by Amber Marra

Daily Mail

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A dedicated group of West Virginia University alumni will be conducting their own Mountaineer Mantrip tomorrow all the way from Tampa, Fla.

But don't think that Jeff Fenske, Andre Janecki and the rest of the Tampa Bay Chapter of the WVU Alumni will be walking the whole 900 miles from the Sunshine State to Mountaineer Field.

In spite of the chapter's distance from West Virginia, members still managed to bring a little piece of the Mountain State to their new city. They have a 35-pound chunk of coal to rub for good luck before the Mountaineers take on No. 2 Louisiana State University.

We Need Your Help! Please Join Us!

What: Charleston, WV Congressional Hearing of the U.S. House Energy & Mineral Resources Subcommittee of the Natural Resources Committee

When: Monday, September 26, 2011

9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.

Where: Kanawha County Courthouse (Old Courthouse)

2^nd Floor, Historical Courtroom #4

407 Virginia Street, East

Charleston, WV

Please consider attending this important congressional hearing on Monday.  The title of the hearing is “Jobs at Risk: Community Impacts of the Obama Administration’s Effort to Rewrite the Stream Buffer Zone Rule”.   The hearing will examine the Office of Surface Mining and Reclamation’s (OSM) Stream Protection rule-making and its impact on jobs. It important to have a good showing of coal miners and pro coal people in the audience.  The Courthouse opens at 8 a.m.

By OSM’s own analysis, the new rule would destroy more than 20,000 coal mining and related jobs.

We need your respectful participation at this hearing to show the congressional representatives in attendance that stakeholders in West Virginia’s coal economy believe the Stream Buffer Zone Rule is just one more attempt by this Administration to put Appalachian coal mining out of business, and with it, the region’s economy.

Please attend!

by The Associated Press

The Associated Press

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Arch Coal Inc. is donating $300,000 for mine safety research at West Virginia University. 

The funds will be managed by the College of Engineering and Mineral Resources' Mining and Industrial Extension Department.

WVU said Thursday it will try to double the gift by seeking a matching grant from the state Research Trust Fund.

Chief Executive Steven Leer says St. Louis-based Arch appreciates WVU's work in educating a new generation of engineers.

WVU's Academy for Mine Training and Energy Technologies trained nearly 10,000 miners last year.
It offers certification courses for new miners and mine foremen, along with training in mine rescue, mine fire safety and emergency preparedness.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - The West Virginia National Guard is hosting an opening ceremony for an innovative training program and facility Monday, Sept. 19 at 9 a.m. at the Center for National Response in Standard, W.Va. The new training program and facility was designed to prepare U.S. forces to navigate challenging terrain they face daily in countries including Afghanistan, Iraq, and others.

The program, which was designed by West Virginia National Guard staff, will provide training for various combat vehicles in conditions similar to the mountains of Afghanistan, including maintenance, advanced mobility, electronics, weapon systems, and driving in challenging terrain.  The course can also be altered to mirror other countries in which the United States military could be deployed.

by The Washington Post

Coal miners seldom get glory. Cowboys, astronauts and cops do, but how many boys strut around in coal miner helmets? In my imagination, miners are grim and unsmiling, with futures as bleak as the tunnels they descend into, only making the news if they go on strike or tunnels explode.

Well, LeRoy White is proud to have been a coal miner, thank you very much. He spent nearly 30 years in the mines, just like his father and his grandfather before him. Now he leads tours into Exhibition Coal Mine in Beckley, coal country's tribute to the men of down below.

On a recent Friday, I took a seat in a rail-riding "man car" with about 19 others as White snapped on his headlamp. The car clattered forward, and he took us 900 feet underground.