Host, West Virginia MetroNews' 'Talkline'
Vice President of Operations for West Virginia MetroNews and host of its Talkline
PROFILE
Hoppy Kercheval
Guest
FROM Hoppy Kercheval
To the Point
Coal: A Necessary Evil? Twenty-five miners are known to have died in this week's massive explosion at the Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia. The effort to rescue four men still unaccounted for may be a lost cause. Even before this week's tragedy, the Obama Administration took aim at surface coal mining with a new set of environmental regulations. The loss of human life in the Upper Big Branch mine will likely produce new safety measures for methane gas deep underground. The coal industry and miners themselves claim new rules threaten their economic survival. Can coal mining be made safer and cleaner, or does America's appetite for energy mean putting up with so-called "hidden costs?"
To the Point
The Upper Big Branch Mine Disaster Twenty-five people are dead and four others are missing in America's worst coal mining disaster in 25 years. As miners' families struggle with their tragedies, state and federal officials promise investigations. Kevin Stricklin, who runs the US Mine Safety and Health Administration says, “We know the mine wasn't operating safely or we wouldn't have had an explosion.” Hoppy Kercheval, host West Virginia MetroNews ' Talkline, has more on local attitudes toward the Upper Big Branch Mine and the Massey Energy Company .
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To the Point
The longest US war: Will Trump send more troops to Afghanistan? The Trump White House is divided over the Pentagon's request for more troops in Afghanistan—where the US has been fighting for the past 16 years. Is there a formula -- either for "victory" or a political settlement? Is there an end in sight for America's longest war?
To the Point
Replacing Obamacare: Now you see it… now you don’t As the Senate deliberates replacing Obmacare, health coverage for millions of people is at stake. There've been no public hearings, and a draft measure won't be made public. Is the House version so unpopular that that Senate is hiding a version that looks much the same?
To the Point
Trump's new look at civil rights and global warming President Trump is reportedly ready to pull the US out of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. We look at the possible consequences. On the second half of the program, we hear about cuts in Obama-Era civil rights programs called for by the Trump Administration's first budget plan.