Issues that were covered:

Murray vs. the EPA

The morning Intelligencer featured a ruling by a U.S. district judge that requires EPA administrator Gina McCarthy to give a deposition in a suit filed by Murray Energy. The Intelligencer devoted much more coverage to the decision than any other source that I could find -- especially the AP report. In the Intelligencer article, Murray Energy's Gary Broadbent was predictably quoted with predictable phrases right out of the Murray Energy Big Book of Cliches: "senseless, job-killing regulations" and "political power grab of America's power grid."

An attack upon Hillary Clinton disguised as a story on Jeff Kessler's coal plan

In a front page story by Joselyn King with AP Dispatches, the Intelligencer tells us that "Kessler Supports Federal Funding for Coal Towns":

West Virginia Senate Minority Leader Jeff Kessler says he is encouraged that Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign has announced a $30 billion plan to help coal mining communities adapt to new climate change policies - and he thinks it sounds familiar to one of his own ideas.

Six of the story's 16 paragraphs deal with Kessler's position, the remaining ten paragraphs do not even mention Kessler and are taken from an AP report on Hillary Clinton's plan for coal miners. The article concludes:

Republicans have long denounced Obama and other Democrats for waging a "war on coal" - a charge Clinton seems unlikely to escape.

"Hillary Clinton is Public Enemy No. 1 for coal miners and their communities," said Republican National Committee spokesman Michael Short in a statement. "She wholeheartedly supports President Obama's EPA agenda that is crippling their way of life."

Can someone explain to me how this pertains to Jeff Kessler?

Blankenship trial

The Intelligencer used a short report from the AP on page 8.

Issues Not Covered:

Alpha Coal continues to ignore retirees

Even the coal company's founder thinks that they should meet retirement obligations. As the Associated Press reports:

Alpha Natural Resources founder, chairman and CEO Michael J. Quillen and other retirees are objecting to the coal operator's plan to terminate their health care and other benefits.

In a Tuesday filing, the retirees say they haven't been provided sufficient time to analyze Alpha's plan and respond. They asked the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Richmond on Tuesday to delay a Nov. 17 hearing.

Bristol, Virginia-based Alpha asked the court on Nov. 3 to allow it to terminate the non-pension benefits of more than 4,500 non-union retirees, eligible spouses and dependents.

Quillen says in a news release that eliminating the benefits "goes against the values the company was built on."

Democratic endorsements for governor

Yesterday, the United Mine Workers of America endorsed Democrat Jim Justice while the Bricklayers endorsed Democrat Jeff Kessler for governor. According to the Charleston Gazette-Mail:

Citing his history of creating jobs and working amicably with unions, the United Mine Workers of America endorsed Jim Justice, the coal and agriculture magnate and nascent politician, in the race to be West Virginia’s next governor.

UMWA President Cecil Roberts noted the quizzical circumstance of the miners union endorsing a coal mine operator, but said the decision came from local miners.

And:

“Jeff Kessler has always stood alongside the hardworking men and women of West Virginia,” Leroy Hunter, director of the Bricklayers District Council of West Virginia said in a prepared statement. “Jeff Kessler is the real Democrat in the Democratic primary and we are proud not only to endorse, but also support him.”

Coal justice

Last night, Wheeling Jesuit's Appalachian Institute sponsored a program titled "Social Justice at Odds (understand the struggle between worker justice and environmental justice)" which featured Mari-Lynn Evans and her documentary film "Blood on the Mountain." Evans showed film clips and discussed the film which is an "investigation into the economic and environmental injustices that have resulted from industrial control in West Virginia." Around 40 people attended the event and I can't help thinking that the event would have gotten front page coverage if it had been on the other side of the issue.