Lawyers for Arch Coal moved things a step closer to possibly having that lawsuit be decided. In their filing, Arch’s lawyers have asked Judge Chambers to lift his stay on the proceedings and make a decision on the company’s longstanding motion for summary judgment.

In their filing, Arch attorney’s indirectly referenced U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson’s recent decision on the EPA’s actions related to the permit.

“USEPA participated in a lengthy permit review process that took the better part of a decade. It did not object when the Corps issued the permit in January 2007,” Arch states. “It did not object when Mingo Logan started to mine. It has not gathered or requested any information from Mingo Logan to determine whether any impacts have resulted from over three years of mining that have already occurred under the Spruce No. 1 Permit. It has never rebutted the Corps’ determination that Mingo Logan’s operations have been conducted in compliance with the Section 404 permit. Its belated political decision to exercise its Section 404(c) authority has been rejected as untimely and illegal. There simply is no reason to deny Mingo Logan the right to a resolution of its outstanding motion for summary judgment.”

The West Virginia Coal Association will be taking part in a panel discussion at this year’s Nemacolin Energy Institute National Coal Conference April 24-25 in Farmington, PA. The event will be held at the Nemacolin Woodlands Resort and will feature speakers from ACCCE, the NMA and CONSOL Energy.

WVCA President Bill Raney will represent the Association in a panel discussion along with Bill Bissett, president of the Kentucky Coal Association; Mike Carey, president of the Ohio Coal Association and George Ellis, president of the Pennsylvania Coal Association.

For more information or to register, visit the event website at www.nationalcoalconference.com.

REGISTRATION DEADLINES

If you plan to vote in May’s primary election, April 17, next Tuesday, is the last day to register to vote at your county clerk’s office. It is also the last day to mail a voter registration application or to register at one of the state’s voter registration offices. April 17th is also the last day to file a change of political party for the primary or to register to vote after moving to a new county within the state.

For more information about these and other deadlines, check out the West Virginia Secretary of State’s Election webpage at  http://www.sos.wv.gov/elections/Pages/VoterRegistrationCalendar.aspx.

Most of all … exercise your rights and VOTE!

EARLY VOTING SCHEDULE

Early voting for the May 8th primary election begins April 25th and concludes May 5. For more information contact your County Clerk’s office or the West Virginia Secretary of State’s office.

WorkForce West Virginia now offers online filing of quarterly unemployment compensation wage and contributions reports and payment of contributions via electronic check.

This user-friendly web application will save time and simplify the reporting process. The main features of the system are:

• Employees are saved from report to report! You must only add/delete if necessary and update wages;
• Contribution due can be paid easily with a bank account;
• Safe and secure handling is provided for employee and payment information;
• If inactive, request account activation online;
• Submit changes to account information online; and
• Filing online means no forms to print or mail, no checks to write, and no stamps to buy!

NOTE: For filings that result in a contribution due, a $5.00 processing fee will be assessed. The fee is collected by West Virginia Interactive, in partnership with WV.gov, the state’s official web portal, and used to create, maintain, and expand eGovernment services in West Virginia.

You can find more information and a brief video on the service on our web site: http:// HYPERLINK "https://ch1prd0610.outlook.com/owa/redir.aspx?C=meSpM3dRV06yWvRRR0l3-7IdBysI7c4IM6vpTD__UB_VPTsyd3Z9M0sO0KXQ-IbMTaRLuJrQpYo.&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.workforcewv.org"www.workforcewv.org.

Alpha Natural Resources, Inc. announced earlier this week the appointment of Paul Vining to the position of president, adding to his current role as chief commercial officer of the company. In this new role, Vining will continue to have responsibility for sales and marketing, and will add responsibility for Alpha's mining operations, assuming all the duties of current Alpha president Kurt Kost.

Kost is leaving the company following 31 years of service. He plans to retire in the Bristol area, but will remain with Alpha until the end of May 2012, serving in an advisory capacity.