By WILSON BUTT
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
BLUEFIELD —
The chicken reappeared. This time we hear that Bluefield City Board Member Pete Sternloff snapped a photo of the feathered fowl in action. We still haven’t been able to pin down the source or the message. I hope the Colonel doesn’t nab the old cluck crossing the road.
According to the Census folks, several stats could lose one of their members of the U.S. Congress simply because people did not bother to send in their census forms. So far West Virginia has not made the short list but we had better keep our fingers and toes crossed. When a state loses a member of Congress, it loses influence — and that is probably the most important thing we here in the Virginias have in Washington circles.
West Virginia once had six U.S. Congressional Representatives, now the state is down to three. A cut to two would be devastating. There are 49 other states that would like to have our small piece of the pie. Recent U.S. Census Bureau figures show that only 59 percent of the state’s forms have been mailed in, ranking West Virginia 47th in the nation. The U.S. Census Bureau will soon perform the door-to-door follow-up phase of the 2010 Census.
Former State Senator Tony Whitlow got roasted down in Oakvale. The Ruritan Club and Morris Clyburn, the mayor of Cheesy Creek, set him up. There were several folks ready to heap coals on the fire, including Dr. Mark Manchin, West Virginia School Building Authority executive director, and emissary for the governor. Folks roasted, toasted and boasted all evening. One fellow kept fanning the fire for quite some time trying to get it red hot. But in the end Whitlow shed the barbs like water off a duck’s back, took everything in stride and remained his calm, cool and collected self. It’s hard to get anything on good man. Whitlow did receive recognition as a “Distinguished West Virginian.” He deserved it. Whitlow is also a former Mercer County assessor. Bill Blankenship was also on hand to pull his old boss out of the fire if needed.
Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va., wrote to senior Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials expressing his “strong opposition” to guidelines the agency recently released affecting coal mining permits in Appalachia. He asked the EPA to “suspend implementation of the guidelines immediately and conduct a formal rule-making process to properly assess impacts of the new policy on mining and to solicit public comment.”
Bill Raney with Friends of Coal is upset and so are a lot of other people in the mining industry. Raney emphasized that West Virginia’s coal miners and our coal mining communities are under attack by the EPA. He said, “EPA has joined with coal’s opponents in Congress and scheduled two hearings on the same day (May 18) for bills and actions that will do away with mining in West Virginia and take our people’s jobs. We’re convinced the opponents to West Virginia coal teamed up to make it very difficult for our people to be represented at both places, one in Washington and the other in Charleston.”
“Friends of Coal” is quickly making plans for a trip to Washington next week and more information will soon be made available. Raney is asking that people who support coal call (877) 368-3552 to reserve a space and attend the hearing.
“It will be an opportunity for folks to express their opinions about EPA proposing to take people’s jobs, particularly West Virginia coal mining jobs. The EPA needs to hear from a big crowd of West Virginians who have had enough,” he said.
The W.Va. Division of Highways has been busy removing some political signs from the roadsides. One candidate reported that he had to go to Princeton to retrieve a couple of his signs. The DOH apparently warned candidates that some places were off limits.
There you have it, a few comments on items of interest to the area. It’s been cool but nice. Please have a blue sky day. The May 11 primary election is only days away. There are plenty of candidates running for important local, state and national offices. Vote your choice, but please vote wisely.
Wilson Butt, a resident of Bluefield, is a retired Department of Highways official.
