·         The Legislature’s Monthly Interim Committee meetings were held Monday through Wednesday in Charleston.  Judiciary Subcommittee A met on Monday to review a lengthy list of possible topics to undertake between now and next January.  That list of topics included oil & gas issues, coal slurry and an update on the mine safety investigations and issues.
 
·         Delegate Roy Given (D-Ohio), chairman of the House Select Committee on Mine Permitting, announced that DEP Secretary Randy Huffman has been invited to meet with the Committee during next month’s Interim Committee meetings in Charleston.
 
·         Governor Manchin appointed Delegate John H. Shott of Bluefield to the 10th State Senate District seat that was held by Don Caruth, who died earlier this month following a lengthy bout with cancer.  Shott was sworn into the State Senate on Tuesday, May 25th.  The 10th Senatorial District includes Greenbrier, Monroe, Summers and parts of Fayette and Mercer counties.  Shott, a Bluefield attorney, was initially elected to House of Delegates (Mercer County) in 2008.  John will seek re-election to the remaining two years of the unexpired term of Senator Caruth this November.
 
·         Putnam County Senator Mike Hall has been selected by the Senate Republican Caucus to serve as the Senate Minority Leader, replacing the recently deceased Don Caruth.  Hall, a businessman and Marshall University graduate, was first elected to the House of Delegates in 1994 before being elected to the State Senate’s 4th District (Putnam, Mason and Jackson counties) in 2006.  He has served as the State Senate’s Minority Whip since 2009.
 
·         The second part of the Special Session will convene on Monday, June 7 in Charleston and the call is expected to be expanded to deal with some mine safety issues.

On Thursday, a report was published by the federal Office of Surface Mining (OSM) regarding compliance with West Virginia’s Approximate Original Contour (AOC) policy.  This oversight initiative was started  in 2008 and has been the source of continued debate between OSM and the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WV DEP).  As a result of these disagreements, the report was delayed by several months and was just released via web posting by OSM on Thursday.  It is available at http://www.arcc.osmre.gov/FOs/CHFO/Documents/WV%202008-09%20AOC%20Final%20Report.pdf

The 81-member Congressional Coal Caucus, co-led by West Virginia’s own Shelley Moore Capito, held its first roundtable discussion on May 25th in the Longworth House Office Building in DC.  Congresswoman Capito was joined by other co-chairs Jason Altmire (D-Pa.), Tim Holden (D-Pa.) and  Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.).
 
The vote on Senator Murkowski’s resolution to stop EPA from issuing regulations to control green-house gases has been scheduled for June 10th in the United States Senate.  Please contact Senators Byrd and Rockefeller and ask they support the resolution.

Massey Energy announced Thursday that the company, MSHA and the West Virginia Office of Miners Health Safety and Training are planning to reenter the Upper Big Branch Mine on June 2nd.  The initial re-entry will be a sixteen-member group that will focus on monitoring the quantity and quality of the air in various locations underground.   The results of this monitoring will dictate when additional entries into the mine can begin.

The 7th Annual Friends of Coal Auto Fair is set for July 16 – 18 at the YMCA Paul Cline Memorial Youth Sports Complex in Beckley, WV.  Friday, July 16 will begin the Fair with the Cruise-In to uptown Beckley for the Renaissance Car Show and live entertainment by former American Idol contestant and Beckley native, Robbie Carrico.  Saturday will have the Live in Concert by The Charlie Daniels Band and Taylor Made, with special appearances by The Gold Knights Army Parachute Team and FOC spokesmen Coach Nehlen, Coach Pruett and BassMaster Jeremy Starks.  Tickets ($15.00 advance & $20.00 day of show) for the Concert will go on sale May 1st at select WV & VA Marquee Cinemas and the Beckley-Raleigh County YMCA.