The Tug Valley Mining Institute’s May meeting is set for May 26, 2011 at the Mountaineer Hotel, Williamson, WV with Guest Speaker Marshall University President Stephen J. Kopp.

The 8th Annual Friends of Coal Auto Fair will be held July 15-17 at the YMCA Paul Cline Memorial Youth Sports Complex in Beckley, West Virginia. This fun, family-oriented event will include a car show, carnival rides and games, great food, interactive sponsor displays, special guest appearances, mine safety competitions and more!  Plus, for the first time ever, there will be not one but two nights of live entertainment!

Appearing live Friday, July 15th will be country up and comer Chris Janson; Clarksburg, West Virginia’s The Davisson Brothers Band; southern country rock band The BlackWater Outlaws; and North Central West Virginia’s the George Shingleton Band.  Then on July 16th, enjoy performances by country music superstars Josh Turner and Little Big Town!  Tickets for both shows are on sale now at www.friendsofcoalautofair.com.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (May 2, 2011) – The West Virginia Business & Industry Council (BIC), an organization representing more than 250,000 West Virginia employees across 26 separate industry categories, has endorsed Earl Ray Tomblin for Governor in the Democratic primary, organization officials announced today.

 

Jan Vineyard, chairman of BIC, said, “Under Earl Ray Tomblin’s leadership both in the State Senate and as Acting Governor, West Virginia has seen steady economic growth, greater transparency in government and decreases in both business and consumers taxes.  While much more work remains to be done, Earl Ray Tomblin is best prepared and best suited to lead us into the future.”

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.

Here in West Virginia, coal mining isn’t just a way of living – it’s a way of life. It pays bills, lights homes and feeds families, and it also is a binding source of pride for those who work in it, know it, and respect it. I am one of those proud West Virginians – I always will be. And I will always fight for our miners, our jobs, and our economic future.

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.