Rally Story Archives - Page 2 of 3 - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Capito Criticizes Trump, Says He Should Unite the Country

A Republican U.S. senator from one of Donald Trump’s most popular states says the president’s comments about the violent white supremacist rally in Virginia has created a firestorm and that he should unite the country against racism.

West Virginia Sen. Shelley Moore Capito told the Charleston Gazette-Mail in a telephone interview that Trump’s most egregious comments were referring to some of the neo-Nazi protesters as “very fine people.” Capito told the newspaper she could not find a fine face in the crowd and that she was not going to try.

The first-term senator rarely criticizes Republican leadership.

But she said Trump has “not handled the situation very well at all” and said “anti-Semitic, racist, white supremacists … should have no place in this country.”

W.Va. Capitol Police Reinforces Safety Rules Ahead of Sunday Rally

A Black Lives Matter rally will be held outside the Capitol Complex in Charleston on Sunday.

After recent violence in Charlottesville, Va., the West Virginia Department of Military Affairs announced in a news release Friday that safety rules for the Capitol grounds are being reinforced ahead of the rally.

The use of firearms and certain knives and bludgeons are already prohibited from the Capitol’s campus, however, the Department of Military Affairs says some additional items are now banned, effective immediately. These items include:

Sticks, including those on signs
Helmets
Shields
Water guns or pistols
Capstun or pepper spray

Bicycles and animals will also be prohibited during Sunday’s event in the Capitol’s North Plaza.
Other items may be prohibited if they appear to be a risk to people or property. The Department of Military Affairs asks that visitors use common sense and be mindful of the items prohibited before they enter the Capitol grounds.

Backbacks, coolers, and bags brought on to the campus could be searched.

Masks, hoods, or face coverings on the Capitol grounds or other public spaces are also prohibited.

The Department of Military Affairs and the Capitol Police will be coordinating its safety and security measures with other law enforcement agencies as well as with the Kanawha County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.

Hundreds Rally in Shepherdstown During U.S. Democratic Senators Retreat

Hundreds of protesters gathered across the street from the Bavarian Inn in Shepherdstown Thursday morning as the United States Democratic Senators held their annual retreat inside.

On Thursday morning, Harpers Ferry resident Cheryl Kemp joined some 250 people gathered outside the Bavarian Inn in Shepherdstown. She says she came out because she wants the senators to know they have her support.

“It’s time to start fighting, and that we’re behind them; that we, you know, we’re against the Trump agenda about what he’s doing to our democracy,” Kemp said.

Senator Joe Manchin’s office confirmed Wednesday that Manchin organized the retreat to be held in West Virginia, but it’s unclear what the senators are discussing. The retreat is closed to media and the public.

Some Donald Trump supporters came out to protest the rally, including Shepherd University sophomore Nicholas Mantegna. He says it’s important he and other Trump supporters are there to remind Democrats who’s in office.

“Because he’s our president, and they need to accept that. It’s as simple as that,” Mantegna explained.

Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren spoke to the crowd around 10:00 a.m. Thursday morning. Manchin’s office says he and his fellow senators will be in Shepherdstown through Friday.

Miners March in Southwestern PA to Safeguard Pensions and Benefits

Thousands of miners have rallied and marched in southwestern Pennsylvania to safeguard pensions and health benefits.

The United Mine Workers of America says it’s concerned because environmental regulations on coal-burning plants have combined with abundant supplies of natural gas to drive down demand for coal at power plants.

Earlier this week, Virginia-based Alpha Natural Resources asked a bankruptcy judge to let it break a union contract so the company can reorganize its finances.

The union says Friday’s rally and march from the Greene County Airport to the Greene County Fairgrounds was a “demonstration of solidarity” as the coal industry has dealt with down-sizing and bankruptcies.

The union says although judges can void contracts in bankruptcy court, the union must still agree to work under any amended contracts.

Final Day Protest Calls on Voters to 'Remember in November'

Editor’s Note: For the latest updates on the final day of the legislative session, be sure to keep checking our live blog.

As lawmakers made their final decisions inside the House and Senate chambers, hundreds of protesters gathered just outside the Capitol to voice their displeasure with the 2016 Legislative Session.

The protestors’ rallying cry, “Remember In November,” was a call to action for voters to express their outrage with lawmakers at the polls in the coming election.

At issue with the group was the passage a number of pieces of legislation that organizers said attempt to silence West Virginians in favor of special interest groups. These include the passage of Right-to-Work, the repeal of prevailing wage, and the passage of a bill requiring the drug testing of welfare recipients. Protestors also denounced the legislature for their consideration of the Religious Freedom Protection Act, which they said simply gave license to discriminate.

Joe Solomon, who works at Taylor Books in Charleston, organized the rally.

“I saw so many people coming in the shop with looks of despair and depression on their face,” Solomon said, “You see every day in the paper another op-ed or another article that’s crushing the soul of the state and discriminating against another group of people. And I thought, ‘This thing is isn’t going to end on a whimper, is it?’”

Solomon said he expressed his concern on Facebook, which quickly gained support from various groups. Speakers at the rally included members of the NAACP, Fairness West Virginia and the Appalachian Workers’ Alliance, among others.

“I think the peoples’ message is pretty clear. They’re saying, ‘Look, we might have our difference but we’re all united because we’re being silenced, and everything we could possibly dream of for our causes are being trampled on. We’ve got to come together, build power together, and build enough people power to drive home a true peoples’ agenda.’”

Sabrina Shrader, a resident of Mercer County, has filed in the November elections to run for the House seat for the 27^th District. Shrader said she saw number issues that influenced her decision to run.

“I grew up in McDowell county, grew up in a generation of poverty,” Shrader said. “For most of my life I felt like I didn’t matter. I few years ago I started to get involved in the political process, and saw that it was working wrong for the people. I want to run to speak for the peoples’ issues.”

At the rally ended with members of the crowd pledging to register to vote, register their friends and encourage others to get the polls.

Union Rallies Outside Patriot Coal Over Pension Benefits

Some 2,000 active and retired coal miners gathered in the parking lot of the movie theater in Scott Depot Monday afternoon, looking up at their leader…

Some 2,000 active and retired coal miners gathered in the parking lot of the movie theater in Scott Depot Monday afternoon, looking up at their leader United Mine Workers of America President Cecil Roberts.

“If you think this crowd is big, you try to mine one lump of coal without us,” Roberts shouted. “We won’t just stand in front of your offices. We’ll stand in front of your coal mines. We’ll stand in front of your cleaning plants. We’ll block the roads and nobody will have a job.”

Roberts looked down on the crowd from the bed of a tow truck set up as a stage. After his rallying speech, he along with several UMWA led the miners down the road to the front door of Patriot Coal’s West Virginia headquarters.

The miners had gathered to protest a request by Patriot of a Virginia bankruptcy judge.

The company is seeking to end a competitive bargaining agreement with the union that requires pension payments and retiree healthcare benefits. Since the company’s second bankruptcy filing in May, it says it can no longer afford the benefits and a continuation will lead to liquidation.

If you think this crowd is big, you try to mine one lump of coal without us. We won't just stand in front of your offices. We'll stand in front of your coal mines. We'll stand in front of your cleaning plants. We'll block the roads and nobody will have a job.- UMWA Pres. Cecil Roberts

A miner listens as UMWA President Cecil Roberts spoke to the crowd.

“We were promised health care from cradle to grave,” John Alderson, who has worked in the mines for 40 years, said, “and it’s a shame that one person, a bankruptcy judge, can make the decision to take everybody’s pension and health care away from them.”

Alderson marched alongside his fellow miners, who arrived at an empty Patriot building just minutes after the short pilgrimage began.

“It’s really going to affect the retirees who are 70, 75 years old who depend on this health care and pension to make it through life,” Alderson added. “I really feel sad for them.”

Patriot also announced Monday it plans to sell a portion of its assets and liabilities to an affiliate of the Virginia Land Conservation Fund. The company would acquire the federal Mining Complex in northern West Virginia, the Corridor G Mining Complex in southern West Virginia and a number of land reclamation and water quality improvement permits.

In June, Lexington, Kentucky-based Blackhawk Mining announced it had entered an agreement with Patriot to purchase the bankrupt company’s Panther, Rocklick Wells, Kanwha Eagle, Paint Creek and Midland Trail complexes in southern West Virginia.

Miners that those locations have received WARN notices, informing them they’ll soon be out of work. Blackhawk has said some miners will return to work for the new company, but is reportedly working to get rid of the mines’ current union status.