TRG Motorsports today announced a partnership with The Upper Big Branch Family Fund to pay tribute to the 29 West Virginia miners who lost their lives in a mining incident on April 5th. This partnership will launch during this weekend's Coca-Cola 600 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. The team will help raise awareness through the website, www.RememberTheMiners.org, to be featured as a part of the paint scheme of the TRG Motorsports #71 Chevrolet driven by NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Bobby Labonte. The Upper Big Branch Family Fund was formed to give support, assistance and scholarships to the families of the fallen miners. The fund will help the miners' family members pay for college or take care of other expenses to keep the family stable, a fitting tribute to the men who died. The Fund was created by West Virginia University Head Basketball Coach Bob Huggins and Big Coal River native Jason Parsons.
See images of the car on on the #71 Team Schemes page.
· 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.
· 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.
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.