There has been so much coverage from the Shaping Our Appalachian Region (SOAR) Summit held in Pikeville, KY on Monday that it would be impossible to post all of them to social media. There will be a blog post covering our thoughts about the conference in the next couple of days, but in the meantime, check out the great articles, blogs and A/V coverage below. If we missed anything, let us know in the comments! 
The Lexington Herald-Leader had a phenomenal two-day spread of op-eds on Sunday and Monday, featuring some insightful commentary and positive ideas about Eastern Kentucky's future:
- Editorial: CHARTING A NEW DAY | Can Eastern Kentucky – in all its confounding complexity, beauty and blight – reinvent itself?
- Bill Turner: Engage minorities in community-building
- Jeff Vanderbeck: Check egos, politics at summit's door
- Gerry Roll: 25 years of work showing results in Perry County
- Amelia Kirby: Amazing home worth fighting for
- Ron Eller: Imagine a different future
- Dee Davis: Stir up a new wind to sweep away the mess
- Jared Arnett: Long-term economic strategies must trump local politics
- Johnathan Gay: Create an ecosystem of entrepreneurship
- Jonathan Miller: Jobs now plus cost savings later make energy efficiency winning strategy
- Steve Cawood: No better work force than Appalachian coal miners
-
Chris Barton: Develop skilled work force to reforest strip-mined hills
- George Freeman: Solve problems that scare away investors
- Al Smith: Restitution due for centuries of exploitation
- William Banks: Clean up, educate, cooperate to reconcile dual ID
- Jane Winkler Dyche: Vision, teamwork keys to progress
- Carolyn Sundy: Education key to unlocking most important resource
- Christopher Epling: The Overlook (political cartoon)
- Roy Silver: Two percent alone can't lift SOAR off the ground
Other news outlets across the region covered the summit:
- The Lane Report: Ahead of Appalachia economic summit, Pike judge-exec notes area already overburdened with studies
- WYMT (Hazard): Complete coverage of Shaping Our Appalachian Region Summit
- Daily Yonder: Roundup: A Region Attempts to 'SOAR'
- Hazard Herald: Senate candidates ignoring SOAR
- Ashland Daily Independent: SOAR summit met with wait-and-see attitude
- Williamson Daily News: Rogers: SOAR summit just the first step
- WEKU (Richmond): Local Leaders Seek Substitutes For Coal Severance Taxes
- WSAZ (Huntington): SOAR Summit in Pike County, Ky. Addresses Economic Challenges
- Lexington Herald-Leader: At summit, Eastern Kentucky leaders look to Minnesota for ideas to renew economy
- CN2 (Frankfort): Rogers sees future of E. Ky as 'Silicon Holler'; Beshear says he wants to fund 4-lane highway, broadband
- CN2: Politicians offer a lot of concern, some ideas as problems in Eastern Kentucky take center stage
- Floyd County Times: After SOAR, region looks for what’s next
- KET: Live Blogging the SOAR Summit
- Ashland Daily Independent: Leaders say they're "committed to the long haul"
- Ashland Daily Independent: Politics of coal severance
- Tom Eblen: Will SOAR be a new beginning, or just more talk about Appalachia?
- WDRB (Louisville): How can Eastern Kentucky soar?
- Ken Ward, Jr (WV Gazette): Diversifying the Appalachian coalfields: Kentucky gets to work, but what about West Virginia?
- Hazard Herald: All is for naught if younger folks don’t buy in
- Ken Ward, Jr: Forward in the coalfields: ‘It’s too late to turn back’
And if you need a reminder of what's at stake – or even if you don't – be sure to read WFPL (out of Louisville) reporter Erica Peterson's teriffic piece "Hollowed Mountains, Now Hollowed Towns: Coal in Eastern Kentucky."
