September 16, 2025 • 35 mins
U.S. Senator Shelley Moore capito on academy appointments, the continuing resolution to fund the federal government, Senate rules changes to approve more Trump nominees, and political violence
President of the West Virginia Coal Association Chris Hamilton on the new comprehensive energy plan announced by the governor
President of the West Virginia Coal Association Chris Hamilton on the new comprehensive energy plan announced by the governor
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
This is the Talk of the Town from Morgantown to Klucksburg.
If it's happening, we're talking about it. Call the show
toll free at one eight hundred seven sixty five eight
two five five. Now Here is your host for the
Talk of the Town, Mike Nolting.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
A good Tuesday morning, and welcome to Talk of the
Town on AM fourteen forty f M. One oh four
point five w A j R. I'm Mike Nolting. Our
producer today is Ethan College. You'll be able to hook
up with Ethan at eight hundred seven six five eight
two five five of the text line. That's your portal
into the program. That number is three oh four Talk
(00:50):
three oh four. Now today I'm going to have a
conversation with US Senator Shelley Moore Capito. Senator capital Is
announced four academy days coming up now those are for
They're coming up in September for any students here in
the state interested in learning more about opportunities at the
US service academies like the Air Force Academy, West Point, Naval,
(01:13):
Coast Guard, Merchant Marine. She'll also be able to share
some information about some available ROTC scholarship opportunities. We're also
going to be talking about staving off a government shutdown,
because that is set to happen at the end of
this month. We're also going to be talking about the
nomination process and the proposed Senate rule changes that could
(01:37):
expedite some of the nominations that are being held up
for Well, we'll let her answer that question, and then
of course we're going to address political violence with the
Senator this morning. Coming up at nine point thirty, we're
going to welcome Chris Hamilton. He's the president of the
West Virginia Coal Association. Last week, Governor Morrissey unveiled a
(01:57):
new comprehensive energy plan called the fifty by fifty Generation Plan. Now,
that's an effort to increase power generation capacity in the
state from the current fifteen gigawatt capacity to fifty gigawatts
by twenty to fifty. That plan will rely heavily on
coal to produce baseload power in a time when demand
(02:21):
for electricity is skyrocketing. We're going to talk with Chris
Hamilton find out how the Coal Association and coal industry
can help not only the state of West Virginia realize
that goal, but also maybe help PJM in the eastern
part of the United States quench their insatiable thirst for electricity.
(02:44):
Take a look at a couple of headlines, and we're
going to get things started. Well. Hundreds, maybe as many
as one thousand people turned out on wvu's downtown campus
in Morgantown last night for a vigil to remember the
life of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Thirty one year old
Kirk was assassinated on the University of Utah campus last week.
(03:06):
Kirk led the organization Turning Point USA WVU student chapter.
They organized that vigil last night. We're in the process
of getting in touch with the president of that organization,
William Cosmo. We'd like to welcome him to the program.
Let him tell you about what gets these young folks
so politically charged up about these conservative issues. Now, let's see,
(03:32):
it was the Kirk's efforts in promoting debate and dialogue
on the issues had a tremendous impact on that generation.
We'll try to catch up with William Cosma in the
coming days in order to share that story with you.
The WVU Board of Governors is asking for a report
(03:53):
on security protocols on campus. It could prevent that type
of tragedy that claimed Live. Board chair Rusty Hudson called
for the review and said he's confident their protocols are adequate.
President Michael T. Benson he concurred, saying that anytime there's
a tragedy like the one that we saw in Utah
(04:14):
last week, it's a good idea to get out the policies,
open them up, take a look at him, make sure
everything is buttoned up tight. A firefighters from eight departments
responded to a Monday afternoon structure fire on Alcreek Road
in Mont County. A fire was reported in a three
story structure that was reportedly owned by Alk Creek Contracting.
(04:40):
Units from Man and Marion County responded to that incident
and no injuries were reported. A Fairmont police looking for
a suspect in an early Monday morning shooting. Twenty nine
year old Antonio Marquis Evans allegedly involved in a gunfight
on Spence Street with another suspect. Evans fled the area
(05:05):
with a rifle and the other suspect or the victim
in that shooting, is being treated at JW. Ruby Memorial
Hospital now. Evans is described as a black male six
foot two, one hundred and ninety pounds, brown eyes and
black hair. He's got a criminal history including domestic battery
and burglary, should be considered armed and dangerous. A militia's
(05:30):
assault charges have been child filed against a Merrion County
woman accused of attacking an an unidentified male with a
fork and biting him over the weekend. A thirty eight
year old Andrea Boone arrested for the attack at a
residence on Jamison Rode in Fairview. She is being held
on a ten thousand dollars bond. When we come back,
(05:52):
we'll spend a few minutes with US Senator Shelley Moore Capital.
It's coming up next on Talk of the Town four
fourteen forty FM one oh four point five w A
j R.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
Join the conversation at one eight hundred and seven sixty
five eight two fivey five. This is the Talk of
the Town.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
A good Tuesday morning, and welcome back to the program.
Partly cloudy sixty five degrees in the University City of
Metro News Aki Weather says partly sunny seventy seven for
the high temperature today. US Senator Shelley Moore Capito joins
us on the program. Good morning, Senator, how are you.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
I I'm doing I'm doing well. I was interested in
that it's sixty five degrees in Morgan House. It's cooler
here in Washington. Has that hint of more than a
hint of fall.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Yes, And of course you know fall. I don't know
about you, but falls my most favorite time of the year.
Football leaves, good food, tomatoes. What else do you need?
Speaker 3 (07:08):
What else do you need? It's always it's always a
good time. Back to school, kids, back to school, so
it's all good.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
That's right, that's right. Okay, Senator, let's talk about the
academy days that you have coming up. I can go
ahead and let folks know that you'll be in the
Charleston area on the twentieth of September, the southern West
Virginia at the Woodrow Wilson High School on the twenty first,
on the twenty seventh, over in the eastern Panhandle at
(07:34):
the Jefferson High School, then right here in Morgantown University
High School on the twenty eighth of September. And just
a reminder that an appointment to a service academy really
gives you an educational opportunity that's valued from just about
anywhere from a quarter of a million dollars to more
than four hundred grand.
Speaker 3 (07:53):
Well, it's a wonderful opportunity for West Virginians. And we
have a lot of students that come from the Morgantown area,
whether at University of Morgantown or other surrounding schools, that
are very interested in really serving their country, getting the
best education for as you said, for free, and also
(08:15):
and also enjoying the ability to network the rest of
your life with some of the top echelon students for
all around the country. It is an extraordinary opportunity and
it's my honor always to nominate students to those slots.
Not you know, not everybody gets in. We know that,
(08:36):
but we do want to make sure that our students
have the best information that they and their parents know
what the obligations would be, but also what the application
obligations are as well. So we're excited about coming to
university and coming to the other three areas of the state.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
Now, for lack of a better term, is this kind
of like a job interview with you? Not?
Speaker 3 (08:59):
Really, it's more of an informational session, you know, it's
for the students to be able to meet and hear
from current students at one of the academies, to be
able to talk to some of the graduates of the academies,
and then some of the parents to meet some of
the parents of students. So it's not, you know, it's
not a nerve wracking thing. Sometimes we'll do sometimes we
(09:20):
will do like mock interviews and have students have the
opportunity to kind of do a practice interview, because interviewing
is part of the application process, so it's more of
an informational thing. So students from ninth grade on are
welcome to come.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
Okay, now let's just say they get there and decide
the service academy might not be for them, but ROTC
is an opportunity they'd like to pursue. I think there
are scholarships available as well.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
There are, and we always have a representative from usually
from WVU R ROTC that comes in and talks about
the obligations and the responsibilities, but also the great exposure
to travel to to to explore the military, to become
an officer when you graduate, to meet great, great other
(10:07):
students from all around West Virginia and the surrounding areas
that are at WU. So ROTC provides scholarships and it's
another way I think to serve your country and also
get a great education.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
US Senator Shelley Moore Capito is with US and now
Senator capitol the effort to install President Trump's cabinet. I
guess the immediate cabinet appointments done. However, there are some
appointments that aren't being made. Why is that?
Speaker 3 (10:36):
It is total obstruction by Chuck Schumer honestly and the
Democrat Party for some reason, something that every four years
or whenever a new president comes in has been an
easier transition. I mean at this time, you know, at
the end of the year, President Biden had five hundred
and thirty five nominees that were that were confirmed by
(11:00):
voice vote or by unanimous consent. In other words, they
don't take floor time, you don't have to spend a
lot of time. It's the president gets his team. Well,
under this scenario, President Trump has gotten zero chance to
do that. So we decided we're going to take this
back to the way it used to be, where larger
tranches of nominees maybe forty nominees, and these are not
(11:22):
cabinet positions. They're not judges, they're some of the lower
lower general counsels, US attorneys, US marshals, all of these
things and put them in bunches so that we can
vote them up or down. And to me, it's just
professional courtesy so the president can have his team. I
understand the highly scrutinized part of having your own cabinet members,
(11:48):
but these are not cabinet positions. Cabinet members will still
have thirty hours that they have to be on the
floor of the United States Senate while we consider that
we have eleven hundred positions that we have to consider,
and if we don't get some kind of cooperation like
we've had in the past, we'll never get we'll never
get to the end of this.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
And now, you know, we've learned back during Trump one
point zero, I guess we're in two point oho now
that the news cycle can get dound about every three hours,
So a lot of times things like the nomination process
could swept under the media rugs, so to speak. And
not many people really get to hear about this, but.
Speaker 3 (12:25):
It definitely does. And it's only a Senate responsibility too.
If you if you think about you know, when you
studied the Constitution, and you know, elementary school or junior high,
it's only the advice and consent of the Senate. The
House of Representatives doesn't have to deal with this, so
they can get onto the issues of the day, which
is what we want to do now.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
One of the things that I've heard the other side
say is, hey, be careful, if you change those rules,
it's going to backfire on you. What are they talking about?
Speaker 3 (12:52):
You know, I've considered that because if we change the
if we change these rules in this fashion, it's going
to be good for whatever presidents coming in, because it's
not fair to you know, what are we almost? You know,
we're getting towards October, the first where the president's been
in nine months. Some of his nominees have been slated
to be voted on for six months. A lot of
(13:13):
these folks have given up other jobs, they've moved their families,
they're ready to go. They've been through the background checks,
they've been through the committee, and they just sit there.
And that's not fair for a Republican or a Democrat president.
So I think I think it's going to be a
welcome change, but for everybody can it be abused. I
guess time will tell there, but I really think it
(13:34):
just takes us back to what the leaders used to
do before President Trump was elected. Here the second time.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
US Senator Shelley Moore capital is with us now a senator.
I guess at the end of the month, we're going
to have to make some decisions in order to keep
the federal government operating from a financial standpoint. Well, why
are we always waiting until two weeks to go in
order to come up with a solution.
Speaker 3 (13:57):
Well, if you're frustrated, I'm frustrated, Doubly or Tripoli, I'll
say every year we haven't been able to get our
appropriations bills onto the floor. We did get three bills
onto the floor, and those would be that would be
legislative branch, Agriculture, Military Construction, and we passed those. That's
(14:22):
the first time we've done that in two years because
Senator Schumer, when he was in the leadership, wouldn't even
bring one of the bills up. So we need to
pass twelve of those such bills to get our whole
funding structure. So we're further along, but in order for
us to not shut down the government, which of course
I don't want to do and have never want to do.
I've said it's a misery march a road to nowhere,
(14:42):
it's a disservice to the American people. We have to
pass what's called a short term cr which basically says
we're going to continue spending for the next seven weeks.
As we have been very simple. It takes us so
that we can negotiate those other twelve bills. Apparently there's
going to be some obstruction here, but time will tell.
The House is going to vote on this on Friday,
(15:04):
and hopefully we will be voting on it shortly thereafter.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
I think the appetite for the continuing resolutions is really
getting to be pretty limited, isn't it.
Speaker 3 (15:14):
You are so right, yes, because what does that say.
That says no new programs. You can't throw out any
old programs. You just basically continued the way that you
spent last year. Well, think about that. In your business
or in your family life. Things change, priorities change, world
events change here in Washington, and so you know, the
(15:34):
economy changes. We want to be able to react to that,
and with a continuing resolution we really can't. And so
you're right, it's not the ideal way to go. So
hopefully by the time we do this to November the twentieth,
we will have settled these other bills and we can
move forward.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
Okay. US Senator Shelley Moore Capita is with us now
a senator. On Monday evening here on the campus of
West Virginia University, the Health Sign's squad, probably more than
a thousand people gathered for a prayer visual for Turning
Point USA founder Charlie Kirk. And you know, obviously there
(16:11):
were a whole lot of students there, as you would expect.
But I think the part that might have might surprised
you is the fact that leading up to the event
on social media, there were a lot of people from
other towns of Fairmont Kingwood looking for places to park,
wondering exactly where the Health Sciences quad was. And we
(16:32):
covered the event and did in fact find that there
were a lot of people. There were a lot of students,
for sure, majority of the crowd was students. However, there
were a lot of people there from just the population
at large that really were shaken and concerned.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
Well, I think the violence, the political violence is very
unsettling and scary for young people, for anybody, for public servants,
for others. UH. And I think Charlie Kirk in his
message of debating on college campuses, which is what we want.
We want a free exchange of ideas. We want people
(17:10):
to be able to challenge what a speaker is saying.
And and and he welcomed that, and you know, he
had firm opinions and a lot of you know, a
lot of people agreed, but a lot of people didn't.
But he touched young people in a way that honestly
I've never seen. And and so I think to have
him just gunned down at an event when he he
actually had security there with him shows you how absolutely
(17:33):
difficult uh and uh to to provide this correct security
for something like this. But the worst of it, to
me is that we have to you know that we
that we this is where we are, and we've got
to we've got to tone the rhetoric down on both sides.
You know, there's no room for political violence in this country.
(17:55):
That's what we're known for. We're known for debate, and
we're known for pulling together when we need to. And
this is where we need to go. And so maybe
this is a rallying cry for all of us to
tone the rhetoric.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
You know, I want to ask you, though, you know,
collateral damage in an incident like this, or from an
incident like this, could even go to you know, maybe
lawmakers can't go to parades, can't participate in parades anymore.
Maybe you can't go to the fair, the state fair anymore.
Speaker 3 (18:23):
What I actually have thought, I actually thought about parades
this morning, and I thought, I probably can't go on parades,
you know, So no Force Festival Parade, no Black Walnut
Festival parade. A lot of these are parades that I've
participated in for years and love, I mean, all over
the state, and I honestly would think twice. I think
(18:46):
anybody who's a public figure is going to think more
than twice about what the kind of exposure is. I mean,
one of the debates on this continuing resolution is is
security threats against public officials and United States senators And
so if they hold this up, they're basically saying, you
know that, you know this, providing extra security for members
(19:07):
of the US senator, members of the House is not
a high priority. And I think in these difficult times,
I would say that it needs to be a high priority.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
US Senator Shelley Moore Capito. Senator, thank you so much
for coming on the program today. Really do appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (19:23):
Thank you. Always enjoy it and have a great fall day.
And last weekend was pretty special. So I'm sure everybody's
still riding high on that.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
Well you better believe it, and we are still riding high,
that's for sure. Hey, Senator, thank you, have a great day.
Please you too, Bye bye, Thank you. Man.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
Now back to the talk of the town.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
Well, good Tuesday morning. It is nine thirty five, partly
cloudy and sixty five degrees. A try note to pass
on West Virginia five one one is reporting a congestion delay.
I seventy nine northbound. That is just north of the
Fairmont area, so if you're headed that way you can
expect some delays. On the phone, we've got the president
(20:16):
of the West Virginia Coal Association, Chris Hamilton. Good morning, Chris.
Speaker 4 (20:20):
How are you today, Hey real well, good morning.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
Good to have you on board. Chris. Now, let's see
the governor's new plan dubbed fifty by fifty to increase
the state's power generation capacity from fifteen gigawatts to fifty
gigawatts by twenty to fifty. Now, COLE obviously will play
a huge role in achieving that goal, wouldn't you say, Chris.
Speaker 4 (20:49):
Absolutely, you know, that's still one of one of the
things that we do best here in West Virginia. So
we welcome the governor's you know, bold energy of actives
here over the next few years and look forward to
working with him and our legislative leaders to get that done. Now.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
You know, here's the thing, Chris is I heard his
presentation to the West Virginia University Board of Governors on Friday,
and he talked about how natural gas and nuclear power
will fit into that plan, but he did say that
COLE will have the greatest immediate impact. So I guess
(21:26):
how will that help the industry.
Speaker 4 (21:30):
Well, anytime you increase your electrical generation or overall power
outlet here in West Virginia, COLE is going to play
a dominant role, no question about that. It always has
and we have that resource here and we have a
nine in state, fully compliant, extremely efficient, the coal electric
(21:56):
generating facilities strategically located throughout our state. So with all
the mining reserve, all of our professional miners are power
plant workers, all the people in between to make all
that happen from mine mouth to household and industrial facilities. Uh,
you know, we just we just look forward and we're
(22:17):
very anxious to move all that forward as well.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
Uh, Chris. When you take a look at how power
plants operate today and how they would operate under the
government governor's plan, what would be the big differences there
would be we would we be operating more toward one
hundred percent capacity.
Speaker 4 (22:37):
Oh, absolutely, I think that's the biggest change. I think
it's philosophical belief policies that are adopted in leadership that
will be demonstrated here by all involved. Now, you have
to understand, these power plants have been extremely restricted. The
operation output of these plants has been you know, ratcheted
(22:58):
down to virtually nil. I mean these you know, these
these you know, utilities for the most part, have been
disencouraged from running these plants twelve the last sixteen years.
Everybody knows what happened here to the last four years
under former President Joe Biden and his and his goal
and objective of eliminating coal fired electricity from the nation's
(23:22):
electric grid. And we experienced, you know, several hundred electrical
coal fire electrical units that were forced to close under
his presidency. And before that we had President Obama for
eight years, so twelve Over the last sixteen years, these
electric utilities have been basically coarse than who slowing down
(23:45):
and transitioning away from coal fired electricity, and this country
came just exceptionally close to us. In fact, we were
seinges actually regulated brown outs and potential blackouts around the country.
I mean, we were running dangerously close to having uh
(24:07):
low low levels of base load electricity, you know, to
keep the grid working and keep everybody in with electricity
around the country. So this president, this governor view that
all quite differently. You know, they want to run these plants.
(24:27):
They want to generate more reliable, affordable base load electricity,
and that only comes from coal fired to electric generation today.
So you welcome all this, and we really look forward
just rolling up our sleeves and mining more coal, putting
more miners to work, and generating more electricity. That's coal
(24:50):
manufactured here within the Mountain State.
Speaker 2 (24:52):
And you know, when you take a look at the
electric the electricity generation part of it, but then what
about the metallurgical coal and steel production, your outlook, I
guess as to maybe changed from a little dim to
maybe pretty bullish.
Speaker 4 (25:10):
It really does. And we're having some setbacks within the
metallurgical side of the business today.
Speaker 2 (25:17):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (25:17):
You know, China's dumping a lot of cheap, undercost steel
throughout the world, which is slowing down shipments and utilization
of of our met coal supplies. And there's also a
number of trade wars and terraces proposed and a lot
of a lot of that that's very, very concerning and
(25:37):
hurting the business. But generally speaking, all the stars, all
the political stars are lined up for us nationally as
well as here within the state of the West West Virginia.
And when you look at the plans here outlined by
Governor Morrisey, our congressional leaders, our state legislative leaders and legislators,
I mean, every everybody's involved cultivating those policies, and there's
(26:03):
just a tremendous amount of enthusiasm and anxiety out there
to move here forward, and the state moves forward, the
state's economy moves forward. So it's a win win for everybody.
And as you indicated, metallurgical coal accounts for near half
of our production today, and you know, we are the
(26:27):
leading metallurgical coal producing state. That product is being shipped
around the world for steel building and infrastructure build out,
and it accounts for our met coal shipments from West
Virginia here accounts for about the sixty seven percent of
all the met coal used for domestic steel making in
(26:48):
our metals industry here throughout the country as well.
Speaker 2 (26:52):
You talked about the effect of the twelve of the
last sixteen years of the federal government policies really kind
of coming down on backs of cold But how has
that affected the workforce and the ability to meet these
new demands going forward.
Speaker 4 (27:09):
Well, it's uh, you know, it's hurt the workforce, and
the signal has been uh, you know that there may
not be the history in mining and uh coal fire,
electrician electricity generation that we thought, uh, but all that
is changing very quickly. The narrative is changing very quickly,
(27:30):
and a lot of that's coming out of the UH
swift and UH and decisive action out of the White
House over the over the course of the last nine months.
You know, we're nine months into the Trump administration right now,
and every single day, you know, between the President and
his energy team of Chris Wright at DOE Doug bergham
(27:52):
Uh and Lee's out in the EPA. They are continuing
to unpack all the rules that were promulgated by Biden
and Obama Administration's designed to shut coal plants down and
designed to obstruct and restrict coal production domestically. You know,
(28:14):
we drop from a accounting for about fifty percent of
all the electricity used throughout the United States down just
below twenty percent today. And all of that has happened
within you know, a relatively short period of time when
you think about it, just over the past twenty five years.
(28:35):
So you know, this president and this governor understands, you know,
the importance of having day slow generation electricity as you
can count on twenty four to seven, not just when
the wind blows or during daylight hours. So they're doing
everything they can to make sure this is this business,
(28:57):
the coal business not only vibes, but you know, really
thrives under their leadership.
Speaker 2 (29:04):
Chris Hamilton's with US, president of the West Virginia Cole Association.
Last thing that I've got for you is is there
it will there be enough demand? And is there I
guess a long enough period of that elevated demand to
possibly reopen some facilities, to reopen facilities. Yes, sir, Yes, sir.
Speaker 4 (29:28):
We absolutely believe that's going to be the case. When
you look at these huge energy gobbling technologies that are
at play today, the data centers AI, which is still
in the infancy. You know, we're going through a revolution,
if you will, of all our computerization processors.
Speaker 2 (29:48):
And.
Speaker 4 (29:50):
You know that's going to account for a large portion
of the needed electricity going forward. Every single utility, every
single generator of electricity is revising their production and demand
forecasts here over the next ten to fifteen years. You know,
it's a remarkable phenomenon that we are experiencing with this
(30:14):
increase electrical demand, not only here in West Virginia, but
throughout the country and world. So you know, we're a
major exporter of coal and coal fired electricity, so our
little state of West Virginia and our state's economy, you know,
stands the benefit more than any other state throughout the
(30:35):
country or any other place in the world. So we're
gearing up. We're trying to recruit and bring miners back home.
We're trying to bring experienced miners back to the coal
industry from other occupations. So manpower development. We're talking to
our technical career center centers, trying to get those re
(30:55):
established as they once were, so our future miners, the
next generation of minors, can get it properly trained and
certified perfect.
Speaker 2 (31:05):
President of the West Virginia Coal Association, Chris Hamilton. Chris,
really do appreciate your time here today. Thank you very much.
Speaker 4 (31:14):
Oh, I appreciate you inviting me on. Always good to
be on.
Speaker 2 (31:16):
Thank you absolutely you. Take care, Chris, have a great day.
Chris Hamilton, President of the West Virginia Coal Association. It
is part of the cloudy and sixty five degrees in
the University City. We'll be back right after this on
AM fourteen forty f m one oh four point five WAJR.
Speaker 1 (31:46):
We are talking about your town. Now back to the
talk of the town.
Speaker 2 (31:52):
Good Tuesday morning. It is nine to fifty part of
cloudy and sixty five degrees. Morgantown City Council gavel's in
for their regular meeting at seven o'clock tonight. They'll do
that from City Council Chambers on Spruce Street. You'll also
be able to catch that online at the city's YouTube page. Now,
(32:12):
one highlight from that meeting coming up Tonight is the
vote under New Business for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco
and Firearms accelerant Detection Dog grant that the City of
Morgantown is one grant. Writer Robin Hess was successful in
securing that that is one of fewer than seventy of
(32:36):
those particular dogs available around the country. City Council will
vote on that. If that vote is in the affirmative column,
then that means I believe the Deputy Fire Marshall Lions
will be traveling to Washington, d C. Another firefighter from
the Charleston area and they'll be taking that atf course,
(32:58):
and that accelerant detection canine will then be assigned to
the Morgantown area. Now, we heard the fire Marshall Jason
Quinn tell us that there was a fire here in
the Morgantown area, fatal fire, and they needed an accelerant
detection dog. They had to go to Alleghany County, Pennsylvania
(33:20):
in order to get that, which they did. However, now
we'll have that dog and it'll be up to our
fire department if something would happen in Kingwood or a
surrounding community for them to respond and deploy their Canine
in order to help them with that situation. Once again.
Morgantown City Council they'll get together at seven o'clock this evening,
(33:44):
and that is also available via the city's YouTube page.
Montgelia County Commission they'll be holding their regular meeting then
on Wednesday, and on their agenda under new Business, they're
going to consider a letter to Governor Patrick Morrissey and
the Public Service Commission expressing the County Commission's opposition to
(34:08):
the mid Atlantic Resiliency link. Of course, we all we
absolutely know what that is, so that'll be the first correspondence.
I believe that the local County Commission has directed to
the Governor. Not sure about Hampshire County. I know that
they have been very very active in this as well.
(34:29):
There's also a work session planned as part of the
mont County Commission activities on Wednesday, and in that work
session they'll also hear from Todd Forbes. They also will
hear from west Ridge. They'll get an update on the
west Ridge situation. Of course, Westridge announced their Chapter eleven
(34:51):
bankruptcy just in recent weeks, and in talks with Ryan Lynch,
I think the at least the goal was was to
be able to iron out those financial difficulties within ninety
days and then make that announcement. So we'll get an
update on the west Ridge situation coming up tomorrow, and
(35:11):
don't forget that Tomorrow Wednesday is also a Wanted Wednesday.
We'll welcome Sheriff Todd Forbes to the program and we'll
talk about the Montengelia County Sheriff's Department featured Felons of
the Week that will be tomorrow with mon County Sheriff
Todd Forbes. We'll be back to wrap things up on
(35:32):
Top of the Town on Am fourteen forty f M
one O four point five W A.
Speaker 1 (35:39):
J R.
This is the Talk of the Town from Morgantown to Klucksburg.
If it's happening, we're talking about it. Call the show
toll free at one eight hundred seven sixty five eight
two five five. Now Here is your host for the
Talk of the Town, Mike Nolting.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
A good Tuesday morning, and welcome to Talk of the
Town on AM fourteen forty f M. One oh four
point five w A j R. I'm Mike Nolting. Our
producer today is Ethan College. You'll be able to hook
up with Ethan at eight hundred seven six five eight
two five five of the text line. That's your portal
into the program. That number is three oh four Talk
(00:50):
three oh four. Now today I'm going to have a
conversation with US Senator Shelley Moore Capito. Senator capital Is
announced four academy days coming up now those are for
They're coming up in September for any students here in
the state interested in learning more about opportunities at the
US service academies like the Air Force Academy, West Point, Naval,
(01:13):
Coast Guard, Merchant Marine. She'll also be able to share
some information about some available ROTC scholarship opportunities. We're also
going to be talking about staving off a government shutdown,
because that is set to happen at the end of
this month. We're also going to be talking about the
nomination process and the proposed Senate rule changes that could
(01:37):
expedite some of the nominations that are being held up
for Well, we'll let her answer that question, and then
of course we're going to address political violence with the
Senator this morning. Coming up at nine point thirty, we're
going to welcome Chris Hamilton. He's the president of the
West Virginia Coal Association. Last week, Governor Morrissey unveiled a
(01:57):
new comprehensive energy plan called the fifty by fifty Generation Plan. Now,
that's an effort to increase power generation capacity in the
state from the current fifteen gigawatt capacity to fifty gigawatts
by twenty to fifty. That plan will rely heavily on
coal to produce baseload power in a time when demand
(02:21):
for electricity is skyrocketing. We're going to talk with Chris
Hamilton find out how the Coal Association and coal industry
can help not only the state of West Virginia realize
that goal, but also maybe help PJM in the eastern
part of the United States quench their insatiable thirst for electricity.
(02:44):
Take a look at a couple of headlines, and we're
going to get things started. Well. Hundreds, maybe as many
as one thousand people turned out on wvu's downtown campus
in Morgantown last night for a vigil to remember the
life of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Thirty one year old
Kirk was assassinated on the University of Utah campus last week.
(03:06):
Kirk led the organization Turning Point USA WVU student chapter.
They organized that vigil last night. We're in the process
of getting in touch with the president of that organization,
William Cosmo. We'd like to welcome him to the program.
Let him tell you about what gets these young folks
so politically charged up about these conservative issues. Now, let's see,
(03:32):
it was the Kirk's efforts in promoting debate and dialogue
on the issues had a tremendous impact on that generation.
We'll try to catch up with William Cosma in the
coming days in order to share that story with you.
The WVU Board of Governors is asking for a report
(03:53):
on security protocols on campus. It could prevent that type
of tragedy that claimed Live. Board chair Rusty Hudson called
for the review and said he's confident their protocols are adequate.
President Michael T. Benson he concurred, saying that anytime there's
a tragedy like the one that we saw in Utah
(04:14):
last week, it's a good idea to get out the policies,
open them up, take a look at him, make sure
everything is buttoned up tight. A firefighters from eight departments
responded to a Monday afternoon structure fire on Alcreek Road
in Mont County. A fire was reported in a three
story structure that was reportedly owned by Alk Creek Contracting.
(04:40):
Units from Man and Marion County responded to that incident
and no injuries were reported. A Fairmont police looking for
a suspect in an early Monday morning shooting. Twenty nine
year old Antonio Marquis Evans allegedly involved in a gunfight
on Spence Street with another suspect. Evans fled the area
(05:05):
with a rifle and the other suspect or the victim
in that shooting, is being treated at JW. Ruby Memorial
Hospital now. Evans is described as a black male six
foot two, one hundred and ninety pounds, brown eyes and
black hair. He's got a criminal history including domestic battery
and burglary, should be considered armed and dangerous. A militia's
(05:30):
assault charges have been child filed against a Merrion County
woman accused of attacking an an unidentified male with a
fork and biting him over the weekend. A thirty eight
year old Andrea Boone arrested for the attack at a
residence on Jamison Rode in Fairview. She is being held
on a ten thousand dollars bond. When we come back,
(05:52):
we'll spend a few minutes with US Senator Shelley Moore Capital.
It's coming up next on Talk of the Town four
fourteen forty FM one oh four point five w A
j R.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
Join the conversation at one eight hundred and seven sixty
five eight two fivey five. This is the Talk of
the Town.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
A good Tuesday morning, and welcome back to the program.
Partly cloudy sixty five degrees in the University City of
Metro News Aki Weather says partly sunny seventy seven for
the high temperature today. US Senator Shelley Moore Capito joins
us on the program. Good morning, Senator, how are you.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
I I'm doing I'm doing well. I was interested in
that it's sixty five degrees in Morgan House. It's cooler
here in Washington. Has that hint of more than a
hint of fall.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Yes, And of course you know fall. I don't know
about you, but falls my most favorite time of the year.
Football leaves, good food, tomatoes. What else do you need?
Speaker 3 (07:08):
What else do you need? It's always it's always a
good time. Back to school, kids, back to school, so
it's all good.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
That's right, that's right. Okay, Senator, let's talk about the
academy days that you have coming up. I can go
ahead and let folks know that you'll be in the
Charleston area on the twentieth of September, the southern West
Virginia at the Woodrow Wilson High School on the twenty first,
on the twenty seventh, over in the eastern Panhandle at
(07:34):
the Jefferson High School, then right here in Morgantown University
High School on the twenty eighth of September. And just
a reminder that an appointment to a service academy really
gives you an educational opportunity that's valued from just about
anywhere from a quarter of a million dollars to more
than four hundred grand.
Speaker 3 (07:53):
Well, it's a wonderful opportunity for West Virginians. And we
have a lot of students that come from the Morgantown area,
whether at University of Morgantown or other surrounding schools, that
are very interested in really serving their country, getting the
best education for as you said, for free, and also
(08:15):
and also enjoying the ability to network the rest of
your life with some of the top echelon students for
all around the country. It is an extraordinary opportunity and
it's my honor always to nominate students to those slots.
Not you know, not everybody gets in. We know that,
(08:36):
but we do want to make sure that our students
have the best information that they and their parents know
what the obligations would be, but also what the application
obligations are as well. So we're excited about coming to
university and coming to the other three areas of the state.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
Now, for lack of a better term, is this kind
of like a job interview with you? Not?
Speaker 3 (08:59):
Really, it's more of an informational session, you know, it's
for the students to be able to meet and hear
from current students at one of the academies, to be
able to talk to some of the graduates of the academies,
and then some of the parents to meet some of
the parents of students. So it's not, you know, it's
not a nerve wracking thing. Sometimes we'll do sometimes we
(09:20):
will do like mock interviews and have students have the
opportunity to kind of do a practice interview, because interviewing
is part of the application process, so it's more of
an informational thing. So students from ninth grade on are
welcome to come.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
Okay, now let's just say they get there and decide
the service academy might not be for them, but ROTC
is an opportunity they'd like to pursue. I think there
are scholarships available as well.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
There are, and we always have a representative from usually
from WVU R ROTC that comes in and talks about
the obligations and the responsibilities, but also the great exposure
to travel to to to explore the military, to become
an officer when you graduate, to meet great, great other
(10:07):
students from all around West Virginia and the surrounding areas
that are at WU. So ROTC provides scholarships and it's
another way I think to serve your country and also
get a great education.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
US Senator Shelley Moore Capito is with US and now
Senator capitol the effort to install President Trump's cabinet. I
guess the immediate cabinet appointments done. However, there are some
appointments that aren't being made. Why is that?
Speaker 3 (10:36):
It is total obstruction by Chuck Schumer honestly and the
Democrat Party for some reason, something that every four years
or whenever a new president comes in has been an
easier transition. I mean at this time, you know, at
the end of the year, President Biden had five hundred
and thirty five nominees that were that were confirmed by
(11:00):
voice vote or by unanimous consent. In other words, they
don't take floor time, you don't have to spend a
lot of time. It's the president gets his team. Well,
under this scenario, President Trump has gotten zero chance to
do that. So we decided we're going to take this
back to the way it used to be, where larger
tranches of nominees maybe forty nominees, and these are not
(11:22):
cabinet positions. They're not judges, they're some of the lower
lower general counsels, US attorneys, US marshals, all of these
things and put them in bunches so that we can
vote them up or down. And to me, it's just
professional courtesy so the president can have his team. I
understand the highly scrutinized part of having your own cabinet members,
(11:48):
but these are not cabinet positions. Cabinet members will still
have thirty hours that they have to be on the
floor of the United States Senate while we consider that
we have eleven hundred positions that we have to consider,
and if we don't get some kind of cooperation like
we've had in the past, we'll never get we'll never
get to the end of this.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
And now, you know, we've learned back during Trump one
point zero, I guess we're in two point oho now
that the news cycle can get dound about every three hours,
So a lot of times things like the nomination process
could swept under the media rugs, so to speak. And
not many people really get to hear about this, but.
Speaker 3 (12:25):
It definitely does. And it's only a Senate responsibility too.
If you if you think about you know, when you
studied the Constitution, and you know, elementary school or junior high,
it's only the advice and consent of the Senate. The
House of Representatives doesn't have to deal with this, so
they can get onto the issues of the day, which
is what we want to do now.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
One of the things that I've heard the other side
say is, hey, be careful, if you change those rules,
it's going to backfire on you. What are they talking about?
Speaker 3 (12:52):
You know, I've considered that because if we change the
if we change these rules in this fashion, it's going
to be good for whatever presidents coming in, because it's
not fair to you know, what are we almost? You know,
we're getting towards October, the first where the president's been
in nine months. Some of his nominees have been slated
to be voted on for six months. A lot of
(13:13):
these folks have given up other jobs, they've moved their families,
they're ready to go. They've been through the background checks,
they've been through the committee, and they just sit there.
And that's not fair for a Republican or a Democrat president.
So I think I think it's going to be a
welcome change, but for everybody can it be abused. I
guess time will tell there, but I really think it
(13:34):
just takes us back to what the leaders used to
do before President Trump was elected. Here the second time.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
US Senator Shelley Moore capital is with us now a senator.
I guess at the end of the month, we're going
to have to make some decisions in order to keep
the federal government operating from a financial standpoint. Well, why
are we always waiting until two weeks to go in
order to come up with a solution.
Speaker 3 (13:57):
Well, if you're frustrated, I'm frustrated, Doubly or Tripoli, I'll
say every year we haven't been able to get our
appropriations bills onto the floor. We did get three bills
onto the floor, and those would be that would be
legislative branch, Agriculture, Military Construction, and we passed those. That's
(14:22):
the first time we've done that in two years because
Senator Schumer, when he was in the leadership, wouldn't even
bring one of the bills up. So we need to
pass twelve of those such bills to get our whole
funding structure. So we're further along, but in order for
us to not shut down the government, which of course
I don't want to do and have never want to do.
I've said it's a misery march a road to nowhere,
(14:42):
it's a disservice to the American people. We have to
pass what's called a short term cr which basically says
we're going to continue spending for the next seven weeks.
As we have been very simple. It takes us so
that we can negotiate those other twelve bills. Apparently there's
going to be some obstruction here, but time will tell.
The House is going to vote on this on Friday,
(15:04):
and hopefully we will be voting on it shortly thereafter.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
I think the appetite for the continuing resolutions is really
getting to be pretty limited, isn't it.
Speaker 3 (15:14):
You are so right, yes, because what does that say.
That says no new programs. You can't throw out any
old programs. You just basically continued the way that you
spent last year. Well, think about that. In your business
or in your family life. Things change, priorities change, world
events change here in Washington, and so you know, the
(15:34):
economy changes. We want to be able to react to that,
and with a continuing resolution we really can't. And so
you're right, it's not the ideal way to go. So
hopefully by the time we do this to November the twentieth,
we will have settled these other bills and we can
move forward.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
Okay. US Senator Shelley Moore Capita is with us now
a senator. On Monday evening here on the campus of
West Virginia University, the Health Sign's squad, probably more than
a thousand people gathered for a prayer visual for Turning
Point USA founder Charlie Kirk. And you know, obviously there
(16:11):
were a whole lot of students there, as you would expect.
But I think the part that might have might surprised
you is the fact that leading up to the event
on social media, there were a lot of people from
other towns of Fairmont Kingwood looking for places to park,
wondering exactly where the Health Sciences quad was. And we
(16:32):
covered the event and did in fact find that there
were a lot of people. There were a lot of students,
for sure, majority of the crowd was students. However, there
were a lot of people there from just the population
at large that really were shaken and concerned.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
Well, I think the violence, the political violence is very
unsettling and scary for young people, for anybody, for public servants,
for others. UH. And I think Charlie Kirk in his
message of debating on college campuses, which is what we want.
We want a free exchange of ideas. We want people
(17:10):
to be able to challenge what a speaker is saying.
And and and he welcomed that, and you know, he
had firm opinions and a lot of you know, a
lot of people agreed, but a lot of people didn't.
But he touched young people in a way that honestly
I've never seen. And and so I think to have
him just gunned down at an event when he he
actually had security there with him shows you how absolutely
(17:33):
difficult uh and uh to to provide this correct security
for something like this. But the worst of it, to
me is that we have to you know that we
that we this is where we are, and we've got
to we've got to tone the rhetoric down on both sides.
You know, there's no room for political violence in this country.
(17:55):
That's what we're known for. We're known for debate, and
we're known for pulling together when we need to. And
this is where we need to go. And so maybe
this is a rallying cry for all of us to
tone the rhetoric.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
You know, I want to ask you, though, you know,
collateral damage in an incident like this, or from an
incident like this, could even go to you know, maybe
lawmakers can't go to parades, can't participate in parades anymore.
Maybe you can't go to the fair, the state fair anymore.
Speaker 3 (18:23):
What I actually have thought, I actually thought about parades
this morning, and I thought, I probably can't go on parades,
you know, So no Force Festival Parade, no Black Walnut
Festival parade. A lot of these are parades that I've
participated in for years and love, I mean, all over
the state, and I honestly would think twice. I think
(18:46):
anybody who's a public figure is going to think more
than twice about what the kind of exposure is. I mean,
one of the debates on this continuing resolution is is
security threats against public officials and United States senators And
so if they hold this up, they're basically saying, you
know that, you know this, providing extra security for members
(19:07):
of the US senator, members of the House is not
a high priority. And I think in these difficult times,
I would say that it needs to be a high priority.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
US Senator Shelley Moore Capito. Senator, thank you so much
for coming on the program today. Really do appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (19:23):
Thank you. Always enjoy it and have a great fall day.
And last weekend was pretty special. So I'm sure everybody's
still riding high on that.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
Well you better believe it, and we are still riding high,
that's for sure. Hey, Senator, thank you, have a great day.
Please you too, Bye bye, Thank you. Man.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
Now back to the talk of the town.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
Well, good Tuesday morning. It is nine thirty five, partly
cloudy and sixty five degrees. A try note to pass
on West Virginia five one one is reporting a congestion delay.
I seventy nine northbound. That is just north of the
Fairmont area, so if you're headed that way you can
expect some delays. On the phone, we've got the president
(20:16):
of the West Virginia Coal Association, Chris Hamilton. Good morning, Chris.
Speaker 4 (20:20):
How are you today, Hey real well, good morning.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
Good to have you on board. Chris. Now, let's see
the governor's new plan dubbed fifty by fifty to increase
the state's power generation capacity from fifteen gigawatts to fifty
gigawatts by twenty to fifty. Now, COLE obviously will play
a huge role in achieving that goal, wouldn't you say, Chris.
Speaker 4 (20:49):
Absolutely, you know, that's still one of one of the
things that we do best here in West Virginia. So
we welcome the governor's you know, bold energy of actives
here over the next few years and look forward to
working with him and our legislative leaders to get that done. Now.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
You know, here's the thing, Chris is I heard his
presentation to the West Virginia University Board of Governors on Friday,
and he talked about how natural gas and nuclear power
will fit into that plan, but he did say that
COLE will have the greatest immediate impact. So I guess
(21:26):
how will that help the industry.
Speaker 4 (21:30):
Well, anytime you increase your electrical generation or overall power
outlet here in West Virginia, COLE is going to play
a dominant role, no question about that. It always has
and we have that resource here and we have a
nine in state, fully compliant, extremely efficient, the coal electric
(21:56):
generating facilities strategically located throughout our state. So with all
the mining reserve, all of our professional miners are power
plant workers, all the people in between to make all
that happen from mine mouth to household and industrial facilities. Uh,
you know, we just we just look forward and we're
(22:17):
very anxious to move all that forward as well.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
Uh, Chris. When you take a look at how power
plants operate today and how they would operate under the
government governor's plan, what would be the big differences there
would be we would we be operating more toward one
hundred percent capacity.
Speaker 4 (22:37):
Oh, absolutely, I think that's the biggest change. I think
it's philosophical belief policies that are adopted in leadership that
will be demonstrated here by all involved. Now, you have
to understand, these power plants have been extremely restricted. The
operation output of these plants has been you know, ratcheted
(22:58):
down to virtually nil. I mean these you know, these
these you know, utilities for the most part, have been
disencouraged from running these plants twelve the last sixteen years.
Everybody knows what happened here to the last four years
under former President Joe Biden and his and his goal
and objective of eliminating coal fired electricity from the nation's
(23:22):
electric grid. And we experienced, you know, several hundred electrical
coal fire electrical units that were forced to close under
his presidency. And before that we had President Obama for
eight years, so twelve Over the last sixteen years, these
electric utilities have been basically coarse than who slowing down
(23:45):
and transitioning away from coal fired electricity, and this country
came just exceptionally close to us. In fact, we were
seinges actually regulated brown outs and potential blackouts around the country.
I mean, we were running dangerously close to having uh
(24:07):
low low levels of base load electricity, you know, to
keep the grid working and keep everybody in with electricity
around the country. So this president, this governor view that
all quite differently. You know, they want to run these plants.
(24:27):
They want to generate more reliable, affordable base load electricity,
and that only comes from coal fired to electric generation today.
So you welcome all this, and we really look forward
just rolling up our sleeves and mining more coal, putting
more miners to work, and generating more electricity. That's coal
(24:50):
manufactured here within the Mountain State.
Speaker 2 (24:52):
And you know, when you take a look at the
electric the electricity generation part of it, but then what
about the metallurgical coal and steel production, your outlook, I
guess as to maybe changed from a little dim to
maybe pretty bullish.
Speaker 4 (25:10):
It really does. And we're having some setbacks within the
metallurgical side of the business today.
Speaker 2 (25:17):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (25:17):
You know, China's dumping a lot of cheap, undercost steel
throughout the world, which is slowing down shipments and utilization
of of our met coal supplies. And there's also a
number of trade wars and terraces proposed and a lot
of a lot of that that's very, very concerning and
(25:37):
hurting the business. But generally speaking, all the stars, all
the political stars are lined up for us nationally as
well as here within the state of the West West Virginia.
And when you look at the plans here outlined by
Governor Morrisey, our congressional leaders, our state legislative leaders and legislators,
I mean, every everybody's involved cultivating those policies, and there's
(26:03):
just a tremendous amount of enthusiasm and anxiety out there
to move here forward, and the state moves forward, the
state's economy moves forward. So it's a win win for everybody.
And as you indicated, metallurgical coal accounts for near half
of our production today, and you know, we are the
(26:27):
leading metallurgical coal producing state. That product is being shipped
around the world for steel building and infrastructure build out,
and it accounts for our met coal shipments from West
Virginia here accounts for about the sixty seven percent of
all the met coal used for domestic steel making in
(26:48):
our metals industry here throughout the country as well.
Speaker 2 (26:52):
You talked about the effect of the twelve of the
last sixteen years of the federal government policies really kind
of coming down on backs of cold But how has
that affected the workforce and the ability to meet these
new demands going forward.
Speaker 4 (27:09):
Well, it's uh, you know, it's hurt the workforce, and
the signal has been uh, you know that there may
not be the history in mining and uh coal fire,
electrician electricity generation that we thought, uh, but all that
is changing very quickly. The narrative is changing very quickly,
(27:30):
and a lot of that's coming out of the UH
swift and UH and decisive action out of the White
House over the over the course of the last nine months.
You know, we're nine months into the Trump administration right now,
and every single day, you know, between the President and
his energy team of Chris Wright at DOE Doug bergham
(27:52):
Uh and Lee's out in the EPA. They are continuing
to unpack all the rules that were promulgated by Biden
and Obama Administration's designed to shut coal plants down and
designed to obstruct and restrict coal production domestically. You know,
(28:14):
we drop from a accounting for about fifty percent of
all the electricity used throughout the United States down just
below twenty percent today. And all of that has happened
within you know, a relatively short period of time when
you think about it, just over the past twenty five years.
(28:35):
So you know, this president and this governor understands, you know,
the importance of having day slow generation electricity as you
can count on twenty four to seven, not just when
the wind blows or during daylight hours. So they're doing
everything they can to make sure this is this business,
(28:57):
the coal business not only vibes, but you know, really
thrives under their leadership.
Speaker 2 (29:04):
Chris Hamilton's with US, president of the West Virginia Cole Association.
Last thing that I've got for you is is there
it will there be enough demand? And is there I
guess a long enough period of that elevated demand to
possibly reopen some facilities, to reopen facilities. Yes, sir, Yes, sir.
Speaker 4 (29:28):
We absolutely believe that's going to be the case. When
you look at these huge energy gobbling technologies that are
at play today, the data centers AI, which is still
in the infancy. You know, we're going through a revolution,
if you will, of all our computerization processors.
Speaker 2 (29:48):
And.
Speaker 4 (29:50):
You know that's going to account for a large portion
of the needed electricity going forward. Every single utility, every
single generator of electricity is revising their production and demand
forecasts here over the next ten to fifteen years. You know,
it's a remarkable phenomenon that we are experiencing with this
(30:14):
increase electrical demand, not only here in West Virginia, but
throughout the country and world. So you know, we're a
major exporter of coal and coal fired electricity, so our
little state of West Virginia and our state's economy, you know,
stands the benefit more than any other state throughout the
(30:35):
country or any other place in the world. So we're
gearing up. We're trying to recruit and bring miners back home.
We're trying to bring experienced miners back to the coal
industry from other occupations. So manpower development. We're talking to
our technical career center centers, trying to get those re
(30:55):
established as they once were, so our future miners, the
next generation of minors, can get it properly trained and
certified perfect.
Speaker 2 (31:05):
President of the West Virginia Coal Association, Chris Hamilton. Chris,
really do appreciate your time here today. Thank you very much.
Speaker 4 (31:14):
Oh, I appreciate you inviting me on. Always good to
be on.
Speaker 2 (31:16):
Thank you absolutely you. Take care, Chris, have a great day.
Chris Hamilton, President of the West Virginia Coal Association. It
is part of the cloudy and sixty five degrees in
the University City. We'll be back right after this on
AM fourteen forty f m one oh four point five WAJR.
Speaker 1 (31:46):
We are talking about your town. Now back to the
talk of the town.
Speaker 2 (31:52):
Good Tuesday morning. It is nine to fifty part of
cloudy and sixty five degrees. Morgantown City Council gavel's in
for their regular meeting at seven o'clock tonight. They'll do
that from City Council Chambers on Spruce Street. You'll also
be able to catch that online at the city's YouTube page. Now,
(32:12):
one highlight from that meeting coming up Tonight is the
vote under New Business for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco
and Firearms accelerant Detection Dog grant that the City of
Morgantown is one grant. Writer Robin Hess was successful in
securing that that is one of fewer than seventy of
(32:36):
those particular dogs available around the country. City Council will
vote on that. If that vote is in the affirmative column,
then that means I believe the Deputy Fire Marshall Lions
will be traveling to Washington, d C. Another firefighter from
the Charleston area and they'll be taking that atf course,
(32:58):
and that accelerant detection canine will then be assigned to
the Morgantown area. Now, we heard the fire Marshall Jason
Quinn tell us that there was a fire here in
the Morgantown area, fatal fire, and they needed an accelerant
detection dog. They had to go to Alleghany County, Pennsylvania
(33:20):
in order to get that, which they did. However, now
we'll have that dog and it'll be up to our
fire department if something would happen in Kingwood or a
surrounding community for them to respond and deploy their Canine
in order to help them with that situation. Once again.
Morgantown City Council they'll get together at seven o'clock this evening,
(33:44):
and that is also available via the city's YouTube page.
Montgelia County Commission they'll be holding their regular meeting then
on Wednesday, and on their agenda under new Business, they're
going to consider a letter to Governor Patrick Morrissey and
the Public Service Commission expressing the County Commission's opposition to
(34:08):
the mid Atlantic Resiliency link. Of course, we all we
absolutely know what that is, so that'll be the first correspondence.
I believe that the local County Commission has directed to
the Governor. Not sure about Hampshire County. I know that
they have been very very active in this as well.
(34:29):
There's also a work session planned as part of the
mont County Commission activities on Wednesday, and in that work
session they'll also hear from Todd Forbes. They also will
hear from west Ridge. They'll get an update on the
west Ridge situation. Of course, Westridge announced their Chapter eleven
(34:51):
bankruptcy just in recent weeks, and in talks with Ryan Lynch,
I think the at least the goal was was to
be able to iron out those financial difficulties within ninety
days and then make that announcement. So we'll get an
update on the west Ridge situation coming up tomorrow, and
(35:11):
don't forget that Tomorrow Wednesday is also a Wanted Wednesday.
We'll welcome Sheriff Todd Forbes to the program and we'll
talk about the Montengelia County Sheriff's Department featured Felons of
the Week that will be tomorrow with mon County Sheriff
Todd Forbes. We'll be back to wrap things up on
(35:32):
Top of the Town on Am fourteen forty f M
one O four point five W A.
Speaker 1 (35:39):
J R.
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