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West Virginia capital: Charleston

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WV: West Virginia W.Va.

State Abbr.
West Virginia state is bordered by the states of Pennsylvania, Maryland (north), Virginia (east and south), and Kentucky (west).

West Virginia state also borders the Ohio River (west).
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West-Virginia

WEST VIRGINIA News:

20080602

Dick Cheney

Humor?-(

Family

Lineage

History

Book

West Virginia

"Dick Cheney's Incest Joke Irks West Virginian Lawmakers." ... "[Republican Vice President Dick] Cheney explained that during the course of researching his family lineage for Lynne's memoir "Blue Skies, No Fences" last year, he learned there were Cheneys on both his father's and his mother's side of the family. There was a Richard Cheney on his mother's side, the vice president said." ... ""So I had Cheneys on both sides of the family and we don't even live in West Virginia," Cheney quipped." ... "[West Virginia Democratic Representative Robert Byrd later responded:] "That a man who has ascended to the seat of vice president of the United States would openly display such contempt and astounding ignorance toward his own countrymen is an insult to all Americans. Now that he or the administration he represents no longer needs their vote, Mr. Cheney apparently feels that he is now free to mock and belittle the people of West Virginia."" -By Mary Ann Akers

-WashingtonPost

WATCH Republican Cheney make West Virginia incest joke.

20080520

Barack Obama - John McCain - Military - Terrorism - Iran - Palestine - Israel - Afghanistan - Foreign - South Dakota - Illinois - W.Va. - US - 2008 Election - "Obama criticizes McCain, Bush on appeasement talk." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Barack Obama rebuked Republican [2008 Election Presidential] rival John McCain and [Republican] President Bush for "dishonest, divisive" attacks in hinting that the Democratic presidential candidate would appease terrorists, staunchly defending his national security credentials for the general election campaign." ... ""I'm a strong believer in civility and I'm a strong believer in a bipartisan foreign policy, but that cause is not served with dishonest, divisive attacks of the sort that we've seen out of George Bush and John McCain over the last couple days, " Obama told about 2,000 voters at a town hall-style meeting in a livestock barn [in South Dakota]." ... "Obama said McCain had a "naive and irresponsible belief that tough talk from Washington will somehow cause Iran to give up its nuclear program and support for terrorism."" ... ""They [Bush and McCain] aren't telling you the truth. They are trying to fool you and scare you because they can't win a foreign policy debate on the merits," said Obama. "But it's not going to work. Not this time, not this year."" ... ""That's exactly the kind of appalling attack that's divided our country and that alienates us from the world," Obama said." ... ""If they want a debate about protecting the United States of America, that's a debate I'm ready to win because George Bush and John McCain have a lot to answer for," Obama said. He blamed Bush's policies for enhancing the strength of terrorist groups such as Hamas [in Palestine] and "the fact that al-Qaida's leadership is stronger than ever because we took our eye off the ball in Afghanistan," among other failings." ... "Other Democrats accused McCain of hypocrisy Friday, saying the certain GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican] presidential nominee had previously been willing to negotiate with the militant Palestian group Hamas." ... "In Charleston, W.Va. [West Virginia], speaking before Obama's speech, McCain told reporters: "I made it very clear, at that time, before and after, that we will not negotiate with terrorist organizations, that Hamas would have to abandon their terrorism, their advocacy to the extermination of the state of Israel, and be willing to negotiate in a way that recognizes the right of the state of Israel and abandons their terrorist position and advocacy."" -By Mike Glover with contributions by Glen Johnson -AP via -SeattleTimes

20080511

Mother's-Day - Museum - West Virginia - Woman - Mother - People - Consumer - Marketing - Industry - "For the mother of Mother's Day, it's just never been right." ... "Anna Jarvis never had children, but she became the mother of Mother's Day, giving birth to the holiday during a serene church ceremony in her hometown [Grafton, West Virginia] 100 years ago." ... "At first, her creation was perfect and pure. People honored their mothers the way she envisioned it -- with a white carnation, a symbol of maternal purity, a handwritten note or a day off." ... "But then her holiday started acting like a rebellious teenager, selling out to the flower and card industry, leaving Miss Jarvis bitter and disillusioned. She ended her life in a mental asylum." ... "The story of Miss Jarvis and the holiday that she couldn't control come to life in two exhibits more than 20 miles south of Morgantown [West Virginia]. The International Mother's Day Shrine memorializes the first Mother's Day service on May 10, 1908, the anniversary of the death of Miss Jarvis' mother, Ann Marie Reeves Jarvis." ... "Four miles away from Grafton in Webster [West Virginia] is the Anna Jarvis Birthplace Museum, a lovingly restored wooden Civil War-era house." ... "Miss Jarvis likely would cringe if she could see Mother's Day today." ... "The simple white carnation handed out to mothers in the former Andrews Methodist Church 100 years ago has given way to modern marketing -- crowded department store Mother's Day sales, restaurant pitches for elaborate brunches and dinners, ornate floral bouquets and rows upon rows of Mother's Day cards, instead of the handwritten note she urged. On average, Americans are expected to spend $138 each on mom this Mother's Day, ringing up $15.8 billion in sales." ... "In her day, Anna Jarvis was a public figure and irresistible newspaper copy as she crashed confectioners' conferences, broke up a War Mothers' rally and threatened lawsuits -- all in the name of saving her beloved Mother's Day from encroachers." -By Cristina Rouvalis -Post-Gazette.com

20080410

John McCain - Health - History - Senior - Politics - Parents - Women - Education - Science - Money - 2008 Election - WVa - "Dean: McCain's Age Worries Voters: DNC Chair Cites Health, 'Old-Fashioned' Views." ... "Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean said Thursday that swing voters participating in focus groups commissioned by the D.N.C. [Democratic National Committee] bring up [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain's age unprompted." ... ""We didn't bring it up, but they volunteered it," said Dean who explained that voters have two concerns about McCain's age. "One was a health concern, the other was, and this is really interesting . . . that his views are old-fashioned."" ... "At the age of 72, McCain would be the oldest newly elected president in U.S. [United States] history if inaugurated in 2009." ... "Referring to what Dean characterized as the party's most conservative focus group in Charleston, W. Va. [West Virginia], the DNC chairman said "the women in that group were shocked that [McCain] believed health insurance shouldn't cover birth control pills and they were shocked about his belief in abstinence only education."" (1, 2) -By Teddy Davis and Mike Elmore -ABCNEWS.com

20080321

Barack Obama - Hillary Clinton - John McCain - Debt - US - Iraq - Military - Illinois - West Virginia - Indiana - Car - Oil - Household - 2008 Election - "Obama Links Effects of War Costs to Fragility in the Economy." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Illinois] Senator Barack Obama on Thursday blamed the fragile economy on “careless and incompetent execution” of the Iraq war, imploring voters in this swing state [of West Virginia] to consider the trickle-down economic consequences of the war as they choose a successor to [Republican] President Bush." ... "“When you’re spending over $50 to fill up your car because the price of oil is four times what it was before Iraq, you’re paying a price for this war,” Mr. Obama said to an audience at the University of Charleston [in West Virginia]. “When Iraq is costing each household about $100 a month, you’re paying a price for this war.”" ... "“No matter what the costs, no matter what the consequences, [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain seems determined to carry out a third Bush term,” Mr. Obama said. “That’s an outcome America can’t afford. Because of the Bush-McCain policies, our debt has ballooned.”" ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton in Indiana:] “We spend $12 billion a month in Iraq, and that does affect the economy,” Mrs. Clinton said. “That’s one of the reasons we’ve gone into more and more debt. We’ve got to begin not only to withdraw our troops, but bring that money back home. We need to put that money to work here in Indiana.”" -By Jeff Zeleny and Michael Cooper with contributions by Patrick Healy -NYTimes

20080312

Barack Obama - Hillary Clinton - 2008 Election - Lawmakers - Illinois - New York - South Carolina - Mississippi - Georgia - Virginia - North Carolina - Tennessee - Alabama - North Dakota - South Dakota - Kentucky - West Virginia - "Eyeing Obama coattails." ... "Democratic lawmakers are becoming persuaded that [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Illinois Senator] Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.[Democratic-Illinois]) would have a more positive impact on other Democrats on the November ballot than [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and New York Senator] Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.[Democratic-New York])." ... "Obama’s advantage over Clinton would be most pronounced in the Southern and Western states President Bush carried in 2000 and 2004, say lawmakers interviewed by The Hill. In total, 32 members of Congress from these “red states” have endorsed Obama. Twenty-two lawmakers from those states have backed Clinton." ... "Obama will “bring new people into the process in Southern states, there’s no question about it,” said Rep. James Clyburn, the House Democratic whip from South Carolina. “In these Southern states he’s bringing out more people, young people, African-Americans. They’re being energized by him.”" ... "Clyburn, who has stayed neutral in the primary, said Obama at the top of the ticket would “certainly” do more to help other Democratic candidates, citing South Carolina and Mississippi specifically." ... "Obama has picked up congressional endorsements from Georgia, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, North and South Dakota, Mississippi, Kentucky, and West Virginia. Clinton has not collected congressional endorsements from any of these states, according to a tally kept by The Hill." -By Alexander Bolton with contributions by Sam Youngman -TheHill.com

20080212

Telecom - Amnesty - Corporate - Government - Spying - Intelligence - Politics - Investigation - Censorship - EMail - West Virginia - Nevada - Noteworthy - "Amnesty Day for Bush and lawbreaking telecoms." ... "The Senate today -- led by [West Virginia Democratic Senator] Jay Rockefeller, enabled by [Nevada Democratic Senator] Harry Reid, and with the active support of at least 12 (and probably more) Democrats, in conjunction with an as-always lockstep GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican] caucus -- will vote to legalize warrantless spying on the telephone calls and emails of Americans, and will also provide full retroactive amnesty to lawbreaking telecoms, thus forever putting an end to any efforts to investigate and obtain a judicial ruling regarding the [Republican President] Bush administration's years-long illegal spying programs aimed at Americans. The long, hard efforts by AT&T, Verizon and their all-star, bipartisan cast of lobbyists to grease the wheels of the Senate -- led by former [Republican President] Bush 41 Attorney General William Barr and former [Democratic President] Clinton Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick -- are about to pay huge dividends, as such noble efforts invariably do with our political establishment." ... "It's worth taking a step back and recalling that all of this is the result of the December, 2005 story by the New York Times which first reported that the [Republican President] Bush administration was illegally spying on Americans for many years without warrants of any kind. All sorts of "controversy" erupted from that story. Democrats everywhere expressed dramatic, unbridled outrage, vowing that this would not stand. James Risen and Eric Lichtblau were awarded Pulitzer Prizes for exposing this serious lawbreaking. All sorts of Committees were formed, papers written, speeches given, conferences convened, and editorials published to denounce this extreme abuse of presidential power. This was illegality and corruption at the highest level of government, on the grandest scale, and of the most transparent strain." ... "What was the outcome of all of that sturm und drang? What were the consequences for the President for having broken the law so deliberately and transparently? Absolutely nothing. To the contrary, the Senate is about to enact a bill which has two simple purposes: (1) to render retroactively legal the President's illegal spying program by legalizing its crux: warrantless eavesdropping on Americans, and (2) to stifle forever the sole remaining avenue for finding out what the Government did and obtaining a judicial ruling as to its legality: namely, the lawsuits brought against the co-conspiring telecoms. In other words, the only steps taken by our political class upon exposure by the NYT of this profound lawbreaking is to endorse it all and then suppress any and all efforts to investigate it and subject it to the rule of law." ... "FDL has a petition, jointly sponsored by me, directed at House members, demanding that they reject this lawless, authoritarian Senate bill and defend their own, previously passed bill (the RESTORE Act). I encourage everyone to sign it. You can do so here." -By Glenn Greenwald -Salon

20071204

Consumer - Health - Safety - Food - Agriculture - Country - Peoples - Labor - Law - Money - Politics- Language - West Virginia - "Democrats Use Fine Print to Stymie Bush's Deregulation Agenda." ... "It is a single sentence, on page 147 of the annual appropriations bill funding the [Republican President Bush] White House, listed under the title ``Additional General Provisions.''" ... "The 18-word clause eliminates the money to pay for political appointees in each federal agency whose jobs are to approve any new regulations. By cutting the money for the positions, Congress would effectively repeal President George W. Bush's 11-month old initiative." ... "Democrats, writing the budget for the first time since Bush took office, are using their power over the purse to thwart Bush's campaign to loosen federal regulations. Lawmakers have added fine print to must-pass appropriations bills that sets new policy goals and increases funding for regulators such as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Consumer Product Safety Commission." ... "``It is critically important when we are facing beef recalls, toy recalls, mine collapses and workplace infringements that Congress provide the necessary resources to the relevant agencies for them to do the jobs they are required to do,'' said Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Robert Byrd, 90, a West Virginia Democrat." ... "Lawmakers also want agencies to file periodic reports to Congress charting their progress toward a host of Democratic policy goals, such as developing workplace ergonomic guidelines for a dozen industries, requiring country-of-origin labels on meat products and regulating a flavoring chemical that has been linked to lung disease." -By Brian Faler -Bloomberg

20071128

Julie MacDonald - Animals - Environmental - Science - Politics - Agricultural - Business - California - WVa - "7 federal wildlife decisions to be revised: A [Republican President Bush] political appointee had overruled recommendations by staff scientists on endangered species. She quit under a cloud." ... "Federal wildlife regulators will revise seven controversial decisions on endangered species and critical habitat made by an Interior Department political appointee who quit in the spring amid charges of improper meddling in scientific decisions." ... "California's arroyo toad and red-legged frog could regain protection that federal biologists determined was crucial to their survival, according to a letter the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service sent Friday to House Natural Resources Committee Chairman [West Virginia Democratic Representative] Nick J. Rahall II (D-W.Va.). Rahall released the letter publicly Tuesday." ... "Former Deputy Assistant Interior Secretary Julie MacDonald, a civil engineer from California with no formal training in natural sciences, routinely questioned and sometimes overruled recommendations by biologists and other field staffers, according to documents, interviews and a review by the department's inspector general. The review outlined instances in which MacDonald advocated altering scientific conclusions in ways that led to reduced protection for imperiled species and that favored developers and agricultural businesses. And she was rebuked for providing internal documents to lobbyists." ... "Under her direction, proposed habitat protection for the endangered arroyo toad, a tiny amphibian that once inhabited many Southern California creek regions, was slashed by 93%. Similarly, the protected area proposed for the threatened California red-legged frog was reduced from 4.1 million acres to 450,000 acres." -By Janet Wilson -LAtimes

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20070819

Government - Coal - Money - Workers - Safety - Utah - West Virginia - "Handling of mine disaster questioned: US safety agency may face scrutiny." ... "The government agency overseeing coal mine safety was supposed to have changed its ways after West Virginia's deadly Sago Mine disaster. Its handling of the cave-ins at Utah's Crandall Canyon Mine have some worried that the changes didn't go far enough." ... "[Republican President Bush's] Mine Safety and Health Administration director Richard Stickler had already come under fire for being slow to take public control of the scene." ... "Even though Stickler's agency is supposed to be in charge, the mine's co-owner, Bob Murray, has dominated news conferences, narrated video of rescue efforts for TV news, and -- despite safety concerns -- personally led reporters and family members on a tour of his mine." ... "The fact that the federal agency let anyone, including rescuers, into the still-dangerous mine is raising new questions. Others also predict greater scrutiny of the agency's decision to allow mining at Crandall Canyon at all, given what it knew about conditions that made the mine particularly unstable." -By Jennifer Talhelm -AP via -BostonGlobe

20070725

Alberto Gonzales - Surveillance - Intelligence - Politics - Calif - WVa - SD - "Gonzales, Senators Spar on Credibility: Account of Meeting In '04 Is Challenged." ... "[Republican President Bush's] Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales testified yesterday that top congressional leaders from both parties agreed in March 2004 to continue a classified surveillance activity that Justice Department officials had deemed illegal, a contention immediately disputed by key Democratic lawmakers." ... "[California Democratic Representative] Rep. Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and [West Virginia Democratic Senator] Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV (W.Va.), who were briefed on the program at the time, said there was no consensus that it should proceed. Three others who were at the meeting also said the legal underpinnings of the program were never discussed." ... ""He once again is making something up to protect himself," Rockefeller said of the embattled attorney general." ... "Pelosi, Rockefeller and former [South Dakota Democratic] senator Thomas A. Daschle (D-S.D.), who were members of the Gang of Eight at the time, also sharply disputed Gonzales's description of the White House meeting. Daschle said in a statement that he could not recall the meeting and is "quite certain that at no time did we encourage the AG or anyone else to take such actions." He added: "This appears to be another attempt to rewrite history."" ... "Rockefeller said that lawmakers were never asked to give the program their approval and that administration officials' infrequent briefings about it were short and involved "virtually no questions."" -By Dan Eggen and Paul Kane with contributions by Walter Pincus -WashingtonPost
Alberto R Gonzales - Government- Intelligence - Surveillance - Law - Politics - Health - West Virginia - "Gonzales Denies Improper Pressure on Ashcroft." ... "[Republican President Bush's] Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales denied on Tuesday that he had improperly pressured John Ashcroft to sign an authorization for the National Security Agency’s domestic surveillance program in 2004 when Mr. Ashcroft, his predecessor, lay in a hospital bed, in pain and on sedatives after surgery." ... "Mr. Gonzales, in an acrimonious hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, said that hours before the hospital confrontation, the [Republican President Bush] White House had summoned Congressional leaders to an emergency meeting to discuss ways to head off a revolt at the Justice Department against the security agency program." ... "[West Virginia Democratic] Senator John D. Rockefeller IV, who attended the 2004 meeting as the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, called Mr. Gonzales’s account “untruthful.” Mr. Rockefeller said he believed Mr. Gonzales was deliberately misleading Congress about the showdown over the N.S.A. program inside the Bush administration." ... "Mr. Gonzales’s account added fresh detail to what was previously known about the hospital confrontation in which Mr. Ashcroft, who had had gallbladder surgery, and other senior Justice Department officials had threatened to resign until [Republican] President Bush agreed to modify the [domestic surveillance] program." ... "His account also contrasted sharply with the recollection of James B. Comey, a former deputy attorney general who worked under both Mr. Ashcroft and Mr. Gonzales. Mr. Comey testified before the committee in May that he had been “very angry” during the hospital encounter because “I thought I had just witnessed an effort to take advantage of a very sick man.”" -By David Johnston and Scott Shane -NYTimes

20070721

Julie MacDonald - Government - Animals - Justice - Science - Politics - Industry - Seattle - Washington - West Virginia - "Decisions on species to be reviewed: Methods of Interior official who resigned in question." ... "In the wake of the resignation of a [Republican President] Bush administration official who was rebuked for meddling in scientists' calls about protecting endangered species, federal officials on Friday announced plans to re-examine eight decisions influenced by the disgraced official." ... "Environmentalists labeled the administration's move a "token effort designed for damage control."" ... "Friday's announcement by Dale Hall, director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, comes less than three months after the resignation of Julie MacDonald, an Interior Department official in charge of the wildlife service. She had been chastised by the agency's inspector general for bullying agency scientists and leaking information to industry groups." ... "The most recent controversy in the Northwest involved a Washington, D.C.-based team of [Republican President] Bush administration officials, including MacDonald, who overruled a panel of Northwest-based experts and reduced by one-fifth the amount of acreage protected as "critical habitat" for the spotted owl." ... ""People's bells should go off when the folks in an agency's regional office are overruled by political appointees in D.C.," [Seattle, Washington attorney from Earthjustice, Kristen] Boyles said. "I don't believe the region is always right, but I believe they are paying attention to the science because they are the scientists." ... West Virginia Democratic Representative Nick Rahall: ""What we have learned to date raises concerns about political tinkering with science that has affected perhaps 100 endangered species-related decisions -- and goodness knows what else -- that deserve further scrutiny," Rahall said Friday." ... "Environmentalists noted that Hall was agreeing to review only about a third of the cases in which misconduct by MacDonald was alleged." -By Robert McClure and John Heilprin -AP -SeattlePI.NWsource

20070526

US - Iraqi - Military - Intelligence - Political - Terrorism - Government - West-Virginia - "Bush was twice warned of Iraq challenges: Prewar reports alerted the president to the difficulty of establishing democracy, among other assessments that proved accurate." ... "Two months before the invasion of Iraq, U.S. intelligence agencies twice warned the Bush administration that establishing a democracy there would prove difficult and that Al Qaeda would use political instability to increase its operations, according to a Senate report released Friday." ... "The report, issued by the Senate Intelligence Committee, brought to light once-classified warnings that accurately forecasted many of the military and political problems the Bush administration and Iraqi officials have faced since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003." ... "Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman [West Virginia Democratic Senator] John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.), said the report demonstrated that "the intelligence community gave the administration plenty of warning about the difficulties we would face if the decision was made to go to war."" ... "He added: "These dire warnings were widely distributed at the highest levels of government, and it's clear that the administration didn't plan for any of them."" -By James Gerstenzang -LAtimes

20070503

US - Iraq - Military - NY - WVa - 2008 Election - "Clinton seeks new vote on authorizing military effort in Iraq." ... "[2008 election] Presidential contender Hillary Rodham Clinton on Thursday sought to force another showdown with President Bush _ and her Democratic rivals _ over the Iraq war." ... "Sens. [New York Democratic Senator] Clinton, D-N.Y., and [West Virginia Democratic Senator] Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., announced they would introduce legislation that would require the president to seek a reauthorization from Congress to extend the military effort in Iraq beyond October 11, 2007." ... ""If the president will not bring himself to accept reality, it is time for Congress to bring reality to him," Clinton said in a speech on the Senate floor." -By Devlin Barrett -AP via -Newsday.com

20060428

Emergency - Air - West Virginia - Labor - "Mine blast survivor says some men's air packs didn't work." ... "The sole survivor of the Sago Mine explosion says some of the emergency air packs his fellow miners carried didn't work." ... "In his most detailed account of the Jan. 2 blast, Randy McCloy describes in a letter how four miners sought to share emergency air supplies with others trapped in the mine when it appeared theirs malfunctioned." ... "In the letter, McCloy refers to the emergency air packs, called self-contained self-rescue devices, as "rescuers."" ... "Federal and state officials said the air packs, which were tested after the blast, were functional." -By Emily Bazar -USATODAY

20060308

Government - Intelligence - Privacy - Law - W.Va. - "Republicans Kill Request for Spy Program Inquiry: GOP senators reject Democrats' call but agree to form a panel to monitor the operation." ... "Republican members of the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday defeated a Democratic push to investigate a domestic espionage operation authorized by President Bush, but pledged to increase scrutiny of the controversial program through a newly created subcommittee." ... "The developments enraged Democrats but delivered mixed results for the White House, which avoided a full-scale investigation of the spying operation, according to Senate Republicans, by agreeing to provide detailed briefings on the program to a larger number of lawmakers." ... "Emerging from a closed-door session in which Democrats lost two party-line votes, Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.), the vice chairman of the committee, said the outcome pushed the panel "further into irrelevancy" and reflected the influence of the Bush administration." ... ""The committee is, to put it bluntly, basically under the control of the White House," said Rockefeller, who had campaigned for a committee investigation and argued that all members of the panel ought to have full access to information on the program." -By Greg Miller and Maura Reynolds -LAtimes

20060216

Intelligence - Privacy - Law - Kansas - West-Virginia - "Senate Panel Decides Against Eavesdropping Inquiry, for Now." ... "The Senate Intelligence Committee decided today not to investigate President Bush's domestic surveillance program, at least for the time being." ... ""I believe that such an investigation is currently unwarranted and would be detrimental to this highly classified program," Senator Pat Roberts, Republican of Kansas and chairman of the panel, said this afternoon following a closed session." ... "But the committee's ranking Democrat, John D. Rockefeller IV of West Virginia, was clearly unhappy after the meeting and said it made no sense to pursue legislation when the full details of the surveillance program were not known." -By David Stout -NYTimes

20060104

West-Virginia - Kentucky - Labor - Business - Law - Enforcement - "Mine Where Explosion Occurred Was Cited for Hazards (Update2)." ... "Federal authorities issued 21 citations last year for a build-up of combustible materials at the West Virginia mine where 12 men died, according to U.S. Labor Department statistics." ... "The Sago mine, owned by billionaire investor Wilbur Ross's International Coal Group Inc., was cited for a total of 208 federal safety violations last year, up from 68 in 2004, according to the Labor Department. The largest individual fine last year was $440; the citations for combustible materials carried fines of $60." ... "When asked about the facility's safety record at a news conference yesterday, Ben Hatfield, International Coal's chief executive officer, said the Ashland, Kentucky-based company has improved safety conditions since acquiring the mine last year." ... "Phil Smith, the communications director for the United Mine Workers of America, in Washington, said the fines assessed for safety violations are too small to force large corporations to make improvements." ... "``We could get pulled over for speeding and pay more than that,'' said Smith, who said the Sago mine was nonunion. ``The problem with the current laws is enforcement.''" -By William McQuillen -Bloomberg
West-Virginia - History - "Grief And Outrage At W.Va. Mine." ... "In a stunning and heartbreaking reversal, family members were told early Wednesday that 11 of 12 trapped coal miners found were dead — three hours after they began celebrating news that they were alive." ... "International Coal Group Chief Executive Officer Ben Hatfield blamed the wrong information on a "miscommunication." The news spread after people overheard cell phone calls, he said. In reality, rescuers had only confirmed finding 12 miners and were checking their vital signs. At least two family members in the church said they received cell phone calls from a mine foreman." ... "The explosion was the state's deadliest mining accident since November 1968, when 78 men — including the uncle of [West Virginia Governor Joe] Manchin — died in an explosion at Consol's Farmington No. 9 mine in Marion County, an hour's drive north of here. It was that disaster that prompted Congress to pass the Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969." (1, 2) -AP -CBSNews

20060103

West-Virginia - Disaster - "Rescuers race against time at West Virginia mine." ... "Rescue workers raced against time on Tuesday with fading hopes of saving 13 trapped coal miners, and officials said it would take a miracle for the men to be found alive." ... "There had been no communication with the miners since they were trapped after an explosion at 6:30 a.m. (11:30 a.m. British time) on Monday at the Sago mine in central West Virginia." ... "Officials, who reported poisonous gas in the mine, feared Tuesday night offered the last hope of finding survivors." -By Jonathan Barnes with contributions by Chris Swaney, Claudia Parsons, and Adam Entous -Reuters.co.uk

20051220

Government - Military - Intelligence - Total Information Awareness - Secrecy - Consumer - Telecommunications -Databases - Privacy - Law -West-Virginia - Dick Cheney - Terrorism - "Bush, Democrats swap charges over his approval of wiretaps." ... "The top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, Sen. Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, released a letter he wrote to Vice President Dick Cheney on July 17, 2003, the day he learned of the surveillance in a meeting with Cheney, three other lawmakers and the heads of the CIA and NSA. Rockefeller expressed deep misgivings and said the program reminded him of Total Information Awareness, a controversial Pentagon effort to mine credit-card data, cellphone calls and even bank withdrawals to spot terrorist activity." ... ""These concerns were never addressed, and I was prohibited from sharing my views with my colleagues" by secrecy laws, Rockefeller said Monday. He accused the president and his aides of "repeatedly misrepresenting the facts" in recent days and demanded a "full investigation into the legal and operational aspects of the program" now that the program has come to light." -By Todd J. Gillman -DallasNews.com via -SeattleTimes.NWsource
Government - Telecommunications - EMail - Intelligence - Law - West-Virginia - Cheney, Dick - "Democrats: Briefings weren't approvals for wiretapping." ... "Some Democrats say they never approved a domestic wiretapping program, undermining suggestions by President Bush and his senior advisers that the plan was fully vetted in a series of congressional briefings." ... ""I feel unable to fully evaluate, much less endorse, these activities," West Virginia Sen. Jay Rockefeller, the Senate Intelligence Committee's top Democrat, said in a handwritten letter to Vice President Dick Cheney in July 2003. "As you know, I am neither a technician nor an attorney."" ... "Rockefeller is among a small group of congressional leaders who have received briefings on the administration's four-year-old program to eavesdrop — without warrants — on international calls and e-mails of Americans and others inside the United States with suspected ties to al-Qaeda." -AP via -USATODAY

20051212

Samuel Alito - Bill Frist - Tennessee -