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It's time to focus on drug suppliers THE WAY I SEE IT Marty Backus A lot of bad press is going against Massey Energy and it's boss Don Blankenship right now following the mine fatality at Melville. This always seems to be the case in matters like this when it has to do with coal mining. And it doesn't have to be that way. However, until the coal industry and the news media find some way of communicating it's always going to be the media beating up on the companies. First off the reporter who is gathering the news generally doesn't know the first thing about the coal industry and they take any bit of information they can dig up from anywhere. It's usually not from a coal company official because they have no trust in the media, which means they keep themselves away from providing facts - on any subject, whether it be good or bad for the coal industry. It's a shame both sides can't get together and air their grievances and come to some understanding. Maybe the media can learn more about what a coal operation is and not be so critical in their reporting. There's two sides to every story which I think reporters often miss in getting the company's side. However, you can't get the facts when the information door is always closed. For example, it's practically impossible for the local coal region news media to get an audience with the coal bosses, such as Don L. Blankenship, the chief executive of Massey. But let the Wall Street Journal from New York City come along and they appear to get anything they want, such as a front page story in their Feb. 13 issue. As I've written before The Appalachian News- Express is not an enemy of the coal companies. All we want is a dialog with them, and it appears that's not in the cards. -- Last month I was critical of Martin Luther King's birthday holiday always being on a Monday each and every year. I said if its got to be a holiday let it be on the actual day of his birth, but the government likes those long weekends. The media, especially the Lexington paper, goes all out honoring Dr. King. That's all right, but when George Washington and Abraham Lincoln's birthdays come what is in their paper? Nothing but advertising for special presidential sales. Another long government holiday has been created on another Monday and they call it President's Day. But it honors all presidents, good or bad. To me and many more in this country, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln have been downgraded to where their importance to this country is less than Dr. King's. And the way I see it, that's very very far from the truth. If there's some out there who think what I just said is racist so be it. That's just the way I feel. -- Can you believe that Friday, gasoline prices in Pike County were about 10 to 20 cents cheaper than Floyd County? It's true, I saw it myself. What's happening? -- Pikeville has a brand-new motel. It's the “Holiday Inn Express” located on Rt. 23 south beside the Island Creek Bridge. The grand opening was held last week and many dignataries and citizens turned out. Incidently, it was the biggest grand opening the company has ever experienced. I met with one of the co-owners, Ron Centers of London, and talked with him for about 30 minutes. He hopes to work out things to where the vacant restaurant next door can be torn down and a 50-room Best Western built in that location. But this is just in the planning stage. If you remember my column from a couple of weeks ago where I wrote about the drug screening problems with folks applying for jobs here at the paper. Either they refuse to take the test and when they do a large percentage flunk the drug test. As I reported, this seems to be too common in other area businesses. Same problem at the new motel. Over 90 percent of those applying for a job either refused the test or flunked it. Folks, we've got to do something about this plague and I think it can only be done by cutting the heads off the big important drug suppliers. And that may be easier said than done because some of them may be your more visible leading citizens. -- I guess the Pike County School Board will be selecting a search team to find a replacement for the current school superintendent Frank Welch, who announced he is retiring this June. Apparently his announcement caught the board flat-footed and now they might be scrambling around trying to locate a qualified person to fill Frank's shoes, and they're big shoes to fill. Will the new super be a Pike Countian or not? Only time will tell. -- Did you notice last week the absence of the message board on the cross-way at Pikeville College. I missed it the first day they were gone. However, it appears new message boards at the time of this writing are now being installed. And they seem to be bigger ones. -- Got an e-mail from a person last week stating that the city of Pikeville removed some signs “from the cluttered hillside at the intersection near KFC.” They added it looks much better but question why two signs are allowed to still remain. What we've found out is that the signs that were removed were taken down by state highway workers because they were on the state right-of-way. The two that remain are slightly up the hill, so they are standing on private property. Contact Publisher Marty Backus at mbackus@news-expressky.com.
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