Disconnected
In Kentucky s Silicon Holler and Wisconsin s Northwoods, high-speed internet is creating jobs, and changing lives
Rick Barrett, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Published
3:28 pm UTC Jun. 9, 2021
McKee, Ky. - Matt and Jennifer Muncy were dangerously close to becoming homeless.
They had lost their livelihood when a local factory sent work to Mexico. They barely subsisted on a string of low-paying jobs that followed.
Raising their four children in a part of Appalachia with a median annual household income barely above $32,000 about half the national average had become as lonely as McKee s single traffic light.
“We were literally at a point where we were done,” Matt said, tears welling up in his eyes. “We had each other, and as God is my witness, that’s the one thing which kept me going.”
Biden broadband plan is bold, but economic payoff is unclear latimes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from latimes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
President Joe Biden is betting $100 billion he can deliver a lifeline to rural America, and a boost to the economy overall, by making high-speed internet available to all Americans.