The DickensonCounty Fair Committeeinvites local businesses tojoin this year’s event witha vendor booth.

Fees for outside spaceshave been lowered thisyear.

July 20 is the deadlineto reserve a space. Thisyear’s fair will run fromSaturday, July 27,through Saturday, Aug. 3.

July 27-28 will featuremotocross and beautypageant events only.

Vendor space is limit-ed, so early notification isa plus. Food vendors arelimited to the three coun-ty Kiwanis Clubs and thecarnival company.

Display spaces are 10feet by 10 feet. Fees forspaces inside the fair’svendor building are $100

for the week. Fees foroutside vendor spacesare: one space, $50; twospaces, $75; three spaces,$125; and four spaces,$150. A one-day only dis-play is $25.

For more information,or to register, contactChristy Johnson by phoneat 276-926-6132 from 5-9p.m. or leave a messageduring the day.

Beginning July 1, beefproducers in DickensonCounty and surroundingcounties can apply for agrant program which willoffer a 50 percent costshare on purchases up to$6,000 on certain pieces ofcattle handling equipment,weaning pens, structuresand improved herd bulls.

Applicants must meetgrant program guidelines,including but not limitedto: holding a current BeefQuality Assurance certifi-cate; being a resident orproperty owner in the par-ticipating county; pos-sessing a minimum of 25breeding age females or25 stocker calves; havinga vaccination and weaningprogram, as well as adefined calving season;and marketing at least 20

percent of the calf cropthrough a value-addedprogram such as stategraded sales or VQA sales.

Qualifying items of theprogram include a 50 per-cent cost share onimproved herd bulls:$1,250 maximum on onebull or $2,500 maximumon two bulls. Cattle han-dling facilities up to a 50percent cost share on a$3,000 dollar maximumexpenditure on head gates,squeeze chutes, tubs,alleys, scales, weaningpens, holding pens andsheds to cover these struc-tures to protect them. Ifyou have participated inthese grants in the past,you may applyagainalthough you maynot purchase similarpieces. (If you bought a

bull the first time,you can-not purchase a bull thistime).

Applications for theprogram will be availableat the Dickenson CountyExtension Office begin-ning July 1 at 8 a.m.Applicants should gatherthe following informationprior to July 1: Tax identi-fication number or SocialSecurity number;FSA/USDA FarmNumber/tract number;FSA Aerial map; and avalid five-year lease onrented land if applicable.

A copy of the programguidelines can be obtainednow at the DickensonCounty Extension Officeor athttp://offices.ext.vt.edu/dickenson/.

If you have questions

about the SouthwestVirginia Beef BuilderInitiative, please contactthe Dickenson CountyExtension Office at 276-926-4605 for additionalinformation.

More heavy rain expected to end June

BY WAYNE BROWNING★ NATIONAL WEATHER OBSERVER

An array of hit-miss showers anddownpours in thunderstorms rapidlydeveloped into the early afternoonhours on Monday to start this finalwork week of June off wet.

This is part of a stormy pattern thatpromises to make June 2013 one of thewettest on record as every day thisweek features an opportunity for heavyrain.

More widespread coverage isexpected by Thursday into Friday asan unseasonably strong jet streamrounds the top of a large heat domeexpanding across the western USA totrigger clusters of thunderstorms. Aweak frontal boundary will also dropinto the area, providing an additionalfocus for heavy rain and storms. Folksliving along streams and in flood pronelocations will again need to be alert forthe possibility of rapid water rises.

Damaging winds and hail couldalso accompany some of the strongeststorms, while the always dangerouslightning must be respected at alltimes.

As of Monday afternoon, June 24,this June ranked as the 8th wettest on record in Clintwoodand was just 0.02 inch-es behind the 7thwettest observed in2003. Plenty of timeremained for advance-ment toward thewettest June mark onrecord of 8.46 inchesestablished in 1964.

In the City ofNorton, with a shorterdata period, the 7.38inches into Mondaymorning ranked as the 4th wettest on record. The wettestJune had 11.92 inches in 1989.

June rainfall totals of 9.00 to 10.00 inches had alreadybeen observed by morning hours of Monday from BigCherry Lake basin of the High Knob Massif into theClinch River Valley at Fort Blackmore.

This marks the 4th consecutive summer that at leastone summer month (June-August) has received doubledigit rainfall amounts in the High Knob Massif.

Long Ridge of Sandy Ridge: 29.39

Clintwood NWS: 27.45Norton Water Plant: 34.95

Big Cherry Dam: 43.07

YEAR-TO-DATE PRECIPITATION (IN INCHES)

Wednesday: Achance of

showers &thunderstorms.

High near 85Wednesday

Night: Achance of

showers &thunderstorms.Low around 68

Thursday:Showers &

thunderstormslikely. High

near 84Thursday

Night: Achance of

showers &thunderstormsLow around 67

Friday:Showers &

thunderstormslikely. High

near 81

OBSERVATIONS RECORDED JUNE 18-24. 5 AT 7 A.M. DAILYE-mail weather reports to nws441825@comcast.net.Web site address:http://www.highknoblandform.com/

CLINTWOOD ■ ELEVATION 1560 FT.NWS OBSERVER WAYNE BROWNING

LONG RIDGE ■ ELEVATION 2650 FT.OBSERVERS WAYNE AND GENEVIE RINER

Tue Wed Thur Fri Sat Sun MonPrec 1.75 .81 .00 T .05 00 .02High 81 69 79 80 82 82 81Low 62 59 57 58 60 57 60

Tue Wed Thur Fri Sat Sun MonPrec. .72 1.09 00 .00 T 00 .00High 75 65 74 78 79 79 79Low 62 59 60 61 61 62 64

Corrections, clarifications

We publish corrections of fact that come to our attention andclarifications that make the news more understandable. ContactEditor Paula Tate at 276-926-8816 or e-mail ptate@coalfield.com.

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THE DICKENSON STAR ■ WEDNESDAY, JUNE 26, 2013 ■ PAGE 3

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PUBLIC NOTICEThe Breaks InterstatePark Commission will

hold a regularlyscheduled meeting on

July 2, 2013,11:00 a.m.,

in the board roomat the park.

Authorized by:Jack Sykes, Chairman

★ WEDNESDAY, JUNE 26Dickenson County SchoolBoard, 5 p.m. at the schoolboard office, 309 VolunteerSt., Clintwood. (Clerk RebaMcCowan, 926-4643)

★ FRIDAY, JUNE 28Dickenson County SchoolBoard, closeout meeting, 3p.m. at the school boardoffice, 309 Volunteer St.,Clintwood. (Clerk RebaMcCowan, 926-4643)

★ TUESDAY, JULY 2Haysi Town Council, 7 p.m.in the first floor meeting roomof town hall, Main Street.(Clerk Mona Duncan, 865-5187)

★ WEDNESDAY, JULY 3Dickenson CountyIndustrial DevelopmentAuthority, 6 p.m. at its officeat 1019 Happy Valley Drive,Clintwood. (Executive DirectorCharlotte Mullins, 926-1699)

★ TUESDAY, JULY 9Dickenson CountyChamber of CommerceBoard of Directors, noon at

the chamber office, 194 MainStreet, Clintwood. (DirectorRita Surratt, 926-6074)Clintwood Town Council, 6 p.m. at town hall, MainStreet. (Clerk Judy Steele,926-8383)

★ WEDNESDAY, JULY 10Lonesome Pine Soil andWater Conservation DistrictBoard, 10 a.m. at theCoalfield Agricultural Center,Route 83, Red OnionMountain. (AdministrativeSecretary Bobbi Rasnick,926-6621)

★ TUESDAY, JULY 16Dickenson County PublicService Authority, 6 p.m. atits office at Fremont, near theintersection of Routes 83 and63.

★ WEDNESDAY, JULY 17Dickenson County Board ofPublic Welfare, 5 p.m. in theDepartment of SocialServices building, BrushCreek Road, Clintwood.(Director Susan Mullins, 926-1661)

Frying Pan waterproject awarded

block grantThe Frying Pan waterline extension

project has received a $400,000Community Development Block Grant.

The grant, given to the DickensonCounty Board of Supervisors, is among$6.8 million in CDBG awardsannounced by Gov. Bob McDonnelllast week. Dickenson County is among11 grant recipients.

The Frying Pan project will service36 households in that community. Theproject was previously awarded$445,600 through Virginia’sAbandoned Mine Land Program.

Fire departments awardedgrants to buy equipmentClintwood and Clinchco vol-

unteer fire departments receivedgrants from the VirginiaDepartment of Forestry to helppurchase needed equipment.

The Clintwood departmentreceived $2,500, while theClinchco department received$1,580.

The grants were awardedthrough VDOF’s Volunteer FireAssistance (VFA) program. Theyare among $200,000 in grantsawarded to 154 volunteer firedepartments across theCommonwealth.

The grants, ranging in sizefrom $500 to $2,600, wereawarded and will be used by thevolunteer fire departments forsuch purchases as personal pro-tective equipment, communica-tions gear, water tanks for brushtrucks, wildland fire specialtytools and training materials.

Departments will provideVDOF with receipts for theirequipment purchases. Under theterms of the grant, VDOF reim-burses VDFs up to the amountapproved for their eligible pur-chases.

Beef builder initiative grant application period begins July 1

Reserve your spot at the county fair

Transit altersschedule for

July 4 holidayFour County Transit

has altered its operatingschedule forIndependence Day.

It will be closedThursday, July 4 andFriday, July 5. No buseswill run on these days.

The regular operatingschedule will resumeMonday, July 8.

Four County Transit is

a fully coordinated publictransit system servingBuchanan, Dickenson,Russell and Tazewellcounties. It is operatedby Appalachian Agencyfor Senior Citizens.

For more information,contact 276-963-1486(toll-free 1-888-656-2272) or visit www.four-countytransit.org.

NANNIE BELL SUTHERLAND COLLEYCLINTWOOD

Nannie Bell Sutherland Colley, age 97, passed awayJune 17, 2013 at Heritage Hall sur-rounded by family.

Nannie was born Feb. 28, 1916and was raised on Frying Pan nearHaysi. She attended school at FlintGap and was a resident of theSkeetrock area of Clintwood. Mrs.Colley was preceded in death by herhusbands, R.C. Sutherland and Fearl

Colley; her parents, Noah and Phoebe Counts Sutherland;her son, Denny Sutherland; her grandson, ScottSutherland; five sisters, Eva Sutherland, Frankie (Tom)Fuller, Garnie (Louie) Kovack, Gladys (Clarence) Combsand Mable (Roy) Waddell; and two brothers, Bruce(Rachel) Sutherland and Parkis(Jo) Sutherland.

Survivors include daughter Janis (Marvin) Senter; sonRoger (the late Audrey) Sutherland; stepdaughter Billie(Larry) Branham; daughters-in-law Joyce Sutherland andIanthia (the late Denver) Sturgill; sisters Brownie (the lateGeorge) Stamp, June (Benard) Journell, Norma (the lateHerbert) Sherrow, and Ann (James) Reynolds; brothersJack (the late Loretta) Sutherland and Linden (Clercie)Sutherland; nine grandchildren, 17 great-grandchildrenand eight great-great-grandchildren.

Funeral services were held Friday, June 21 at noon atMullins Funeral Home Chapel. Eddie Mullins officiated.Burial followed at Stone Cemetery, Skeetrock section ofClintwood. Family and friends served as pallbearers.

Family received friends at the funeral home before thefuneral service.

Online condolences may be made at mullinsfuneral-home3@verizon.net.

ELZIE PHIPPSCLINTWOOD

Elzie Phipps, age 83, passed away Thursday, June 13,2013 at Heritage Hall Health Care of Clintwood.

Born in Clintwood, he was the son of the late Edward“Eddie” and Rachael Mullins Phipps. He worked 42 yearsin the coal industry with several years for Clinchfield CoalCompany. He was a member of the Clintwood Church ofChrist.

He was preceded in death by his parents; his wife,Patsy Ruth Phipps; a daughter, Sandra Rhea; a son, ElliottCurwood Phipps; his brothers, Roley, Poley and DavidPhipps; and his sisters Draxie, Ruby and Lena.

He is survived by his son, Randall Phipps and wifeMargaret of Clintwood; three daughters, Rosanna P.Sellers and husband Walter, of Hudson, Fla., Vonda J.Strouth of Clintwood and Rebecca Phipps Deasy and hus-band Kevin of Pittsburgh, Penn.; eight grandchildren,eight great-grandchildren and five step-grandchildren; aspecial friend, Willetta Salyer; along with a host of otherrelatives and friends.

Funeral services for Elzie Phipps were conducted at 2p.m. Saturday, June 15, 2013 at Clintwood Funeral HomeChapel with Shirley Mullins officiating.

Burial followed at the Phipps Memorial Cemetery,Main Street Clintwood. Pallbearers were members of the

family. The family received friends Friday evening prior to a

song service at 7 p.m.Online condolones may be sent to clintwoodfuneral-

home.com.

CARD OF THANKS

The family of Ralph Steele wishes to thank everyonefor the food, flowers and donations to the Haysi Fire andRescue Squad. Special thanks to Jim O’Quinn andGrundy VFW Post #7360 for the services. Most of all, weappreciate our family and friends for being with us.Thanks to the Haysi Funeral Home.

JoAnn, Eddie, Tim, Chris and family

CARD OF THANKS

The family of Virginia Lyall would like to thank every-one for their prayers, kindness and words of comfortshown to us during our loss.

Thanks to all who brought food, sent flowers, madedonations, visited and called. Thanks to preachers JackTaylor and Tim Mullins, the Ramey Flat Singers, GospelLights and Karen O’Quinn.

Thanks to Mullins Funeral Home and staff. Thanks toDickenson County Home Health. May God bless each andeveryone of you.

The Lyall family

CARD OF THANKS

Ona Mae Kiser, daughter Christina Turner andMichelle Clyne and grandchildren would like to thankeveryone for all their kindness shown to us during the lossof our loved one, Roy Kiser.

PAGE 4 ■ WEDNESDAY, JUNE 26, 2013 ■ THE DICKENSON STAR

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RICHMOND (AP) —The Virginia Departmentof Transportation plans toaward a contract in July forthe second phase of a high-way that will link theCoalfields Expressway toKentucky.

Gov. Bob McDonnellsays in a news release thatthe department receivedauthorization on Fridayfrom the CommonwealthTransportation Board toaward the $108 milliondesign-build contract toRapoca Energy.

Rapoca Energy will pre-

pare a road bed to roughgrade for a 6-mile sectionof the U.S. Route 460Connector in BuchananCounty. The first segmentis under construction.

Transportation depart-ment spokeswomanMichelle Earl tells theBristol Herald Courier thatanother contract will beawarded later to a compa-ny to pave the connector.

When completed, thefour-lane CoalfieldsExpressway will run fromWise County to RaleighCounty, W.Va.

Buchanan expresswayconnector to begin

Beware of Medicare phone scamsThe area Senior Medicare Patrol

Program warns Medicare beneficiar-ies and caregivers about recent com-plaints of suspicious telemarketingto beneficiaries in many regions ofVirginia.

Scam artists are pretending to befrom Medicare and asking benefici-aries for their bank information inorder to receive their new Medicarecard and/or their Medicare benefits,

according to a press release fromAppalachian Agency for SeniorCitizens.

Medicare beneficiaries need to beaware of callers claiming to be fromMedicare asking for Medicare infor-mation and banking information inorder to receive their “new”Medicare card and Medicare bene-fits. These calls are a scam.Medicare never makes calls offering

supplies or services, nor do they calland request Medicare numbers.

“The number one rule is NOT toprovide any personal informationsuch as your Medicare number, bankaccount or credit card informationover the phone,” the release states.

If you think you have been a tar-get of a scam, report it to the VirginiaSMP program at 1-800-938-8885 orvisit www.virginiasmp.org.

Forest advisory committeeseeking new members

The U.S. Forest Serviceis seeking individuals toserve on a resource advi-sory committee for theGeorge Washington andJefferson National Forests.

RAC members willreview and recommendprojects that benefitnational forest resourcesas part of the Secure RuralSchools and CommunitySelf-Determination Act.

Counties may elect toreceive payments tied tothe amount of national for-est lands (and other fac-tors) in their county bor-ders. Counties may desig-nate a portion of the fundsto projects benefiting for-est lands. Title II of the actrequires that a RAC is cre-ated to review and recom-mend projects for imple-mentation.

The current RAC hasrecommended over$530,000 and 27 projectsto the Forest Service,including the creation ofan access park for theCowpasture River, replac-ing culverts and repairingforest roads and improvingfish habitat at DouthatState Park.

The RAC is comprisedof 15 members and three

alternates who reside inVirginia and represent awide array of interests.The U.S. secretary of agri-culture appoints RACmembers to a four-yearterm. Special attention isgiven to those whodemonstrate the ability towork collaboratively withothers of different view-points, display a dedica-tion to serving the commu-nity’s interests and haveactive participation in cur-rent natural resourceissues.

RAC members coordi-nate closely with theForest Service and countyofficials to review and rec-ommend proposed landmanagement projects inparticipating counties,monitor the projects andprovide advice to theForest Service. Committeemembers will review proj-ects that improve themaintenance of existinginfrastructure, implementstewardship objectivesthat enhance forest ecosys-tems and restore andimprove land, health andwater quality.

All projects must beapproved by the GeorgeWashington and Jefferson

National Forests supervi-sor and are forwarded tothe secretary of agriculturefor final approval.Meetings are typicallyheld two or three times peryear at the forest supervi-sor’s office in Roanoke.

To be eligible, mem-bers must fall under one ormore of the followingthree categories:

■ CATEGORY A –Five regular members andone replacement who rep-resent one or more of thefollowing interests:Organized labor or non-timber forest product har-vester groups; developedoutdoor recreation, off-highway vehicle users, orcommercial recreationactivities; energy and min-eral development, or com-mercial or recreationalfishing groups; commer-cial timber industry; feder-al grazing permit or otherland use permit holders, orrepresentative of non-industrial private forestland owners.

■ CATEGORY B –Five regular members andone replacement who rep-resent one or more of thefollowing interests:Nationally recognized

environmental organiza-tions; regionally or locallyrecognized environmentalorganizations; dispersedrecreational activities;archaeology and history;nationally or regionallyrecognized wild horse andburro interest, wildlife orhunting organizations, orwatershed associations.

■ CATEGORY C –Five regular members andone replacement who rep-resent one or more of thefollowing interests: Holdstate-elected office; holdcounty or local-electedoffice; American Indiantribes within or adjacent tothe area for which thecommittee is organized;area school officials orteachers; affected public atlarge.

Questions regardingserving on the VirginiaResource AdvisoryCommittee should bedirected to MichaelWilliams atmrwilliams04@fs.fed.usor 540/265-5173.Applications for RACmembership, as well as acomplete list of past year’sprojects are availableonline atwww.fs.fed.us/r8/gwj/.

This is Jalisa’s 1st time winning this award and we know thatshe has worked very hard to earn this distinction. Jalisa isconsistently one of our top performers and we’re confidentthat she will win it again. We want to thank Jalisa for herdedication and hard work and we wish her continued success.

Serco in Clintwood, VA would like to recognize ourEmployee of the Month for May... Jalisa Gilmore. Jalisais pictured here with her Supervisor, Sonja Smith (left)

and Team Lead, Ashley Salyers (right).

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PUBLIC NOTICEThe Board of Building Code Appeals will meet July 11, 2013, at11:00 a.m. for its biannual meeting. The meeting will be held inthe conference room of the double-wide behind the Courthouse.

Authorized by: G. David Moore, Jr., County Administrator

Letters • Commentary • Personal Observations

PAGE 6

WEDNESDAY ■ JUNE 26, 2013

TheDickenson Star

The Dickenson StarPUBLISHED WEEKLY, EVERY WEDNESDAY BY AMERICAN HOMETOWN PUBLISHING, P.O. BOX 707, CLINTWOOD, VA. 24228 276-926-8816

★ Editor: Paula Tate★ Staff Writer: Teresa Mullins

★ Sports Editor: : Kevin Mays★ Advertising Representative: Candacee Sutherland

★ Bookkeeper: Georgette Hamilton

Broadband: an American infrastructure successBY PHIL KERPEN

The stories about the declining state ofAmerican infrastructure are everywhere— road and bridges, airports, railways,water and sewer systems. There’s neverenough money and we’re always beingforced as taxpayers to pay more. But thereis one type of infrastructure that has had aremarkable boom: broadband Internet.It’s been driven by hands-off governmentpolicies that have allowed intense compe-tition between cable, phone, and wirelessproviders to drive innovation and invest-ment. We need to appreciate this successand resist calls for government intrusionthat could disrupt it.

For years we’ve heard that the U.S.was falling behind other developed coun-tries in broadband. It was never an apple-

to-apples comparison, however, givenhow large and rural the United States is.Nonetheless, the various internationalcomparisons, despite their flaws, haveoften been seized upon as a pretext to jus-tify proposed large-scale governmentintrusion in the broadband market.

Fortunately, the international data —even with their limitations — now tell avery different story. Since the economiccrisis, large-scale private investment inthe United States has propelled hugegains while more government-dependentnetworks in Europe and elsewhere havestagnated.

Richard Bennett, a network engineer

and senior fellow at the InformationTechnology and Innovation Foundation(ITIF), recently wrote in the New YorkTimes that in just the last three years,broadband speeds in the U.S. have dou-bled. Bennett’s research also revealed thatover 96 percent of U.S. households nowhave access to wired broadband, andprices for entry-level plans are the third-lowest in the world.

The research is drawn from a studyBennett coauthored with two of his ITIFcolleagues, which also found that 88.6percent of U.S. households that have acomputer subscribe to broadband, thatAmerica leads the world in adoption ofmobile broadband, and that on overallspeed we’ve improved from 22nd in 2009to eighth in the third quarter of 2012 —despite the fact that we rank just 27th of

34 in population density (among OECDcountries).

Consumers enjoy a tremendous rangeof broadband choices. A robust 89 percentof Americans have a choice of five ormore broadband providers. And 96 per-cent of households have access to cablemodem service, versus an OECD averageof just 60 percent. Since 1996, cable com-panies have invested $200 billion in infra-structure development, and are presentlyinvesting about $13 billion per year.

Our mobile broadband success, in par-ticular, is even more striking. On his wayout, former FCC chairman JuliusGenachowski bragged: “The U.S. is nowthe envy of the world in advanced wire-less networks, devices, applications,

Kerpen

BY GLENN GANNAWAY★ STAFF WRITER

Every time the heat’s on, the federal governmentgoes looking for Jimmy Hoffa.

I’m just joking, of course. It’s certainly a mean-ingless coincidence that the FBI is out industriously(and famously) digging for the remains of theTeamsters Union boss, who’s been missing since1975, at the same time a cute little domestic spyingscandal is peaking.

I’m on holiday this week, and since I don’t travel,I could conceivably spend the waking hour of everyday amusing myself by looking for correlationsbetween past government scandals and hastily gener-ated diversions, like searches for Jimmy Hoffa’sbody, which was once rumored to be buried under theend zone of Giants Stadium in New Jersey.

But the reapparance of Hoffa — sorry, paranormalfans — is pure coincidence, of course.

Interestingly, though, Russia is back in the newsand we’re hearing talk of “proxy wars” being playedout in Syria, just in time to get people’s minds off thefederal internet spies. Just like the good ol’ days whena bottle of pop was a quarter and the scowling face ofLeonid Brezhnev was on the nightly news . . . night-ly.

Russia and its incarnation as the Soviet Union wasour most reliable diversion throughout the latter halfof the 20th century. Those of us of a certain ageremember fallout shelters and the proxy wars thatwere played out in exotic locales such as Vietnam and. . . well, yeah, in Afghanistan, a proxy war that nevergot a lot of attention back in the 1970s for one but agame we’re paying for dearly now.

For our generation, the world was always about tocome to an end, and it was the fault of that land massthat dominates the eastern hemisphere of the globejust as the continental United States dominates thewestern hemisphere.

Yeah, it was a horror show. The best horror moviesare often projections onto the screen of the fears weharbor deep in our minds. Similarly with the old East-West rivalry: enmity between the United States andthe Soviet Union ran so deep because there were somany similarities. “They’re just alike, that’s why theyhate each other.” Haven’t you ever heard that said, orsaid it yourself, about two people who find it impos-sible to get along or even spend time in the sameroom? “They’re just alike . . .” — it’s a common con-

J. Hoffa storiesdivert us easily

G a n n a w a y

PLEASE SEE KERPEN, PAGE 7

★ Publisher/Executive Editor: Jenay Tate

PLEASE SEE GANNAWAY, PAGE 7SEE LETTER, PAGE 7

Let ter

Take partin localcancerproject

To the Editor:We often wish we had

an opportunity to trulymake a difference for theindividuals we know whohave been touched by can-cer and for our future gen-erations.

Last night theAmerican Cancer Societyhosted an informationalmeeting for area residentsto learn how they can per-sonally commit to thefight against cancer byenrolling in the Society’sCancer Prevention Study(CPS-3). CPS-3 offerseveryone an opportunityto be part of an historiccancer research study tohelp better understand thepotential lifestyle, envi-ronmental, genetic orbehavioral factors thatmay cause or prevent can-cer.

Thanks to a partnershipbetween the AmericanCancer Society, WellmontCancer Institute, includingthe Southwest VirginiaCancer Center, and theYWCA of Bristol, resi-dents have an opportunityto enroll in this regionalstudy Aug. 6-9, 2013. Iurge community membersto enroll in the study.Anyone between the agesof 30 and 65 who hasnever been diagnosed withcancer (excluding basal orsquamous cell skin can-

Clean coal technologies may be light at end of tunnel

BY MORGAN GRIFFITH★ NINTH DISTRICT REPRESENTATIVE

As the war on coal drags on, thePresident is proposing even more regula-tions that will negatively impact the coalindustry, its jobs, and the economy ofSouthwest Virginia. Rest assured that Iwill do everything that I can to stopunreasonable regulations.

Now we all want affordable energythat is clean and efficient. If we can con-vince this Administration to no longerlook at coal as a four-letter word, theycan get what they want and we can getwhat we want. That is, clean-burningcoal that doesn’t negatively impact theenvironment and that, in the process,doesn’t destroy the economy ofSouthwest Virginia.

Those who fight on the side of coalmay have a new weapon. We now haveresearch from Dr. Liang-Shih Fan at TheOhio State University (OSU) that I hopewill turn the tide of history in favor ofclean, affordable energy, including coal.

Dr. Fan is a professor of chemical andbiomolecular engineering at OSU, wherehe is also the director of the university’sClean Coal Research Laboratory. Overthe last 15 years, Dr. Fan and a team ofresearchers have been developing a newclean-coal technology that extracts the

energy out of coal with virtually no pol-lutants.

In this method – known as “coal-directchemical looping (CDCL)” or simply“chemical looping” – the coal is groundinto a fine powder. Also needed in thechemical reaction are small iron oxidebeads, which carry oxygen.

When the coal particles and the metalbeads are heated to temperatures of about1,650 °F, the coal’s carbon binds with thebeads’ oxygen and forms pure carbondioxide. The carbon dioxide floats up andis captured, able to be recycled or stored.

This leaves behind hot iron beads andcoal ash. The beads are separated fromthe coal ash – the coal ash is removed,and the beads are sent to a different areawhere they react with air and produceheat energy. This heat energy boils waterand produces steam which, in turn, isused to produce electricity.

Exposed to oxygen, the iron beadsrust, and are eventually returned to thefirst area to be combined again with newcoal particles. This is where the “loop-ing” in “chemical looping” comes into

Gri f f i th

PLEASE SEE GRIFFITH, PAGE 7

VICKI SMITHASSOCIATED PRESS

JULIAN, W.Va. (AP) —Orange flames lick at theroof of the coal mine, heatbuilding and visibilitydropping as smoke beginsto fill the underground pas-sageway. Then, with thepush of a few buttons on ahand-held remote, theflames flicker out, thesmoke dissipates and thelights come on. The roar offire is replaced by the trick-le of nearby water.

This is the magic of theRunning Right LeadershipAcademy, a $23 milliontraining complex dedicatedto teaching miners how toavoid injury and death inany disaster, and in one ofthe most dangerous workenvironments. AlphaNatural Resources calls itthe only facility of its kindin the world, a place wherecrises can be created butcontrolled, giving minersrealistic preparation for theday they hope will nevercome.

Born of a landmark$210 million settlementwith the U.S. Departmentof Justice over the UpperBig Branch mine disaster,the academy officiallyopened Thursday. Virginia-based Alpha gave TheAssociated Press exclusiveaccess as it ramped up foropening day.

The goal is to prepareevery employee for a crisis“so they’re not experienc-ing it for the very first timewhen it happens,” saysCheryl Stapleton, Alpha’sdirector of learning anddevelopment.

“You need to know howto operate safely, but pro-ductively and efficiently,”she says. “In today’s eco-nomic challenges, we thinkthat’s what’s going to benecessary to really drivethis business forward.”

The center has virtualsimulators to learn weldingand how to run the continu-ous mining machine ordrive the oversized dump

trucks at surface mines.From nearby computermonitors and keyboards,instructors throw out haz-ards the operators willeventually encounter, fromrain, fog and mud to enginefires and tire blowouts.

To help miners feelcomfortable and concen-trate on learning, Alpha hasused things from the under-ground environment in thedecor. Rusty roof boltingplates are anchored into theceiling of the lobby, wherea dryer basket from a coalpreparation plant is toppedwith glass for a coffee tableand industrial plugs havebeen fashioned into chan-deliers.

The floors mimic wornwood so no one worriesabout scuffing them.Classrooms are named aftercoal seams and identifiedwith the control panelsfrom equipment. Mineexaminers scrawl the date,time and their initials on along charcoal-gray wallwhen they finish class —the same way they signtheir inspection books.

But the crown jewel is a96,000-square-foot simula-tion coal mine, which isslightly smaller than anaverage Wal-Mart.Instructors can create fire,floods, roof falls, workerinjuries and more. Its wallsare metal and it sits above-ground, but it mimics a realmine — one with built-infloor drains and fans, andsurveillance cameras sopeople can watch from aclassroom.

For now, the 10-acrecomplex in southern WestVirginia is open only toAlpha employees — asmany as 200 a day byyear’s end. But in time,other companies will usethe facility federal prosecu-tors say assembles theworld’s best technology inone place.

“Until you see it,” saidU.S. Attorney BoothGoodwin, “you really can’tgrasp how important it is.”

Rescue teams have long

conducted tabletop exercis-es, practiced in mock minesthe size of two classroomsor competed in open fieldsusing maps and string torepresent tunnels. Now,they can rehearse in a labwith eight entries and sevencrosscuts, tunnels that mir-ror a working mine down tothe 20- by 20-foot “pillars”holding up the roof.

“What’s going to takeplace here is, quite honest-ly, the best mine-rescuepractice you could beinvolved in,” said DaveGreen, captain of Alpha’sCoal River East mine-res-cue team, who will use thefacility to practice. “It’svery exciting.”

Keith Hainer, seniorvice president of Alpha’soperations performancegroup, said the scenariosAlpha can create will belimited only by instructors’imaginations.

“I am very confident itwill save lives and reduceaccidents and injuries,” hesaid. But the academy ismore than a training center.It’s good business. Fewerviolations and accidentsmean fewer interruptions toproduction and a fatter bot-tom line. It’s also a criticalcomponent of changing aculture.

“It’s a tangible, outwardsign of the commitment wethink we’re making,” saidKevin Crutchfield, chiefexecutive officer of thenation’s third-largest coalsupplier and the companythat bought what was longconsidered the industry badboy, the former MasseyEnergy Co.

Massey owned UpperBig Branch when a mas-sive explosion rippedthrough its undergroundcorridors in 2010, killing29 men in the worst U.S.coal mining disaster in 40years.

The blast was preventa-ble: Four investigationsfound that worn and brokencutting equipment created aspark that ignited accumu-lations of coal dust and

methane gas. Broken andclogged water sprayersallowed what should havebeen a minor flare-up tobecome an inferno.

The federal Mine Safetyand Health Administrationsaid the root cause wasMassey’s “systematic,intentional and aggressiveefforts” to conceal life-threatening problems.Managers even maintainedtwo sets of pre-shift inspec-tion books — an accurateone for themselves, and asanitized one for regulators.

MSHA said miners whodared question hazardswere threatened with firing.

Crutchfield says Alphahas invested tens of thou-sands of hours in replacinga culture of fear with one ofrespect. Since the Masseybuyout in June 2011,employees have turned inmore than 1 million anony-mous cards to report con-cerns.

“When they see you lis-ten to that voice, you beginto see a culture where thefear is erased,” he said. “It’sabout trust. We want peopleto believe and know theyare empowered to make thecall, and if it’s unsafe,they’ll do that.

“It’s easy to say that,”Crutchfield said, “and it’sanother thing to actuallybuild a culture.”

MSHA chief Joe Mainsays the numbers tell thestory: From 2007 through2009, MSHA had 14Massey mines listed aspotential pattern violators,a label assigned to minessingled out for higherscrutiny because of chronicsafety problems.

In 2010, four Masseymines made the list. By2011, only one Masseyoperation was on the list,and last year, none met thecriteria.

Alpha runs 55 minesand 18 preparation plants inWest Virginia, and about 45mines and seven loadoutfacilities in Virginia,Kentucky, Pennsylvaniaand Wyoming. It still has

problems, Main said, withthree fatalities since theMassey takeover.

However, “I thinkthere’s a cultural shift thatwe’re beginning to see takeshape with those numbers,”he said. “There’s a lot oftrends that are showing thatmine safety is going in theright direction, and Alphaseems to be a part of that.”

In a real mine, instruc-tors can’t knowingly createa hazard to test their work-ers’ ability to recognize andfix it. Here, they can createa roof fall, tear down a ven-tilation curtain or place adummy under a shuttle car.

They will, Stapletonsays, push miners to theiremotional and physicallimits — but flip on thelights if someone panics.

The continuing criminalprobe of Upper Big Branchhas put two former mineofficials behind bars, and athird awaits sentencing.Prosecutors appear to be

moving up the laddertoward former CEO DonBlankenship but won’tcomment on either theirtargets or timeline.

The settlement sparedAlpha criminal prosecutionand wiped out 370 viola-tions related to the disasterbut kept individuals on thehook. Alpha agreed to pay$35 million in fines andinvest $80 million in safetytraining and the deploy-ment of state-of-the-artsafety equipment in itsmines.

“We wanted to not justhave the company write acheck to the governmentand go on down the road,”said Assistant U.S.Attorney Steve Ruby, “butto use it as a constructiveopportunity to really inno-vate in the area of minesafety.”

The mine lab, he said, is“exactly the sort of thingwe were hoping to accom-plish.”

play.For nine days – 203

continuous hours – Dr. Fanand students at OSU ranthis chemical loopingprocess, producing heatfrom coal while also cap-turing nearly 100 percentof the carbon dioxide pro-duced.

According to a pressrelease from OSU, “doctor-al student Elena Chungexplained, the 203-hourexperiment could havecontinued even longer.

“‘We voluntarily choseto stop the unit. Honestly, itwas a mutual decision byDr. Fan and the students. Itwas a long and tiring weekwhere we all shared shifts,’she says.”

Amazing. So what hap-pens next with this excitingadvancement in clean-coaltechnologies?

I had the opportunity tospeak with Dr. Fan recent-ly, and expressed my sup-port and enthusiasm for hiswork. I am grateful to The

Ohio State University forembracing Dr. Fan’sresearch efforts, and to theDepartment of Energy(DOE), the NationalEnergy TechnologyLaboratory, and Dr. Fan’sindustrial collaborators –Babcock & Wilcox,ClearSkies, CONSOLEnergy, Air Products, andShell-CRI - for recognizingthe potential and investingtheir resources in Dr. Fan’sresearch.

A pilot plant is beingbuilt in Wilsonville,Alabama, at the NationalCarbon Capture Center thatwill test a similar chemicallooping process also devel-oped by Dr. Fan and histeam. In this process thecoal is converted to a com-bination of carbon monox-ide, methane, and othergases – a mixture known as‘syngas’ – which thenreacts with iron to produceenergy and capture carbondioxide.

These technologies lookvery promising. What weend up with is pure carbon

dioxide only, which wemust then deal with.According to my conversa-tion with Dr. Fan, his tech-nology makes the ‘carboncapture process’ 60 percentcheaper.

Many of you alreadyknow that my vision forour nation’s energy policyis straightforward – drill,dig, discover, and deregu-late. We must use thesources we have to unleashour energy potential. Coal,natural gas, oil, wind, solar– whatever the source maybe, if it’s economical, let’sdiscover a way to harvestit. Dr. Fan’s clean-coaltechnologies appear to beone of the discoveries with

great promise.These are exciting

developments in clean-coaltechnology that I look for-ward to monitoring. Restassured that I will keep youinformed, and will contin-ue working to secure ourenergy future and, in turn,return jobs to the NinthDistrict.

As always, if you havequestions, concerns, orcomments, feel free to callmy Abingdon office at 276-525-1405 or myChristiansburg office at540-381-5671. To reachmy office by email, pleasevisit my website atwww.morgangriffith.house.gov.

THE DICKENSON STAR ■ WEDNESDAY, JUNE 26, 2013 ■ PAGE 7

among other areas.”He went on to recite the key facts. We’re in the only

country deploying LTW technology on a wide-scale, withas many LTE subscribers as the rest of the world com-bined. Wireless network investment grew more than 40percent from 2009 to 2012, from $21 billion to $30 billion— while investment in Europe has been flat. And theboom in wireless broadband investment has created 1.6million jobs since 2007 — the brightest spot in our dimeconomy.

Europe knows we’re beating them. Neelie Kroes,Vice-President of the European Commission responsiblefor the Digital Agenda, said earlier this year: “Once,Europe led the world in wireless communication: now wehave fallen behind. Europe needs to regain that lead.”

We shouldn’t give them the chance. The policy formu-la that has driven U.S. broadband dominance has beenbased on facilities-based competition with a light regula-tory touch. It allowed U.S. broadband providers to makeinvestment decisions based on market realities and pro-vided consumers with a range of choices few other coun-tries enjoy.

Nonetheless, left-wing special interests continue toagitate for imposing old-fashioned monopoly-style regu-lation on broadband Internet. But heavy-handed regula-tions would depress private investment and make broad-band infrastructure largely dependent on subsidies fromtaxpayers — the same tapped out taxpayers alreadystraining to maintain transportation and water infrastruc-ture. Congress and the FCC should ignore the left-wingideologues and continue the free-market approach that isworking so well.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6

Kerpen

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6

Griffith

cer) and is willing to be apart of a long-term study isencouraged to enroll inCPS-3.

Visit cps3swva.org orcall 1-888/604-5888 todayto schedule your enroll-ment appointment between7-11:30 a.m. on Aug. 9 atthe Southwest VirginiaCancer Center or other

dates, times and locationsin Bristol and Kingsport,Tenn.

If you are not eligible toparticipate in the study,you can still make animpact by telling everyoneyou know about CPS-3 andasking them to enroll now!

Judi Wade American Cancer

Society

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6

Letter

versational trope, overheard in anylaundrymat, retail store or bar, andit’s often right on the mark.

Both Russia and the United States,after all, were and remain mass states,each containing myriad nationalities.Mass states require particularlyforceful ideologies to glue all thosemismatched parts together. And itseems to have worked, although for

the life of me I can’t see — admitted-ly, this is a rough historical compari-son — how we brought the Apachesand the Russians brought theCossacks on board.

It’s enough to say that power’s gotto keep the narrative humming alongor else aim a tank barrel at people’sheads, because mass states are aboutas far from a natural arrangement ofthings as you could get.

So now Vladimir Putin has

absconded with the owner of the NewEngland Patriot’s Super Bowl ringand Jimmy Hoffa’s remains, accord-ing to a Mafia tipster’s story to theFBI, are to be found in the wilds ofMichigan.

And we all stare wide-eyed for aslong as the footlights are shining,especially when it comes to SuperBowl rings, football field end zonesand anything else connected with ourmost successful diversion.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6

Gannaway

Alpha mine safety lab makes disasters for training

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