler and many, many more coal field residents will be in the film.

Silas House, who is the co-editor along with Mari-Lynn Evans and Shirley Stewart Burns, of the new book coming out in connection to this film, has edited a just released book on the effects of coal mining, "Something's Rising: Appalachians Fighting Mountaintop Removal." www.kentuckypress.com/viewbook.cfm?Category_ID=1&Group=4&ID=1543 The book has even received a great review from the Republican newspaper, The Washington Times http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/may/03/books-somethings-rising/. Shirley Stewart Burns wrote her Ph.D. thesis, now award-winning book, on the anti-MTR movement, " Bringing Down the Mountains - The Impact of Mountaintop Removal on Southern West Virginia Communities." http://wvupressonline.com/node/119