–One of the reasons the coal industry is having trouble getting its way on a key element in the coal mine safety bill stems back to the Marcellus Shale legislation during a special session last year. House Speaker Rick Thompson deferred to Governor Tomblin on the Marcellus bill. Now, on the coal mine safety bill, Thompson insists that the family of a mine accident victim should be able to choose whomever they want to represent them during an investigation. The coal industry wants to block that because it doesn’t want a UMWA representative involved in the investigation if the accident happened at a non-union mine. Governor Tomblin enjoys significant support from the coal industry, but he also remembers how Thompson gave ground on the Marcellus bill and that’s one of the reasons he’s acquiescing to Thompson on this issue.
–Appalachian Power Company President and CEO Charles Patton says when his company builds power generating plants in the future they will be fueled by natural gas, not coal. Appalachian’s parent company, American Electric Power, recently put a natural-gas fired power plant online in Dresden, Ohio. Patton says coal will continue to be an important part of the company’s energy mix for a long time, but he adds that more natural gas will be used in the future because of the price and the fewer environmental and regulatory hurdles.
–It’s not unusual for public officials to feel like they’re being harassed by the press. You just know that sometimes that person would like to tell a reporter just what he or she can do with their notepad, but they usually bite their tongues. Not so with former Tomblin administration Cabinet Secretary Rob Ferguson. Charleston Gazette reporter Eric Eyre had written a series of stories suggesting that Ferguson had pressured the state retirement board to make decisions that would improve his pension. Those stories likely contributed to Ferguson’s firing this week. In his story Thursday, Eyre quotes Ferguson as telling him, “Screw your FOIAs (Freedom of Information Act requests). I’m done. I’m a civilian now. You leave me the hell alone.”
–Coincidentally, one of the last official duties by Ferguson was to accompany a small group (including myself and several other reporters) on a tour of the upper reaches of the state capitol dome. The tour took us all the way to the outside crow’s nest, which is just about 30 feet below the 293 foot top of the capitol dome. The state capitol building, which was designed by Cass Gilbert, is one of the most spectacular architectural structures in the state.
–A group of citizens from Mineral County is trying to get the Legislature to name Rt. 46 between Keyser and Piedmont after the late Aubrey Stewart, a black soldier who fought in WWII. Stewart, who was from Piedmont, was stationed with the 333rd Field Artillery Battalion in Belgium when it was overrun by the Germans. Stewart was one of eleven black soldiers who were captured, tortured and killed by the Germans.
–Law enforcement officers from across the region will be in Morgantown today for the funeral services of Monongalia County Sheriff’s Deputy Sgt. Michael Todd May. May, 41, was killed last weekend when a drunk driver slammed into his patrol car while trying to evade the police.
–A bill approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee would upgrade the state’s seat belt law from a secondary to primary offense, meaning the police could stop you for not wearing one. West Virginia is one of 17 states where not wearing your seat belt is a secondary offense. It’s a primary offense in 32 states. The state Legislature is also considering a bill that would outlaw texting and talking on your hand-held cell phone while driving.
–And finally, long-time high school and college football coach Corky Griffith has to be one of the best story tellers in the state. During an appearance on Talkline Thursday, Griffith told of the time, while he was coaching at Salem, that he recruited a rough-and-tumble high school dropout he discovered at a toughman competition. Griffith says the player showed up at his office before practice on the first day with a pizza in one hand, a twelve pack in the other and said, “Corky, I thought we’d have a little celebration before practice.”