Roger Horton has worked tirelessly on behalf of our area’s coal miners for many years, recently retiring from his job at Guyan Surface Mine after 35 years in the industry.  Roger was recognized at the Miners’ Celebration at Tamarack as the Champion for Coal.

WVCA President, Bill Raney, in introducing Roger at a recent rally in Pittsburgh, said of him, “A long time ago, when we were looking for “friends” anywhere we could find them, a man appeared at a public hearing in Logan, WV on behalf of his company and his local union in “opposition” to some ridiculous rule or regulation being proposed by EPA.

The spirit of the miner is the spirit of a man who works hard and the spirit of a man who makes life, as we know it, possible, officials said Thursday.

To celebrate the spirit of the miner and all that miners do for us, Marshall University sponsors an awards gala each year at Tamarack in Beckley. This year’s award ceremony honored miners and educators alike.

“Marshall is very invested in this event,” President Stephen Kopp said. “It’s a celebration of life and a lifestyle that is so important to this nation. We’re celebrating the heritage that has defined West Virginia in many ways. If you think back to the days of the Industrial Revolution, the path of the miner was the path to revolution.

“Coal has served us through two world wars. We often take it for granted. We often find many parts of the world are unreliable when it comes to electricity. That’s what most of the world deals with. We’re very blessed to have coal and coal miners.”

It’s a mixed bag for the economy in the Mountain State for 2015, according to economic experts and industry leaders speaking at the October 2 WVU Economic Outlook Forum in Charleston.

The West Virginia University College of Business and Economics released its West Virginia Economic Outlook 2015 report at the 21st Annual West Virginia Economic Outlook Conference in Charleston.

The following op-ed piece was submitted by our Senior Vice President, Chris Hamilton, and was printed in the September 30^th edition of the Charleston Daily Mail.  This piece has been distributed to the WV Press Association for release to all WV papers and will appear in Friday’s State Journal.

The Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) announced September 17^th that it extended the public comment period for its recent civil penalty regulation amendment proposal to December 3, 2014.  The comment period was originally scheduled to end September 26^th.

MSHA also published a notice in the October 1^st Federal Register extending the deadline in its request for information on “Refuge Alternatives for Underground Coal Mines,” and giving until April 2, 2015. The extension is now on file at the Federal Register at https://www.federalregister.gov/public-inspection.