News from rural America.

Citizens of a rural North Carolina town hit by Hurricane Helene fight to reopen their post office, the loss of a federal mining safety program could harm workers, and wood-firing potters carry the torch in rural North Carolina.

TRANSCRIPT

For the Daily Yonder and Public News Service, this is the news from rural America.

After public and congressional pushback, some administration layoffs at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health were reversed.

But safety experts say in spite of White House promises, cost-cutting could still effectively end federal efforts on issues like black lung.

The University of Kentucky's Steve Shafrick says after decades of progress in coal mines and other dangerous worksites, researchers can't just start over.

That's a pretty difficult task and you need to have very specific research book to do that.

Federal labor and health departments called the layoffs part of combining agencies under a new administration for a healthy America.

But Shafrick contends it's dangerous to cut back on mine safety just as the US wants to boost mineral production.

While we are looking to get more critical mineral production inside of the United States, I don't understand the reasoning.

10 miners died in accidents between January and March, more than triple the same period last year.

Hurricane Helene sent mud and water through a North Carolina post office last year, and the community fears it may never reopen.

Julia Tilton reports.

The storm disrupted rural Swannanoa's mail service for months, and with some in Washington pushing to privatize the USPS, residents like Dan Slagle worry the critical institution might never reopen. -If no one's complaining, that makes it that much easier for Postal Service to say, "We've not had any real complaints.

Let's just check into closing that office." -Slagel, a former postal worker, and 50 of his neighbors have lobbied postal officials and state, local, and federal representatives with postcards, campaigning to keep it open. -We just want to make people aware that, hey, wow, this community is serious about getting their post office back.

I'm Julia Tilton.

The life of a potter got easier when kilns were adopted for gas and electricity, but some in North Carolina still prefer wood to fire their clay.

Josh Kopis and friends regularly spend 72 hours stoking a wood-fire kiln, using one of humanity's oldest art forms.

He says the way the flames and ash interact with glazes is extraordinary.

Wood-firing is a little Luddite.

It's kind of a ridiculous way to make ceramics, but it's the way that I choose to do it.

High temperature wood firing has its origins in East Asia, but it's still popular in parts of the Tar Heel State.

And Alexandra Burrow says wood firing is a team effort.

Potters coming from as far as Oklahoma and Ohio to participate.

This is the way pots have been fired for centuries.

It's cool to connect to the roots of the craft.

For the Daily Yonder and Public News Service, I'm Roz Brown.

For more rural stories, visit dailyyonder.com.