West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin is heading to Great Britain and Ireland on an investment trip.
Tomblin’s office says in a news release that the trip starts Friday and lasts through Oct. 22.
The governor will focus both on companies currently doing business in West Virginia as well as those he’d like to make investments in the Mountain State.
The statement says Tomblin will conduct meetings in London along with Belfast in Northern Ireland and Dublin in the Irish Republic.
It will mark Tomblin’s fifth international trip, including two to Japan.
Coal producer Alpha Natural Resources has sold some of its eastern Kentucky coal property to a Texas company.
The company says it has divested most of the assets of its Enterprise mining operations to Kingdom Coal, a subsidiary of Keystone-Kingdom Resources based in Fort Worth.
The sale includes the EMC #9A mine and the Roxana prep plant in Knott and Letcher counties. The EMC mine was the last operating coal mine in Knott County before it was idled in July.
Alpha Natural Resources CEO David Stetson says the transaction is part of the company’s plan to “divest non-strategic properties.”
The one-time coal giant emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy as a smaller, privately held company in July. It has 17 mines and seven preparation plants in West Virginia and Kentucky.
West Virginia county officials may hire the state House of Delegates majority leader as the county’s new economic development executive director.
The Journal reports that Morgan County commissioners will decide at an Oct. 20 meeting whether to hire Republican Delegate Daryl Cowles.
Cowles says the state Ethics Commission told him there’s no conflict in holding the Economic Development Authority job while he serves in the Legislature.
Former director Betsy Heath resigned in June after a few months on the job.
EDA board member Susan Webster presented Cowles as the board’s choice during the Oct. 6 commission meeting.
The position pays $35,000 annually, with county benefits.
Webster said Cowles’ job description would be tailored to his situation. The Legislature is in session 60-plus days each winter and convenes other times.
Clay County residents are speaking out against the closure of a bridge damaged during the June floods.People rallied Sunday at the Camp Creek Bridge,…
Clay County residents are speaking out against the closure of a bridge damaged during the June floods.
People rallied Sunday at the Camp Creek Bridge, voicing their displeasure about the closure.
Last month, the state Division of Highways announced that the 91-year-old bridge would be shut down to vehicle traffic, but remain open for foot traffic.
Officials said a special damage inspection was conducted in June, and significant deficiencies were found during a September inspection. The bridge has been on a 12-month inspection schedule since 2012 due to its deteriorating condition.
Residents say the closure inconveniences those who live across the bridge and have to park their cars along the road and walk to get home. They say the bridge is slick and dangerous when it rains.
West Virginia Secretary of State Natalie Tennant’s office is sending postcards to residents who may be eligible to vote but haven’t registered.
The deadline to register to vote in the general election is Oct. 18. The election is Nov. 8.
The postcards are also being sent to help ensure that the state’s voter rolls are up to date. The mailing list was compiled by comparing statewide voter registration records from the West Virginia Division of Motor Vehicles.
The mailing is part of the state’s membership with the Electronic Registration Information Center, a nonprofit organization that works to help states improve voter roll accuracy and increase voter registration access.
Anyone who believes a postcard was sent in error should check voter registration status at http://www.govotewv.com . For further questions, contact the local county clerk or Tennant’s office at (304) 558-6000.
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito led a Senate hearing in southern West Virginia today focused on the local impacts of the Clean Power Plan. The Clean Air and Nuclear Safety Subcommittee meeting took place at Chief Logan Conference Center in southern West Virginia. Capito is the subcommittee chairwoman. She was joined by Sen. Joe Manchin and U.S. Rep. Evan Jenkins.
The meeting addressed regulations stalled in court that put limits on each state’s carbon output. Many West Virginia officials oppose them because the regulations increase stress on the coal industry.
“We cannot support rules that cause massive loss of jobs and income in already depressed, rural communities like southern West Virginia,” Eugene Trisko, council for the United Mine Workers of America testified. “We need instead a major infusion of research and development capital both federal and private to lower the costs of carbon capture technologies so that coal can continue to play a vital role in baseload power generation.”
At the hearing, Wayne County Commissioner and former County Clerk Robert Pasley painted a picture of the tough realities southern West Virginian counties especially face given the downturn in coal severance taxes as the coal industry has continued to decline.
“We did give $50,000 to our volunteer fire department for an ambulance for our people,” Pasley said. “We had a program where we had two police cruisers replaced every year for our sheriff’s department. This will be the third year that we haven’t been able to do that. We’re going to be in critical need before long. Capital building projects, senior citizen programs, utilities, economic development, and many other worthwhile projects were part of this coal severance that we no longer have.”
Politicians also heard emotional testimony from local coal miner Jimmy Dale “Bo” Copley II:
“Our family’s faith in God is our provider has allowed us to carry on with our everyday life. Our god is able to bring his people through any circumstance. We believe that West Virginians’ unwavering faith in God is what will separate us from those who mean to do us harm. ”
James Van Nostrand, professor and director of the West Virginia University College of Law’s Center for Energy and Sustainable Development also spoke. Extending the “war on coal” metaphor, he spoke about the artillery being waged against the coal industry. Van Nostrand likened cheap natural gas and other economic forces to an aircraft carrier. Whereas the Clean Power Plan is a much less significant weapon…
Eugene M. Trisko, Counsel to United Mine Workers of America; Wayne County Commission President Robert E. Pasley; coal miner Jimmy Dale “Bo” Copley II; Karan Ireland, West Virginia Solar United Neighborhoods Program Director; and West Virginia University law professor James M. Van Nostrand.
“In terms of its impact, it’s something like a shoulder-fired rocket launcher,” he said, “a tool to be deployed in minor skirmishes – but it’s not going to win a war.”
Van Nostrand said leaders in the state should be more focused on the energy revolution that’s underway, and stressed that there is hope for economic revitalization even if coal will likely play a smaller overall role in the state’s economy.
