The April Tug Valley Mining Institute meeting will be held on April 29th in conjunction with CEDAR’s Southern West Virginia Regional Coal Fair.  A Safety Panel with Tony Bumbico, Arch VP of Safety, John M. Gallick, Alpha VP Safety & Health, Elizabeth Chamberlin, Massey VP of Safety & Training and Lou Barletta, Consol’s VP of Safety will be the program.  The meeting will be held at the Harless Center in Gilbert, WV

Georgene Robertson, President of CEDAR (Coal Education Development and Resource) of Southern West Virginia has announced the ninth Regional Coal Fair will be held at the Harless Center in Gilbert, West Virginia, April 26 - 30, 2010.  They will have K-12 grade student projects on display.  Every project is coal oriented and will compete in the following categories: Science, Math, Social Studies, English/Literature, Music, Art, and Technology/Multimedia.  Students compete for prize money while learning about coal and the importance of coal in our daily lives.

In addition to the students’ projects, Pocahontas Land will have a coal tree exhibit on display, the WV Music Hall of Fame will have their “Music of the Coalfields” exhibit, artist Thorney Lieberman’s “Honoring America’s Coal Miners” exhibit will be on site, and Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College's Coal Academy will have a booth featuring their education opportunities.  Georgene encourages everyone to take time to visit and tour the projects.  A schedule of events for the week is included below.  If additional information is needed please contact Coal Fair Coordinator Debbie Mudd at 304-369-7503. 
 

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.

 The 17th Annual West Virginia Coal Festival begins in Madison, WV on Wednesday, June 16, 2010 at 6 p.m. and will end at approximately 11 p.m. on June 19th.  Patriot Coal Corp. will be sponsoring the Mining Equipment Display which will be available during these times.

Pittsburgh Post Gazette - Op/Ed - April 17, 2010

One week ago this evening I returned from six physically and emotionally grueling days covering the Upper Big Branch mine disaster in Montcoal, W.Va. Since then, I keep thinking of the 29 brave souls whose time on Earth ended deep beneath it. I pray they didn't suffer. I think of the family and friends left to mourn them. I pray their suffering is somehow salved. I think of the kindness bestowed upon me and other journalists as the tragedy
unfolded around us. I pray karma rewards them.

In my career, I've covered unexplainable acts of God and unfathomable acts of man -- plane crashes, serial killings, tornadoes, police killings, suicides, the slayings of men, women and children. I have tried to shine light on the human condition.