The West Virginia Coal Association and Friends of Coal expanded their outreach efforts through the weeks leading up to the election, hosting two Coal “Town Hall” meetings, one in Beckley and another in Morgantown, last week, along with appearances at several other events in conjunction with our endorsed candidates.

Both Town Hall meetings were well attended. The meeting in Beckley, held at the Tamarack Conference Center on Oct. 27, drew a standing room only crowd. It was well covered by the local media and featured a summary of the current state of the industry along with introductions of our endorsed candidates who were in attendance. The second Town Hall, in Morgantown on Oct. 31, was held in conjunction with the Association’s fall meeting and drew a large crowd to the Waterfront Hotel Conference Center. The crowd of more than 100 again heard an overview of the current industry status and was introduced to our list of endorsed candidates.

Today, November 7, 2014, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) will publish a notice in the Federal Register announcing two public hearings on the proposed rule on Criteria and Procedures for Assessment of Civil Penalties (30 CFR Part 100).

The hearing notice is available for viewing at the Federal Register Public Inspection Desk:  http://www.federalregister.gov/inspection.aspx.

The public hearings will be held on December 4, 2014 at MSHA headquarters in Arlington, VA; and on December 9, 2014 in Denver, Colorado.  The post-hearing comment period will close on January 9, 2015.

November 4, 2014 was a New Beginning for the State of West Virginia, our country and coal, in general.  Our endorsed U.S. Senate candidate, Shelley Moore Capito, was an overwhelming winner and all three endorsed Congressional candidates (David McKinley, Alex Mooney & Evan Jenkins) were elected, with sixty-six of our endorsed House of Delegates’ candidates being successful as were eight of the fourteen endorsed State Senate candidates. The complete list is attached, with our successful endorsed candidates shown in green.    

Tuesday’s returns marked a historic series of results for West Virginia.  For the first time in 84 years (1930), the House of Delegates will have a Republican majority (64R-36D) and the State Senate now has a majority of 18 Republicans and 16 Democrats, after one Democratic Senator switched from Democrat to Republican on Wednesday.  The last time the State Senate had a Republican majority was 1932.  Finally, and once again a two-party system is alive in West Virginia!

The Friends of Coal Ladies Auxiliary was founded in 2007 as a nonprofit organization to inform those about the importance of coal and to support coal miners and their families. Because of the dedicated support and positive feedback from families and individuals, the Friends of Coal Ladies Auxiliary has grown into a nationwide organization of thousands of members. The Friends of Coal Ladies Auxiliary has worked to become active participants in charity events; avid supporters of our miners, military and law enforcement; supporters of local conservation projects; providers of the Coal in the Classroom project and numerous other day to day activities in our community and beyond. All of this is possible because of our members who volunteer their time and efforts to raise money for coal awareness. Membership is FREE, and all are welcome to join the Friends of Coal Ladies Auxiliary. Join these hardworking, fun-loving individuals today to learn more about the energy that fuels your life and to make a positive contribution to your society.

SHOP ONLINE STORE, THE ONLY AUTHORIZED SOURCE FOR FRIENDS OF COAL MERCHANDISE.  

www.friendsofcoalladies.com<http://www.friendsofcoalladies.com

Early voting is open during regular business hours at each county courthouse until November 1. 

Early voting is also available each Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.  Click here to view early voting hours and locations by county.

http://www.sos.wv.gov/elections/voterinformation/2014Election/EarlyVoting/Pages/default.aspx