Mason Adams grew up in western Virginia and has covered Blue Ridge and Appalachian mountain communities since 2001. He writes from Floyd County, Va.
        
              
  
      
          DispatchRural America                  
            
        Rural Black Lives Matter
      
                    After Travon Brown found a cross burning in his yard, he organized a Black Lives Matter march in the rural town of Marion, Va., where hundreds of angry counter-protestors were ready and waiting.
                          
                      Mason Adams                  
            
    
  
      
          Feature                  
            
        $44,000 for Air Ambulances, Hour-Long Rides to an ER—The High Cost of Healthcare in Appalachia
      
                    Rural hospitals are closing or downgrading at an alarming rate. That could be fatal.
                          
                      Mason Adams