Pennsylvania Story Archives - Page 3 of 6 - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Capito To Question Norfolk Southern CEO In Ohio Derailment Hearing

On March 9, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will hear from witnesses about the East Palestine derailment and chemical release.

U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-WV, will get to ask questions about last month’s Ohio train derailment in a hearing next week.

Capito is the senior Republican on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

On March 9, the committee will hear from witnesses about the East Palestine derailment and chemical release. Among those scheduled to testify is Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw.

Capito said she’s not had a chance to look at a bipartisan rail safety bill sponsored by senators from Ohio and Pennsylvania.

“So I look forward to looking at it in deeper detail, certainly the hearings, and the chance to question the CEO of Norfolk Southern will be a big part of that, yes,” Capito said.

Among other things, the bill would require a minimum of two crew members on every train, defect sensors on every 10 miles of track on hazardous material routes and more robust tank cars.

Appalachian Coal Production, But Not Jobs, Increased In 2021

Coal production rose in Appalachia in 2021, according to federal data, but employment declined.

Coal production was up 12 percent in Appalachia last year, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Production rose 8 percent nationally.

Coal employment, though, fell 5 percent in the region and 6 percent nationally.

West Virginia remained the region’s largest coal producer, with Pennsylvania second and Kentucky third.

Coal production increased in all three states. Kentucky employment rose slightly, was flat in West Virginia and fell 10 percent in Pennsylvania. West Virginia continued to employ more coal miners than any other state.

Wyoming remained the nation’s top coal producer, contributing nearly half the U.S. total of 577,000 tons for the year. Though production rebounded from 2020, the totals for both years are the lowest since the early 1970s.

Coal prices have been consistently high in the past year, topping over $200 a ton in recent weeks. Central Appalachian coal is currently selling for $176 a ton, while Northern Appalachian coal is priced at $180 a ton.

The high price of natural gas, and higher demand for energy worldwide have kept prices up.

March 17, 1912: NFL, WVU Hall Of Fame Athlete Joe Stydahar Born

Athlete Joe Stydahar was born in Pennsylvania on March 17, 1912. He and his family moved to Harrison County, West Virginia, where he graduated from Shinnston High School. He went on to become a basketball and football star at West Virginia University.

In 1936, Stydahar was a first-round pick of George Halas’s Chicago Bears in the first-ever NFL draft. He played tackle for the Bears and was an anchor on of one of the most storied teams in NFL history—nicknamed the Monsters of the Midway. Early in his career, Stydahar often played without a helmet—one of the last pros to do so. His teams won championships in 1940 and ‘41. He served in the navy from 1943 to ’45, then returned to the Bears to win another championship in 1946, his final season.

He coached the Los Angeles Rams to a championship in 1951. In 1967, he became the first WVU graduate elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He later became a charter member of WVU’s athletic hall of fame. Joe Stydahar died in Beckley in 1977 at age 65.

January 22, 1810: State Founder Daniel Lamb Born in Pennsylvania

State founder Daniel Lamb was born in Pennsylvania on January 22, 1810. Lamb’s family moved to Wheeling when he was 13. He was elected city clerk at age 21 and worked for two Wheeling banks and an insurance company.

When the Civil War began and Virginia cast its lot with the Confederacy, Daniel Lamb became a leading pro-Union figure in Wheeling. He was a member of the West Virginia Constitutional Convention and the state’s first legislature. The first codification of West Virginia’s laws, known as the Lamb Code, was begun by Lamb but finished by James H. Ferguson.

Despite his pro-Union views, Lamb was forgiving of former Confederates after the war. For instance, he opposed “test oaths,” which prevented former Confederates from voting, and advocated policies that allowed former Confederates to serve in West Virginia government.

Lamb consistently refused nominations for statewide offices. He did, however, campaign in 1871 for the U.S. Senate but was defeated by Democrat Henry G. Davis, who, ironically, was elected by many of the former Confederates Lamb had fought to re-enfranchise.

Daniel Lamb died in Wheeling in 1876 at age 66.

June 12, 1771: Frontiersman Patrick Gass Born in Pennsylvania

On June 12, 1771, frontiersman Patrick Gass was born near present Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. In the 1790s, he was stationed as a ranger at Yellow Creek, Ohio, and later across the Ohio River at Bennett’s Fort on Wheeling Creek. His job was to guard the frontier against Indian attacks. By 1797, Patrick Gass and his family were living in Brooke County. He joined the army two years later and was dispatched to Kaskaskia in the Illinois Territory.

In 1803, Captain Merriweather Lewis arrived in Kaskaskia and asked for volunteers for the Lewis and Clark expedition. Gass volunteered and kept a daily diary of the journey. His journal, published in 1807, was the only complete published account of the expedition available for several years.

Gass served as a private in the War of 1812, fighting in the battle of Lundy’s Lane and during the British assault on Fort Erie. In 1815, he returned home to Brooke County, where he spent the rest of his long life. Patrick Gass, the last survivor of the Lewis and Clark expedition, died in 1870 at age 98. He is buried at Wellsburg.

West Virginians Asked to Watch for Spotted Lanternfly

The West Virginia Department of Agriculture is asking residents to watch for the appearance of the spotted lanternfly, a destructive insect whose presence was confirmed last week in New Castle County, Delaware.

It was first detected in the U.S. in 2014 in Pennsylvania, where it has since been found in 13 counties.

According to agriculture officials, the spotted lanternfly is native to China, India and Vietnam.

It’s known to feed on more than 70 plant species and is considered a major problem in South Korea, where it was first introduced in 2006.

The adults are described as one-inch long and a half-inch wide at rest. The forewing is grey with black spots. The hind wings have contrasting patches of red and black with a white band.

If someone spots this pest, please contact WVDA Plant Industries at 304-558-2212 or sparker@wvda.us.