By Emily Corio
ecorio@wvpubcast.org
The Mine Safety and Health Administration released an internal review Thursday about how poorly it enforced safety regulations at the Sago, Aracoma, and Darby mines. Deadly disasters at all three killed 19 miners last year. MSHA’s report criticizes its local inspectors and supervisors, saying they lacked the proper attitude to enforce safety rules.
Archive for June 2007
MSHA critical of inspectors at Sago, Aracoma, Darby
June 29, 2007‘Unleashing Capitalism’ creates buzz, but is its research accurate?
June 29, 2007By Scott Finn
Many West Virginia business leaders, policymakers and media reports are gushing over a new book. It’s called Unleashing Capitalism: Why Prosperity Stops at the West Virginia Border and How To Fix It.”
The book’s recommendations include tort reform, tax cuts and less government regulation.The State Journal says the observations in Unleashing Capitalism are based on “hard economic facts,” and that we all should be students of the book’s editor, WVU Economics Professor Russell Sobel.
But there are critics who say the book’s findings are fueled by a conservative agenda. Scott Finn reports.
Byrd addresses recent reports on his age
June 28, 2007By Cecelia Mason
cmason@shepherd.edu
Senator Robert Byrd says he felt compelled today to make a speech on the Senate floor about his age. Byrd, 89, responded to ra ecent Associated Press report that revealed, as he put it, “the shocking discovery that I am getting older.”
Byrd says his age does not affect his ability to do his job.“I still look out for West Virginia. I still zealously guard the welfare of this nation and its Constitution. I still work, every day, to move the business of this nation forward, to end this reckless adventure in Iraq, and to protect, preserve, and to defend the Constitution against those who would reshape it to suit partisan agenda. And I will continue to do this work until this old body gives out. Just don’t expect that to be anytime soon.”
Byrd also discussed a report that compares his signature on financial disclosure forms from years past. He has a condition called essential tremor, and says some days it is worse than others. Byrd says it should also not come a surprise that he uses canes or isn’t as fast as he used to be.
Wheeling Island track disappointed in turnout of potential casino dealers
June 28, 2007By Keri Brown
kbrown@bethanywv.edu
This weekend residents in Hancock County will vote on a local referendum on table games at Mountaineer Racetrack and Gaming Resort.. Voters in Ohio County have already approved games like blackjack and roulette at Wheeling Island Racetrack.
One of the selling points for the casinos was the need for jobs. Classes started on Monday at West Virginia Northern Community College to train dealers for the casino jobs in Wheeling. But Racetrack officials are disappointed in the number of people enrolled in the classes. Keri Brown reports.
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Read Story – Wheeling Island casino jobs
Minister faces extradition to Ireland over assisted suicide charges
June 28, 2007From staff reports
In 2002, Rosemary Toole committed suicide in Dublin, Ireland, but she wasn’t alone. Beckley minister George Exoo and his companion were there with Toole as she ingested crushed up pills, put a tube connected to helium gas cylinder in her mouth and pulled a plastic bag over her head. Irish authorities have been investigating ever since. Last week, federal prosecutors formally requested Exoo’s extradition and Monday, FBI agents arrested him and put him in the Southern Regional Jail in Raleigh County.
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Read Story – Exoo faces extradition
Huntington filmmakers sue ‘We Are Marshall’ studio
June 28, 2007By Kristin Murdock
kmurdock@wvpubcast.org
Huntington documentary producers Deborah Novak and John Witek have filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against the writers and producers of the movie, “We Are Marshall.”
They say the movie ripped off scenes and the story line from their documentary, “Ashes to Glory,” which first aired in 2000 on West Virginia PBS. Novak and Witek are seeking $40 million dollars. Kristin Murdock reports.
Life on Wheels
June 27, 2007By Cecelia Mason
cmason@shepherd.edu
The Recreational Vehicle Industry Association estimates about one million people in the U.S. live full-time in RVs. West Virginia native Dick Strader has joined the ranks of those who have traded their traditional home for one on the open road. This story was produced as part of our series Aging with Grace and Dignity.
Bear Market: Cranberry Wilderness opens to hunters of animal
June 27, 2007By Emily Corio
ecorio@wvpubcast.org
After more than 25 years as a black bear sanctuary, Cranberry Wilderness and Backcountry areas will open to hunters this fall. State Division of Natural Resources officials say a plentiful bear population is the reason for change. Emily Corio reports.
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Read Story - Bear Hunting
Group seeks to nurture ‘creative communities’
June 26, 2007By Scott Finn
sfinn@wvpubcast.org
West Virginia is better known for its coal than its creativity, but the community-development group A Vision Shared is working to change that. They want to lure more artists, researchers and others in the growing “creative class” to West Virginia. Monday they announced a new group, Create West Virginia, designed to do just that.
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Read story: create-wv-transcript.doc
Historic documents found in fire-proof vault
June 26, 2007By Anna Sale
asale@wvpubcast.org
Much of the paperwork of state government has to go through Secretary of State Betty Ireland’s office and keeping track can be a chore. Her staff recently discovered a set of paperwork that has been misfiled for 144 years: A stash of historic documents that date back to the state’s founding, kept for years in the office’s fire-proof vault. They include the first entry in the state’s Executive Journal that records the oath of office of West Virginia’s first governor, and the first recorded copy of the state constitution.
Huntington Council sides with Marshall over Felinton
June 26, 2007By Kristin Murdock
kmurdock@wvpubcast.org
The turf war between Marshall University and the city of Huntington over two alleys was settled by Huntington city council Monday night. The council overrode the Mayor David Felinton’s veto to give the go-ahead for Marshall to purchase alleys for a needed construction project for $10,000 which includes a new health and wellness center. The project had been put on hold until the city council meeting.
Toyota-owned truck manufacturer coming to Williamstown
June 26, 2007By Keri Brown
kbrown@bethanywv.edu
The first automobile assembly plant in the state will open this fall in Wood County. On Monday, Hino Motors of Japan, a Toyota-owned manufacturer, joined Senator Jay Rockefeller, and Governor Joe Manchin in Williamstown to make the announcement.
Changing eyes reveal a lot about aging process
June 25, 2007By Cecelia Mason
cmason@shepherd.edu
The youngest of the baby boom generation is now approaching its mid-40s. This big chunk of the population, born between 1946 and 1964, has changed the way businesses develop and market many products. One product that’s becoming more popular and more available is the bi-focal contact lens, but shopping for them involves facing some hard truths about aging.
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Read Story – Aging Eyes
Coal-to-gas debate not over on Capitol Hill
June 25, 2007By Matt Laslo
Capitol News Connection
Last week, the US Senate passed expansive energy legislation. It did not include billions of dollars in loans for coal to liquid producers. But the debate about the controversial technology is far from over.
Capito one of two women to face Democrats on baseball diamond
June 25, 2007By Chad PergramCapitol News Connection
It’s not unusual for Congressional lawmakers to play hardball, but tonight in the nation’s capital, they’re turning their attention to baseball. Republican Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito is the only West Virginia lawmaker playing tonight in the Congressional baseball game. And she’s one of only two Republican women suiting up. The Democrats play the Republicans at RFK Stadium, home of the Washington Nationals.
Dairy Queen takes man from Nepal to Afghanistan
June 25, 2007By Anna Sale
asale@wvpubcast.org
One of the surprising sounds at the Bagram Air Field in Afghanistan is the hum of freezers at the Dairy Queen on base. The man behind the counter is Manos Nepali. He is 21 years old, and has been living at Bagram for about two years. He’s from Nepal. He’s what the military calls a TCN, a third country national. That’s the term for workers on bases that are neither American nor from the base country.
Making a marriage work through the uncertainty of war
June 22, 2007By Anna Sale
asale@wvpubcast.org
The military has always been a part of Kirk and Dawn Teufel’s relationship. Dawn works full-time with the WV Guard’s 130th Airlift Wing in Charleston. She’s a flight navigator. Kirk pilots C-130 airplanes. They have a 2 year-old daughter. They both were deployed to Afghanistan this spring.
Dawn left first, and served 45 days at Bagram Air Field. Kirk was deployed to Afghanistan a month and a half later. They spent two and a half days together. Then, Dawn came home. In separate interviews, they talked to Anna Sale about how their marriage works.
Music from the Mountains host Joe Dobbs says goodbye after 25 years
June 22, 2007By Scott Finn
For almost 25 years, Joe Dobbs has brought you some of the best musicians you may have never heard of. They’re your neighbors – accountants, teachers, garbage collectors, and lawyers – and Joe finds them and puts them on his show, Music from the Mountains.
But tonight is Joe’s last show. He’s 72 years old, and he says we wants to spend more time playing with his own group, The 1937 Flood. Reporter Scott Finn met Joe at his St. Albans music store earlier this week, and he brings us this tribute.
Finn: If it involves a musical instrument, you can do it at the Fret and Fiddle. You can buy it, you can learn to play it, and you can get it fixed.
Dobbs: Here’s the repair department. There’s a sick banjo come in. That one goes back to the early 1900s.
Finn: And if you learn to play enough, you can come here to record an episode of Music from the Mountains. Joe Dobbs says his experiences at the store gave him the idea for the show.
Dobbs: I opened a music store in 1976. And what really fascinated me was the number of people who came in who played exceptionally well, but who had no professional ambitions. Some of them played better than the professional people that we heard on records. So I thought it would be nice for them to be heard…
- Read story: joe-dobbs-transcript.doc
- Listen to story
Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center gets new leader
June 21, 2007By Emily Corio
ecorio@wvpubcast.org
The Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center at WVU has a new director. Doctor Scot Remick will head the cancer treatment center in Morgantown. WVU President David Hardesty welcomed Remick at a press conference Thursday and announced a 50-million dollar investment in the cancer center.
David Hardesty: “WVU Hospitals is building a $23 million expansion to the existing cancer center that will actually double the size of its research and patient care facilities. The School of Medicine and the Hospital are jointly funding a $25 million plan to expand clinical and research faculty. The total with the private gifts we anticipate will be well over $450 million.”
WVU will add at least a dozen research positions as a result of the new funding. Doctor Remick was the associate director of clinical research at Case Comprehensive Cancer Center in Cleveland before accepting the job in Morgantown.
Scot Remick: “My wife and I want to come to Morgantown to help you on your mission to grow your cancer center, and the ingredients are all here for us to have fun. There are going to be a lot of challenges, there are a lot of things we have to do, and we’re going to do them well. And we’re going to do them well with your support. And we’re going to work with the institution leadership to really reach out, not only to the folks in Morgantown and the region, but throughout the state.”
The Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center has treated people from all 55 counties in West Virginia and surrounding states. The Center is located next door to Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown.
Massey CEO Blankenship takes stand in Wheeling-Pitt lawsuit
June 21, 2007By Keri Brown
kbrown@bethanywv.edu
The third week of a trial involving Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel and a Massey Energy subsidiary is underway in Brooke County. Wheeling-Pitt seeks more than $200 million from Massey subsidiary Central West Virginia Energy Company. Wheeling-Pitt says the company failed to supply enough coal to the steelmaker’s coke plant in Follansbee. The case received more attention on Wednesday when Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship took the stand.
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