Federal and state officials were on hand Friday in Welch to dedicate the new federal prison facility. Located on former surface mined land, the prison will employ an estimated 400 people when fully staffed. It is located in the McDowell County industrial park, which is also part of the same restored surface mined site.

The dedication of this facility comes just weeks after the groundbreaking for the Bechtel Boy Scouts of America National Jamboree facility in Fayette County, also on a restored mined lands.

These two developments are just a couple of the important uses former surface mines have been put to across West Virginia.  In fact, a study just released by the West Virginia Department of Commerce and the Office of Coalfields Development shows more than 13,000 jobs have been created across the state on former surface mine land.  See full-text of a recent story in the Bluefield Daily Telegraph below.

FOC license plate applications were sent out again yesterday, via e-mail, to all of Coal Bits recipients.  If you have already ordered your license plate, then please pass the application along to your friends and family.  Companies can submit multiple applications by completing a form for each vehicle and submitting one check with the $70 fee for each vehicle.

We must have at least 250 applications in order to begin production of the FOC plate, so the more we receive the faster the process will progress.

If you need additional applications or have any questions please give Sandi a call at 304.342.4153 or e-mail to:  sdavison@wvcoal.com

The Friends of Coal launched four new radio spots this past week on the statewide West Virginia Radio Corporation Network.  One of the spots congratulated Senator Joe Manchin and Governor Earl Ray Tomblin on their new positions. We also completed a spot which played over the Veteran’s Day Holiday thanking our veterans for their service and sacrifice. Another of the spots – a holiday message -- will play through New Year’s Day. The last spot is entitled “West Virginia Values – American Strength” which calls for West Virginia coal to play a role in restoring our nation’s economic vitality. These are in addition to the main Friends of Coal ad that has been playing on Metro News.

Links to the new spots are available on the Friends of Coal website at http://www.friendsofcoal.org.

On Monday afternoon, four hours after resigning as West Virginia’s 34th Governor, Joe Manchin was sworn in as the nation’s newest United States Senator by Vice President Joe Biden in the Senate chambers of the U.S. Capitol.  Senator Manchin was accompanied by his wife, Gayle, and his mother.  Senator Manchin is 84th in seniority of the 100 member United States Senate.

Just two days after being sworn in as West Virginia’s newest United States Senator, Joe Manchin extracted a promise from Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) that cap and trade legislation would not come before the Senate next year (2011). According to NMA, Reid’s office confirmed the promise. "Given the election results, there is no chance we can deal with cap and trade," Reid spokesman Jim Manley said.

Following a meeting on Tuesday with prominent Democrats, including Environment and Public Works Committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) told reporters “whether we like it or not, cap and trade has no chance of passage in the next Congress.” (in part from NMA Mining Week)

To insure a seamless transfer of authority, Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin was quietly and privately sworn-in as West Virginia’s Acting Governor by Kanawha Circuit Judge Todd Kaufman, immediately following Governor Manchin’s resignation on Monday.  A public investiture ceremony for Senator Tomblin’s succession as the 2nd Acting Governor in the State’s history was held in front of the Senate chambers in the State Capitol on Tuesday.  The brief 42 minute ceremony included Governor Tomblin’s 10 minute acceptance speech that accentuated the objective of his administration to “Putting West Virginia First”.