For those of us who cringe every time we cross the state line, and who think that “open for business” makes us sound completely desperate, Manchin has finally heard our complaints, and we can now vote to get the state’s slogan changed to something reasonable.
West Virginians are first being asked whether or not you want a permanent slogan on the state’s welcome signs or not, since the interstate signs had gone without anything but a “Welcome to” for 15 years prior to 2006. If you do want a permanent slogan on the signs, you are asked to submit your choice. If the majority of voters wish to have a permanent welcome slogan then your submissions will be tabulated and a second round of voting will be initiated based upon the top choices.
Personally, I don’t care whether we have a permanent slogan or not. I just want “open for business” GONE.
So go! Vote!
Too bad there’s not a comment spot, so we can tell the governor how we really feel about “open for business”.
So, after two invitations in less than a month, and (I must admit) against my better judgment, I finally joined Facebook.
It is nice that I can keep in contact with people after they’re gone, such as graduated students who I’ve worked with. It’s also interesting that I found several family members, including two of my cousins, one of whom is in high school. I almost feel like I shouldn’t be looking.
But the best thing was check out the site today and seeing this message:
(more…)
There has been an increasing amount of news about Sunnyside recently, although everyone knows the problem has been an area for years–decades even. (For those not familiar with Morgantown, Sunnyside is a student district where old houses have been divided and subdivided into ramshackle apartments that are rarely kept up or maintained. It’s full of dilapidated houses, overgrown yards, and trash.) But the recent collapse of a porch roof that sent two students to the hospital has brought the area back under the spotlight.
Frankly, I agree with the assessment that Sunnyside is a blight on the city, but I don’t see the slumlords as having the slightest interest in maintaining their properties, and until the city forces them, nothing will happen.
However, despite my dislike for the slumlords, I was highly amused by a quote about the situation in today’s DA.
(Landlord) Craig said the problems of Sunnyside were not just bad landlords and that the shifting earth is not a surprise because the city hasn’t installed a storm drain in the area. “Where does that ground water come from?” he said. “The earth’s core?”
There’s nothing I can add to this headline:
Man Wraps Head in Duct Tape and Attempts to Rob Liquor Store
Okay, I lied:
Store manager Bill Steele had some duct tape of his own, but his was wrapped around a wooden club that sent the robber fleeing
(via Hillbilly Sophisticate)
So back to talking about Morgantown, I knew that Morgantown was more expensive than many other parts of the state, but I hadn’t realized how much more expensive.
The Morgantown MSA Economic Monitor shows Morgantown as having a higher cost of living index than Charleston, Martinsburg, or even Pittsburgh. Which completely boggles my mind, since I thought Martinsburg was suppose to have the hottest housing market in the state.
Apparently not.
Now all things considered, I’m not saying we’re up there with big cities or anything like that, but we do have a higher index than several very large cities, namely, Houston, Atlanta, Cleveland, and St Louis.
But check out the article, it’s very interesting.
Maybe we need to finish fixing our house up just a little faster…
What on earth is happening?
Today, two more miners were killed in separate mine accidents. (CNN) (Charleston Gazette)
One accident was in an underground mine and occurred when a wall collapsed (Long Branch Energy’s No. 18 Tunnel Mine in Boone County). The second accident was at a surface mine, and occurred when a bulldozer struck and ignited a gas line (Black Castle Surface Mine in Boone County).
This makes sixteen deaths in West Virginia since the start of the year. Last year there were 22 coal mine accident deaths in the entire nation for the entire year.
The Black Castle in Boone is run by Elk Run Coal Co, which is a Massey subsidiary. The Alma mine is also a Massey mine.
On the 26th, ICG was forced by a federal judge to allow UMWA representatives to accompany federal mine inspectors into the mine to help with the investigation. (Their response was, unsurprisingly, a nasty little piece of work that should have been beneath them. But then blocking the UMWA from assisting in the inspection should also have been beneath them.)
Earlier, Governor Manchin has called for every mine in the state to conduct detailed safety reviews and inspections. I will be very curious to see how mine operators like ICG and Massey respond to this. (Cecil E. Roberts has also put out a same call in support of Governor Manchin.)
My personal hope is that these disasters allow the UMWA to regain a place in all underground mines, because it seems as if mine operators in non-union mines are not paying as much attention to safety issues as they should.
(Again, I highly recomend WVPR’s recent reporting on mine safety.)
ADDENDUM the First:
Here’s more from the NY Times and the Washington Post as well as Ken Ward’s article in the Charleson Gazette.
(Previous content was edited for accuracy)
Inside Appalachia again has several excellent pieces about mine safety and the recent mine disasters.
The first report talks about the Alma mine fire, and has an interview with a beltman at the Alma mine. If what he says is true, then the legislation that was just passed isn’t going to be nearly enough.
The miner interviewed claims that a similar fire happened at the exact same spot two days before Christmas. He also says that at that time, the fire fighting equipment didn’t work properly.
Supporting his claim is the fact that MSHA cited Massey twelve times since June for inadequate fire fighting equipment.
Additionally, a proposed rule to require belts like the one that caused the fire in the Alma mine, to be made of inflammable material, was killed by federal mine regulators in 2002.
If MSHA hasn’t been doing anything wrong, you wouldn’t know it by the actions of David Dye, who walked out of the hearings, saying he had more important things to do. (NY Times, Charleston Gazette)
Additionally, the WV legislature passed a major piece of Mine Safety Legislation yesterday. (Charleston Gazette, Charleson Daily Mail) It creates a Mine and Industrial Accident Rapid Response System, to respond to mine accidents, would create an electronic tracking system for miners, and most importantly, imposes $100,000 fines upon mines that do not report accidents immediately. Delayed reporting occurred in both the Sago and Aracoma Alma mines.
There will also be SCSRs (Self-Contained Self Rescuer, which are oxygen tanks for miners to use when the air becomes unsafe) placed throughout the mine, so that miners should be less likely to run out of oxygen, such as happened in Sago.
We can hope that this legislation will be combined with increased vigilance at MSHA, to save the lives of miners in the future. We can also hope that these steps will serve as a guide to countries like China, where mine safety is now is where it was in the United States a century or more ago.
(For more mine news, see also The Logan Banner)
There are two good articles in the Charleston Gazette today about Mine Safety. One, by Ken Ward and the other an AP article.
Senator Byrd has arranged Senate hearings that look like they will be focusing on Mine Safety, as well as the MSHA budget (not to mention whether there was a top down push to reduce vigilance.)
I also think that it’s important to note that both of these mines were non-union mines. Those who have read about the mine wars know what an important part the UMWA has played in coal mining. Hopefully they will be stepping forward again, to push for communication and safety equipment that MHSA has had seemingly little interest in since the Bush administration took office.
I have to admit that I voted for Joe Manchin only because I saw him as the lesser of two evils, and I really didn’t want to take any chance that a Warner (and part owner of Morgantown’s own McCoy 666) would be elected. (Like I had anything to worry about. Apparently his business practices spoke for themselves, and the election was a rout.)
I have to say, however, that for the past several weeks Joe Manchin has really impressed me.
In response to the Sago Mine disaster, I thought that he was compassionate, understanding, and also willing to take responsibility, even if the fault was not his.
Add to that, last night’s State of the State address.
After remembering the miners who died, and discussing his plans to help their families, one of the top items he addressed was health care. Specifically, he spoke of the need to provide health care to the working poor, and proposed a combination of preventative care clinics and private insurance to help cover those who are do not currently have health insurance.
If he keeps this up, I may end up actually liking him.
Text of the Governor’s speech
Charleston Daily Mail
Charleston Gazette
(I’ve always loved the term “State of the State” it’s so wonderfully redundant without actually being so.)
An entire week with little to no traffic.
(Excepting, of course, the WVU-Pitt game on Thansgiving.)
Ahhhhh….
It is really windy outside.
Michael and I were disturbed from our studying by the sound of the grill being blown across the deck.
According to the weather, winds are around 15 mph, but I’m pretty sure that we’re having gusts much stronger than that.
The good news is that most of the dead branches have now been blown from our trees.
One advantage of living close to the stadium.
I get to watch the fireworks. In my pajamas. (These were the two best pictures. I think my other camera did a better job with night pictures.)
I like fireworks.
Of course all the car alarms going off I could do without.
