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Representatives of the West Virginia Coal Association and Friends of Coal joined with members of the West Virginia Business & Industry Council (BIC) for an early voting day in Charleston Friday.
“We urge everyone who can’t make it to the polls on May 14 to stop by their local courthouse and take advantage of early voting in this very important election,” said Bill Raney, president of the West Virginia Coal Association. “To take part in early voting, a voter must be registered to vote in the upcoming election and have his or her identification.”
Early voting continues through Wednesday, May 11.Need to find your Early Vote location? Contact your County Clerk CLICK HERE
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Kevin Stricklin, Administrator for MSHA’s Coal Mine Health & Safety Division, addressed WVCA’s Mine Safety Committee in Charleston this week and provided an update on organizational and personnel matters.
MSHA’s District 4 will be divided into two districts with a new MSHA District 12 will be created. Mt. Hope, Mt. Carbon, Summersville and Uneeda will remain with District 4 out of Mt. Hope and the Princeton, Logan and Pineville offices will be merged into District 12.
The new district will eventually be housed in a new facility but for the interim will operate out of the current Pineville MSHA Office and possibly the Mine Academy in Beckley.
Charlie Carpenter will succeed Bob Hardman, who is leaving his post as District Manager of District 4 this summer and Tim Watkins will be the District Manager for District 12. Carpenter worked for Consol in Northern WV before joining MSHA. He’s a former Field Office Supervisor in Alabama and is currently working out of Arlington on special safety projects and petitions. Watkins has been with MSHA for 20 years and was recently an ADM in District 6 in Pikeville KY; he also worked in the agency’s technical support and ventilation division.
Additionally, Link Self will remain with District 4 and Luther Marrs will be reassigned to District 12. Existing District 4 personnel will likely be given an opportunity to be reassigned to District 12.
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The Friends of Coal and the West Virginia Coal Association would like to remind everyone to vote May 14. The economic future of our state is too important to sit back and allow others to make the decisions for you. Take that little bit of extra time and stop by the polls. Tell your friends and neighbors and if they don’t have a way to get to the polls, drive them.
Vote for your future!
Vote for jobs!
Vote for coal!
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BECKLEY -- The West Virginia Coal Association, which represents companies that employ tens of thousands of state residents and contribute hundreds of millions of dollars to our economy, endorsed Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin in the May 14 Democratic Primary.
Gary White, chairman of the association that represents 90 percent of the coal producers in West Virginia, said selecting Tomblin was an easy decision.
“Gov. Tomblin is a son of the coalfields. He knows coal and West Virginia’s 63,000 coal mining families are in a very real sense his family,” White said. “He knows how important it is to have a job, to pay your bills and provide for your children. He has always stood with us … not just as a ‘friend’ of coal but as one of us.
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West Virginians are well aware of the big showdown in Congress that pits the Environmental Protection Agency and rules on greenhouse gas regulations against the interests of our coal miners.





