Tag: Government

Four things you need to know about the UMWA-Peabody/Patriot deal

The United Mine Workers of America has reached a settlement with Peabody Energy and Patriot Coal that will help to cover health care benefits for retired miners.

Background:

  • Magnum Coal Company purchased certain Arch Coal operations in 2005
  • Patriot Coal purchased Magnum Coal Company in 2008
  • Patriot Coal was spun off from Peabody in 2007
  • Patriot Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization on July 9, 2012
  • In May of this year, a ruling allowed Patriot to quit paying health care benefits for retirees and established a VEBA account with initial Patriot contribution of $15 million

Here are four things you need to know about the new deal:

  1. The agreement provides more than $400 million to provide health coverage for retirees affected by the bankruptcy of Patriot Coal.

    The money will go into the Voluntary Employee Benefit Association or VEBA account.

    Peabody will make payments totaling $310 million over the next four years, and proceeds will be  applied to future retiree health care benefits.

    Patriot has agreed to contribute $15 million to the VEBA in 2014, with up to an additional $60 million to be paid into the fund over the following three years.

  2. The union has agreed to give up its 35 percent stock as part of this new deal.

    UMWA was given 35 percent equity stake in Patriot in May as part of a ruling. The same ruling established the VEBA account.

  3. UMWA continues to look to Congress to assist in securing additional funds for health care benefits.

    Rep. David McKinley introduced a bill in the house that currently has 24 co-sponsors from both parties and a bill introduced by Sen. Jay Rockefeller currently has six co-sponsors.

  4. UMWA is still hoping to come to an agreement with Arch Coal, another company that formed Patriot. 

Patriot has reached a final deal with Arch Coal. According to a release, Patriot will receive $5 million in cash and a release of a $16 million letter of credit posted in Arch’s name as part of the deal.

In a release issued just after midnight Thursday morning, UMWA president Cecil E. Roberts said he was pleased.

“This is a significant amount of money that will help maintain health care for thousands of retirees who earned those benefits though years of labor in America’s coal mines,” Roberts said.

“This settlement will also help Patriot emerge from bankruptcy and continue to provide jobs for our members and~thousands of others in West Virginia and Kentucky.”

Patriot President and Chief Executive Officer Bennett K. Hatfield echoed the union’s satisfaction.

“I am pleased that we have been able to reach agreements that provide the UMWA with hundreds of million of dollars in retiree healthcare funding,” Hatifield said.

“The best result for the UMWA and its members is for Patriot to emerge from bankruptcy as a healthy company that will continue to provide jobs and benefits, and we are now on track to achieve that goal.”

This deal still needs approval by federal bankruptcy judge Kathy Surratt-States. The judge is expected to make that decision early next month.
 

Ex-police officer identified as shooter at federal building in Wheeling

A former Wheeling police officer reportedly fired up to 30 shots into the federal courthouse Wednesday afternoon before he was shot and killed by security…

A former Wheeling police officer reportedly fired up to 30 shots into the federal courthouse Wednesday afternoon before he was shot and killed by security officers at the building.

Update: Wednesday, October 9, 2013 at 10:22 p.m.

Wheeling Police Chief Shawn Schwertfeger identified the gunman in Wednesday afternoon’s shooting as 55-year-old Thomas J. Piccard of Bridgeport, Ohio. He is a retired Wheeling police officer.
At a news conference late Wednesday, Schwertfeger said Piccard was armed with an assault weapon and a handgun.
 
He also said three on-duty security officers were injured by flying debris during the onslaught.

Update: Wednesday, October 9, 2013 at 9:02 p.m.

The Associated Press reports Wheeling Mayor Andy McKenzie said police who briefed him after Wednesday’s courthouse assault told him the man was a 20-year-plus veteran of the force. He said the man retired 13 years ago.
 
McKenzie said the retired officer’s name was not being released immediately, although various media outlets around the state have identified the shooter as Thomas Picard.

Investigators were seeking a search warrant for Piccard’s home in hopes of determining a motive and if he acted alone, said Chief Deputy Mike Claxton of the Marshals Service in northern West Virginia.

Update: Wednesday, October 9, 2013 at 7:30 p.m.

West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s Glynis Board  dispatched the following information:

A spokesman fron the U.S. Marshals Service reports that the gunman was an ex-Wheeling police officer who was terminated in 2001. The FBI is leading an ongoing investigation in collaboration with state and city police. The spokesman says the gunman shot at least 20 shots at the fed courthouse–and some entered the building. A U.S. Marshal court security officer and a Wheeling police officer returned fire, injuring the gunman who was pronounced dead from those injuries at a local hospital. The spokesman adds that courthouse will resume normal operations tomorrow.

Update: Wednesday, October 9, 2013 at 6:30 p.m.

The Wheeling Intelligencer reports that, at a 5:30 news conference, Wheeling Police Chief Shawn Schwertfeger said there is no known motive for the shooting as of yet. Wheeling’s paper also confirms through multiple sources that the shooter has been identified as Thomas Piccard.

Update: Wednesday, October 9, 2013 at 6:20 p.m.

A witness told WV MetroNews the gunman used a rifle, reloading at least once, as he fired at the federal building around 2:45 p.m.

Authorities said the gunman, identified as Thomas Piccard, died at a local hospital. U.S. attorney Bill Ihlenfeld said Piccard was a former Wheeling police officer.

Ihlenfeld was in his office when the shooting occurred.

The Wheeling Intelligencer reports that the shooter may have had other targets in mind.

The Federal Building may not have been the man's only target, as an eyewitness to the shooting said he also may have been targeting the nearby Wheeling YWCA.

Wheeling resident Carla Webb Daniels said she witnessed the shooter fire from the Chase Bank parking lot across Chapline Street from the Federal Building. Daniels said she was in her attorney's office when she heard loud gun shots. When she looked out she saw a white male standing between a silver or gold SUV and a white vehicle in the parking lot pull out a gun and start shooting at the federal building. She then saw the shooter put down the assault rifle and reload before shooting at the YWCA building.

"I was so nervous, I couldn't believe it," Daniels said. "People were scared and were banging on the doors asking to be let in."

This story was originally published on October 9, 2013 at 5:48 p.m.

Lack of infrastructure challenges W.Va. filmmakers

Miracle Boy, a film about a young boy who is injured in a farming accident and then bullied by other boys, took home Best Short film at the West Virginia Filmmaker’s Festival this past weekend.  Producer Jason Brown said he will always be a West Virginia filmmaker despite his Georgia address. The movie  was shot in Greenbrier County.

Dialogue is limited in the short film Miracle Boy, filled instead with sounds of West Virginia mountain country.

The movie was featured at Concord University last week. Concord student Cassandra Molchanoff  said it brought her new appreciation for film.

“It definitely made me feel at home when I was watching it,” she said.

The storyline follows a young boy who is injured in a farming accident and then bullied by other boys. But more than that, producer Jason Brown said it’s about doing the right thing.

“The story was about a young boy taking accountability for his actions,” he said. “I think at the end of the day what we were trying to get across is the humanity in that one young boy and seeing his mistake and making up for it.”

Bullying has made national headlines in recent years after pushing some children to commit suicide and West Virginia is not immune. Although it wasn’t Brown’s intention, Miracle Boy has been used by counselors and anti-bullying advocates across the country.

Molchanoff plans to show it to other students at Concord.

“I am so passionate about anti-bullying because I see it here at Concord’s campus,” she said. “The fact that it goes from that age and it just continues to build even into college; this film is a definite example that you can use to show that it’s not what you want to do.”

“Bullying is so hard and it really puts a damper on someone’s life so I’m definitely going to use this film as an RA to do anti-bullying.”

Miracle Boy premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2012 and won the Top Grit prize for best overall film at the 2013 Indie Grits Film Festival.

Brown is a native West Virginian and Concord graduate. He currently teaches communication courses at Valdosta State University in Georgia, but stays true to his roots by encouraging West Virginians to see past and beyond the mountainous borders.

“We often don’t fulfill our own sort of possibility because here in Southern West Virginia a lot of times we get sort of stuck in the mountains,” Brown said. “We don’t’ see what’s really possible and you have to believe in what’s there. You have to see it and then believe yourself. And then the other half of that really I believe is create your own opportunities.”

States across the country offer different levels and types of tax incentives to filmmakers. While states like North Carolina are debating whether to continue giving tax breaks and how big they should be, West Virginia’s program is relatively underused.

The director of the West Virginia Film Office, Pam Haynes, said just last year Governor Earl Ray Tomblin spearheaded an effort to reduce the amount of money offered through the Film Industry Investment Act- which was originally $10-million.  

“Our program had yet to surpass $5-million in any of the tax years since it was implemented,” Haynes said, “than it made sense to have that reduced to $5-million.”

The program offers about a 30 percent tax credit to filmmakers based on the cost of a film, with a minimum spending requirement of $25,000. The filmmaker can also file for a four percent bump by hiring 10 or more West Virginia residents.

Jason Brown is familiar with filmmaker tax credits in several states and said West Virginia’s is one of the most competitive.

“This is a good thing,” he said, “but it tends to be like everything else; why would we put this much aside if not enough people are actually using it.”

“We need to be using it. It’s a great opportunity. It’s a great resource. I’m not thinking we’re going to have the Walking Dead show up in Buchannan or anything but it could. Why not?”

Brown hopes more people will realize the opportunity for filmmaking in the mountains of West Virginia.

“The two best things we have going for us with “Miracle Boy” it’s pretty and the sound is amazing,” he said. “But I’ll tell ya what, it was real easy. All we had to do is just point the camera because so much of Greenbrier County is beautiful you just had to point the camera in the right direction and turn the microphone on.”

Still Brown suspects the biggest challenge or barrier for filmmakers in the state, is the same as it is for him … infrastructure.

“So much of the industry anymore you don’t have to be in Hollywood,” he said, “but if we don’t have the internet, we don’t have the air flights.”

“If there is the investment here I will stay. I will come running back.”

“We have a lot of people who can do things from here and touch the world. They all want to come back and make movies but what they need is investors, they need support. Gosh just in general we need West Virginians to support West Virginia, more and more.”

Bringing broadband to the mountain state is a work in progress. The West Virginia Broadband Deployment Council exists and now has a website meant to help bring affordable broadband to unserved areas of the state.

The festival run of Miracle Boy is expected to end after two more screening. The short film will show in California on Sunday. An announcement for the location of the final showing has not been made yet.

Miracle Boy was based on the short story by writer Pinkney Benedict. Jake Mahaffy was the director.

Technicians returning to work, but National Guard still facing challenges

A majority of the furloughed West Virginia National Guard members and support staff are returning to work this week because of a movement in Congress to extend military pay to reserve members.

But the state’s top-ranking Guard official said a return to work doesn’t mean those members, and the overall safety of the state, won’t continue to be affected by the federal government shut down.

“The Guard in West Virginia will overcome obstacles and we’ll make things happen to take care of our people in this state, but we shouldn’t have to operate this way.”

Adjutant General James Hoyer made his plea to Congress during a press conference at the West Virginia National Guard headquarters in Charleston, saying its time to put an end to the federal government shut down.

“We are starting to experience degraded readiness in the West Virginia National Guard as a result of this. There are 53 other National Guard organizations across the country that are experiencing the same problems,” Hoyer said Tuesday, “so if you look a that in a holistic approach, we’re starting to really effect our ability to protect our nation and our homeland.”

Money, he said, is a major part of that problem. Money to pay for employees, facilities and supplies.

As Congress prepared for the federal shut down last week, they passed House Resolution 3210 to continue to fund the military; however, Hoyer said the resolution was interpreted by the Department of Defense to mean only active duty members.

In order to keep some 389 military authority employees working, or state employees whose salaries are reimbursed by the federal government, Hoyer and his team began postponing infrastructure maintenance projects around the state and shifting the money to cover those salary costs. Those costs have added up to around $300,000 a week.

 “I’ve only got a $16 million dollar state budget and the longer they go, the longer I wait for the reimbursement,” he said. “So, we can only to a certain threshold of pain.”

“Right now we can go to the 16 at noon unless we sit down and come up with another project that we push back.”

After the 16 and without another source of funding, should the federal shut down continue, Hoyer said the state may have to furlough those workers.

As for the 1,150 federally funded civilian technician positions who were furloughed beginning October 1, Hoyer said nearly 1,000 of those returned to work this week. That return came after Congress lobbied for the federal Department of Defense to loosen the restrictions on that same House Resolution.

Guard and reserve employees will now also receive pay for their return to work that began Monday, but Hoyer said, again, until a budget is passed, he has no idea how long it will take for that money to actually come.

On top of salary issues, Hoyer said his Guard members haven’t been able to train, keep up with vehicle and air craft maintenance, and provide services to active duty families and veterans.

Without keeping up on all of these, he said should an emergency occur, it will take the Guard longer to prepare and respond.

“One way or the other, West Virginia Guardsmen will be where they need to be to take care of the people of West Virginia,” he said. “Now, it might be in a different fashion and it’s going to be a hell of a lot more painful for us in the Guard to get to where we need to be.

“Is that fair to the men and women who go out and do that? That we have to put them in a position that they have to go the extra above and beyond when we don’t have to be in this position?”

Hoyer added there are three new military helicopters for the Guard that should have been picked up on October 1 to replace aging state equipment.

As of now, there are no funds to move those helicopters, leaving the Guard in short supply should there be an emergency.

That and similar issues, Hoyer said, will lead to delays in response as they try to come up with new ways to deliver supplies or conduct rescue missions.
 

W.Va. agriculture chief: Shutdown won't affect operations

West Virginia Agriculture Commissioner Walt Helmick said Tuesday the partial federal government shutdown won’t affect his agency’s operations.
 
     Helmick said  in a news release that the Department of Agriculture is continuing daily inspections at livestock slaughter and processing facilities.
 
     The department also is continuing surveillance of egg and dairy products, testing poultry flocks for disease and conducting other routine activities.
 
     Helmick said the department has broad powers under the state code to conduct inspections, enact embargoes and quarantines, and to deal with any livestock disease outbreaks.
 

Group appeals PSC order approving billion-dollar power plant deal

West Virginia Citizen Action Group says it will appeal the approval of a $1.1 billion deal for the sale of the Harrison Power Station.

The Public Service Commission approved the transaction late Monday, saying it would reduce Mon Power rates by $16 million a year.
 
     The deal involves Ohio-based FirstEnergy subsidiaries Mon Power and Potomac Edison, and affiliate Allegheny Energy Supply.
 
     Mon Power is buying the 80 percent of the 1,984-megawatt plant that it doesn’t currently own. In exchange, Mon Power will sell 8 percent of its interest in the Pleasants Power Station to Allegheny Energy Supply.
 
     Opponents say the transaction is inflated by $257 million and is bad for consumers.
 
     West Virginia Citizen Action says that price markup ruling violates stipulations of the merger agreement and contradicts commission policy.
 

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