Apr 5, 2024 3 min read

Jeers: Greene County residents have plenty of reason to feel dismayed at Iron Senergy, the owners of the Cumberland Mine. Workers were sent home on March 19, and the company reportedly notified the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) of their intentions to shutter the mine. Cecil Roberts, president of the United Mine Workers International, said they were not informed about the mine possibly being closed, and that the mine itself was profitable. County officials also said they were left in the dark about the company’s intentions. Iron Senergy eventually said they were not permanently closing the mine, but temporarily shutting it down so elevated methane levels would fall. U.S. Sen. Bob Casey sent a letter to the owner and CEO of Iron Senergy urging them to make the company’s intentions clear to workers and county officials. As Casey stated in his letter, the company also has to explain why it submitted a proposal to shut down the mine to the MSHA.

Jeers: On Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Guy Reschenthaler got some attention for introducing a measure that would rename Dulles International Airport, located just outside Washington, D.C., for former President Trump. In a release, Reschenthaler said, “There is no better symbol of freedom, prosperity and strength than hearing ‘Welcome to Trump International Airport’ as they land on American soil.” It has exactly zero chance of happening, with Democrats in control of the Senate, Republicans barely controlling the House and Joe Biden in the White House. But setting aside whether you believe Trump is the best president in recent history, as Reschentahaler does, or the worst president ever, as a group of historians recently argued, there’s another point here that needs to be made – why should John Foster Dulles, who was secretary of state in the administration of President Dwight Eisenhower, and for whom the airport was named in 1962, be consigned to history’s dustbin? He helped guide the country through the worst days of the Cold War, and was committed to strengthening our alliances, particularly in Europe through NATO. Though he has been dead for almost 65 years, Dulles did a great deal to shape America as we know it today and his contributions should not be forgotten.

Cheers: On Tuesday afternoon, the Pittsburgh Pirates and the New York Yankees owned the best records in Major League Baseball. Both teams won the first five games of the season, and a couple of the Pirates’ wins were come-from-behind squeakers. It was the first time the Pirates had gotten off to such a good start in 41 years (the best start remains the team’s 1962 season, when it won its first 10 games), and it was powered by solid offense and strong pitching. Granted, the Pirates managed the wins over two teams – the Miami Marlins and the Washington Nationals – that could best be described as so-so, and a 162-game marathon will have plenty of good days and bad days. No question, it would be quite a feat for them to overcome National League powerhouses like the Los Angeles Dodgers or the Atlanta Braves. Still, the way the Pirates have started the season bodes well for how it will unfold.