Princeton Company Gets Develpment Loan for Green / Historic Project

The $5 million dollar loan from the West Virginia Economic Development Authority will assist the company in adding nearly 40 new jobs. This counts as a "tripple word score" for the area, as the increased employment will take place at the historic rail yards of Princeton, WV and will encompass the restoration of several buildings on the National Register and the installation of new equipment capable of reclaiming 90% of dicarded metal.

Full Story here.

Adventures in Diversity

Some of my best friends are…. sorry, different article. I am a big fan of affirmative action and sensible diversity regulations, especially in public sector jobs, being a native Appalachian I can certainly understand how generations of cultural and economic disadvantage become a self-repeating cycle that only direct intervention of some form can remedy. Specifically, if appropriate precautions have been taken to make sure all communities are notified of an opportunity, and all applicants are equal in ability, then I see no harm in selecting an economically disadvantaged person over someone else that has had and will have other opportunities.

As a practical progressive, I appreciate the idea that in modern America it would make more sense to base affirmative action plans on socio-economic class rather than gender or ethnicity. It could reasonably be argued that poor whites from Mingo County are in as much need of assistance as poor blacks in Mississippi.

I recently sat on a search committee to hire a member of upper management for a large public university. The search committee itself was 50% women and included 2 of the highest ranking African – American administrators the university employed. Notices of the position were advertised in professional minority publications and a well – known search consultant firm was hired to make it a true, broad national search.

But after sifting through many “race-blind” resumes, conducting phone interviews with the semi-finalists, and spending large numbers of university work-hours on the process, the search was suspended indefinitely for only one sited reason: the emerging candidate pool was not diverse enough. That is, the top 2 to 4 candidates were all white men.

The real problem was that in my opinion there were at least two exceptional candidates who would have been a great asset to our institution – passed over because their skin or gender were not correct.

In my view, non-discrimination means making sure that everyone has a fair shot. It should not mean reserving spaces at the table for specific physical attributes based on non-professional criteria.

New Uniforms for WVU Football?

Here are some images of the possible new WVU football uniforms. Rumors persist that the "alternate" jersey will be worn for the 100th Backyard Brawl. There was some talk on fan sites about using a "throwback" uniform for the event, which is problematic, since the old WVU logos sucked so much.

possible New Uniforms:

Home

http://img252.imageshack.us/img252/3028/wvunewunihomegn8.gif
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Away
http://img393.imageshack.us/img393/218/wvunewuniawayak6.gif
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Alternate
http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/1753/wvunewunialternateqc8.gif

Old Logos:

Huge Explosion in Ghent

I am having a hard time procesing the gas station explosion in Ghent, WV. I have driven by that place hundreds of times and stopped there for gas, cash and soda at least 50. My cousin used to work a couple of miles from there and stopped there almost everyday after work.

More importantly, I can't fathom the cosmic "justice" of people who were just stopping for gas or a sandwich at the little Subway shop that was in the building, or people working there at jobs that must have been less than satisfying, becoming vaporised becuase they were in the wrong place, or in the case of the fire fighter and EMT who died, just doing their best to serve the people. Not in a war zone, not near an oil well, or a refinery or some other dangerous place. Just a gas station near a ski resort.

There are also rumors in the local community, that the call to the local fire department about a gas leak was made the day previous to the explosion, but that is just a rumor at the moment.

It is late and this is bothering me, so sorry if I am rambling, but just looking at the pictures is overwhelming, having a personal knowledge of the place. (see Article)

I suppose if I am drawing any personal insights from this it would be:

1. I have not for some time been a believer in a deterministic, paternalistic god, as it would require me to have faith in something who would be by definition cruel in my estimation. Events such as this simply reinforce those internal views. But then again, I am sure that the same is true for people of that type of faith, who just believe all the more blindly in the face of random death. In adulthood I believe that most often traumatic events tend to reinforce who we are, not change us. And so, our greater efforts should rest on not trying to change people, but working on living with each other as they decide whether or not to change themselves, or when necessary, helping them to survive a world that is ultimately cruel without the milk of human kindness.

2. Try as we might to live safe, insured insulated lives, we all live under the despotism of chaos. Therefore, if you do not like your life, and have the means to alter it, you are a fool not to do so. Now. AS far as we know for sure, you only have this chance and you have no real idea when that chance will be over. It might be on your way home from work this very day.

3. For the untold billions who do not have the power to alter their life course, it remains the moral obligation of those of us who can, to empower those whom we can.

2007's First Mining Deaths in WV

On the morning of Saturday, January 13, 2007 James D. Thomas, 48, North Tazewell, Va. and Pete Poindexter, 33, of Rock WV became West Virginia's first mining deaths of 2007 when a roof collapsed at the Brooks Run mine in McDowell County, where safety violations were issued as recently as December 6. The mine had been cited 57 times in 2006.

I would offer my sympathies in any such event, but even more so in this case as the event took place near both my wife's hometown and mine.

It is hard to know which would be preferable from the victim's family point of view. If this were but an "act of God" would the randomness of the event enrage you and add to your grief or act as a salve? If it turns of to be a case of operator negligence, an all too familiar case in West Virginia history, would knowledge that death was preventable result in destructive dreams of vengeance or would the cause of justice for a fallen family member in the long run sustain you?

My Short Film - "Where Heroes Lie"

So here is a movie I did back in 2004. Not exactly high quality but gets points for base humor!

It was "inspired" by thinking about what superheroes do on their day off.

Sex Pervs Are Marshall...

I hate to admit that until I got "The Dog Dailed 911," a compliation of documents uncovered by the smoking gun, I completely missed this story about the Marshall Cheerleading Squad:

JUNE 23--A West Virginia coed who landed a cheerleading scholarship to Marshall University is suing the school for discrimination, claiming that she was subjected to a "pervasive environment of sexual harassment" and abuse at the hands of male members of the squad who allegedly exposed themselves, fondled female team members, and even subjected some women to a so-called teabagging. In an explicit June 13 Circuit Court complaint filed in Kanawha County, the cheerleader--identified only as "K.C."--alleges that male cheerleaders engaged in a wide variety of improper behavior and that the team's male captain exposed himself to her and "rubbed his testicles on the head and face of cheerleaders." The woman, who enrolled at Marshall last year, also charges that the team's coaching staff did nothing to stop the harassment and even allowed the male squad members to call cheers by sexually tinged names such as "Bearded Clam [vagina]" and "String of Pearls [ejaculation]." The lawsuit, a copy of which you'll find below, does not specify monetary damages. Full Story.

New Statewide Teaching Award

Rocket Boys teacher Freida J. Riley will have a new statewide award recognizing the best teacher in WV named for her.

Riley, a graduate of Concord University which already honors her with a scholarship, was indentified as key to the development of the "Rocket Boys" as a scientific endevor and to their future academic and professional careers.

"a new state award recognizing an outstanding West Virginia teacher will be launched beginning next year to coincide with the annual October Sky Festival in McDowell County, and the 50th anniversary of the launch of Sputnik." Full Story.

A WV University Wins a National Title

While many of us, including myself, will be stapled to the couch watching WVU throtle the Ramblin' Wreck, here is a story about West Virginia's smallest public university winning a national title on an academic field of battle versus many larger schools:

"Concord University won the Phi Alpha Delta Prelaw Fraternity’s National Mock Trial Competition in Washington, D.C., on November 10 through the 12, defeating the University of Arizona in the finals. In addition, it won “Outstanding Defense Team” for the third year in a row. " Full Story

While smacking around a bunch of southern techies on the football field will make us all feel good, it is victories on the intelectual fields that provide one more stone in the foundation of a new West Virginia.

BTW, if WVU or Marshall had won, it would have been in every paper in the state. Because it happened at a small, academically focused public university (Division II on less) it barely made a blip.

As a professional academic, and former employee of said institution, I can say that Concord remains one of the best kept secrets of West Virginia.

Read this Blog

It is rare that you get a blog that is funny, hardhitting and so very pro-West Virginian as The Fifth Column written largely by "Hippy Killer".

Plus it makes ragular attacks on Don Blankenship, so extra double bouns points right there.

Just check out this recent entry on the real difference between WV's economy and other state's experiences with big business.

WV: #1 Judical Hellhole, and Proud of It

The American Tort Reform Association (ATRA) has listed West Virginia as America’s #1 judicial “hellhole,” and I’m damn proud of it. The ATRA is little more than a front for narrow-minded defenders of corporate America and coordinates approximately 40 state “tort reform” (i.e. corporate protection) coalitions.

It is no surprise that the ATRA is partially funded by that paranoid paragon of extreme conservative viewpoints, Richard Mellon Scaife.

This is the same Scaife who:

• Evaded the weak laws at the time to donate nearly $1 Million dollars to Nixon’s re-election campaign
• Who funded the “investigation” (read smear campaign) that lead to the ridiculous impeachment proceedings against Bill Clinton.
• Who funded the campaigns of the borderline evil and wholly laughable Rick “Frothy Mix” Santorum.
• And many other ultra conservative causes.

Of course, that will not be reported in our local media or even regionally. All you will hear is that WV is an awful place for business, which may be somewhat true, but not due to these types of lawsuits. Rather, West Virginia should be lauded, and proudly ranked number one, for having juries that can see when one of their own is being screwed by Big Business, the Government or both.

It is just one more example of how local news is not slanted left or right, but completely into the pocket of corporate America. And waterskiing squirrels.

Economic Development? Not for Everybody

In an editorial in today’s Charleston Daily Mail the massive upgrades to AEP facilities in Putnam and Mason County and the Toyoda plant expansion in Putnam County are emblematic of economic progress in the State of West Virginia. Indeed, the article likens news of the investment to “cool water in the desert.”

This is a classic misunderstanding of how West Virginal really works.

You see, the Charleston / Huntington corridor and Mason County are not the economic deserts of West Virginia. Are they the hot development areas of Northern Virginia or Atlanta? Of course not, but most WV communities would sacrifice the residents of the local animal shelter to have the economies of these areas.

If you want to see real economic deserts, come take a look at Williamson, or Bluefield, or Welch.

This editorial just reinforces the notion that most people in our state think that WV’s southern border ends at Beckley. In fact, I have heard public officals in Southern WV claim that the Economic Development office in Charleston has actively discourage small business owners from opening business in places such as Bluefield. (Of course, many northern West Virginians think Charleston is in Southern WV. Puleeze.)

I have suggested, tongue only half way in cheek, that southern WV should auction itself off to another state. Surely, some state out there needs a slightly larger population for an additional Congressional seat, in exchange for real economic investment? Or maybe, as a protest, it should secede from the U.S., declare war on the U.S., and immediately surrender and apply for economic aid as a “defeated” country.(Much like the Conch Republic tried some years ago.) I am sure we could do more with the tens (hundreds?) of billions wasted in Iraq than the likes of Halliburton have.

Sago Report Postponed; (get my judgement today)

Though it has not been officially released, the state report on the Sago mine explosion, leaked to the AP, cites lightning as the primary cause of the blast, generating a force five times what seals were able to withstand.

Unfortunately, this may lead some to believe that this relieves the non-union company, International Coal Group (ICG), of responsibility. Not so. Disasters will happen, especially those that are of the natural variety and very likely will be beyond our control. However, the way in which we respond to an event, or better still prepare for its eventuality is well within our control.

So how did ICG prepare and respond?

“Ken Ward, Jr., in a January 3, 2006 story in the Charleston Gazette, "Sago mine has history of roof falls", wrote that the most recent MSHA inspections, from early October to late December, resulted in 46 citations and three orders, 18 of which were “serious and substantial.” (S&S) Violations include failure to follow the approved roof control and mine ventilation plans and problems concerning emergency escapeways and required pre-shift safety examinations. From early July to late September, MSHA found 70 violations, 42 of which were S&S. MSHA found 52 violations from April to June, of which 31were S&S.

Ward explains, "These “S&S” violations are those that MSHA believes are likely to cause an accident that would seriously injure a miner."

Davitt McAteer, MSHA chief during the Clinton administration told Ward, "The numbers don’t sound good....[they are] sufficiently high that it should tip off management that there is something amiss here. For a small operation, that is a significant number of violations.” McAteer said the roof fall frequency “suggests that the roof is bad and that the support system is not meeting the needs of the roof.” [link]

Ken Ward, Jr., wrote in a January 15, 2006 story entitled Chaos marred critical early hours after blast, that the company did not call a specialized mine rescue crew until 8:04 a.m. — more than 90 minutes after the blast. The company notified the federal Mine safety and Health Administration at 8:30 a.m. The company said it started its calls at 7:40. MSHA records two calls at 8:10 to personnel who were out of town due to the holiday. MSHA arrived on site at approximately 10:30 a.m. The first rescue crew arrived ten minutes later.” [link]

ICG was not prepared and responded in a criminally slow way, possibly robbing the miners of their only reasonable chance for rescue. Then again, if the federal government had real, aggressive people in charge of MSHA instead of industry insiders this might have been prevented.

I can’t wait for the civil trials to start so that we the people can give these creeps at least a small measure of what they deserve.

Full release of the report is being delayed due to a request by victims' families for more information.

How to Lower the Gas Tax

“West Virginia motorists may be crossing the border to fill up their gas tanks next year. State tax commissioner Virgil Helton announced Wednesday that one of the state's motor fuel taxes will jump four and a half cents to eleven cents a gallon January first. That means motorists will be paying just shy of 50 cents per gallon in both state and federal taxes. The hike would make West Virginia eleventh in the nation for total gas taxes, up from 18th.” (Link)

It would be easy to whine about a higher gas tax (and it certainly is regressive, hurting the poor more than the better off) but what is a poor state to do?

Here are a few ideas:

1. Highway tolls – Those of you who live in areas other than south central WV may protest, but we’ve paid tolls for the WV turnpike since 1954, first to pay for the road itself, then to pay for its upkeep and for roads elsewhere in the state. It is a little unfair to expect southern West Virginias to pay $7.50 for a trip (and bear a larger burden of interstate upkeep) to Charleston and interstate travel to be free for all other destinations. I say reasonable tolls between Morgantown and Charleston, and between Huntington and Charleston could be used to lower the gas tax for everyone.
2. Tax major users – Since they do the most damage, have a road service charge added to owners of heavy commercial vehicles.

What are your ideas?

West Virginia is Calling (pick up)

It looks like WV will be getting a new advertising campaign to coinside with the release of “We Are Marshall.”

The campaign will be called “West Virginia is Calling” and will target markets in OH, WV, VA, NC, DC and MD.

Are we calling:

collect?
you out?
to say I love you?
me home? (yes)
birds?
pigs?
yo mama ugly?

This is begging for satire.

WV in the Movies

According to IMDb, the following is a complete listing of movies that fall under their keyword heading of "West Virginia" (number to the right are the ratings out of 10 from IMDb members):

1. The Silence of the Lambs (1991) 8.6/10
2. The Night of the Hunter (1955) 8.2/10
3. The Big Clock (1948) 7.8/10
4. Matewan (1987) 7.7/10
5. October Sky (1999) 7.6/10
6. Medium Cool (1969) 7.3/10
7. Hawkins on Murder (1973) (TV) 6.9/10
8. When Willie Comes Marching Home (1950) 6.6/10
9. Silent Hill (2006) 6.5/10
10. The Mothman Prophecies (2002) 6.4/10
11. Mary Stevens, M.D. (1933) 6.2/10
12. Gods and Generals (2003) 5.9/10
13. West Virginia, the State Beautiful(1929) 5.7/10
14. Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! (2004)
15. Special Investigations: Mothman (1996)(V)3.1/10
16. Princess of the Dark (1917)
17. Out of the Storm (2001)
18. We Are Marshall (2006)
19. Crossing Time: The Wheeling Suspension Bridge (2002) (TV)
20. Correct Change (2002)

I am not familiar with all of them, and of those I have seen, I'd put Matewan #1, Lambs #2, October Sky #3 and Gods and Generals in a vat of boiling acid.

I am sure We Are Marshall will crack the top 4 in short order.

I Weep for the Future....

This video was taken at large private university around the last Congressional election.



Look, I was a college student not too long ago, and I and my friends were all reasonably informed about public affairs and we voted.

If these self-indulgent twits can't be bothered to inform themselves and vote when they are students, what will happen when they work 40+ hours weeks and have a family?

While youth maybe wasted on the young, idiocy rarely is.

OPEN THREAD-I Should Have Been Home Yesterday

For those of you not currently living in WV, like me, use the comments link to tell me what you miss most about living there.

We Are ALL Marshall . . .At least for one day

All joking aside, the Marshall plane crash is of course one of the saddest events in American sports. I cannot begin to imagine how it felt to be a student, professor, or family member in Huntington on that awful day. The rise of that program after such an event is a tribute to the power of sports to transcend itself and to the determination of the greater West Virginia Family.

The We Are Marshall Trailer:

Pat White Makes Fun of the Pitt Panther "Growl"