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VANSANT, Va. -- Some 175 miners at three SunCoke Energy facilities were laid off today after their mines were idled, company officials announced this afternoon. The Dominion No. 36 mine and parts of the Dominion No. 7 and Dominion No. 30 mines have been idled, said Steve Carlson, spokesman for SunCoke. He said those mines are all in far Southwest Virginia. The move is a step in SunCoke's ultimate plan to exit the coal-production business, Carlson said. The announcement also included plans to reduce production at the Jewell Coke plant in Vansant. "At this point, the plan is to look...

In the span of four months, at least 94 children in 33 U.S. states have developed a devastating form of paralysis with symptoms similar to polio. Some require a ventilator to breathe. And some of the greatest government health minds in the country say they have no idea what’s causing it. At the same time, during the past four months, at least 12 children have died after falling ill with a respiratory virus called Enterovirus D-68 (EV-D68). Again, federal health officials are at a loss to explain the origin of the epidemic. Are the mysterious outbreaks linked? The Centers for...

The Legacy Lives On! Mark’s Lost Dog & Cat Rescue Foundation “Conservatism is the antidote to tyranny precisely because its principles are the founding principles.” --Mark Levin in Liberty and Tyranny Welcome to “The Levin Lounge”… Step in and have a virtual FRink.Taking the country by storm, one radio station at a time – and kicking the BUTTS of the competition! Welcome all, to the most FUN LIVE THREAD on FreeRepublic.com! You can call Mark’s show: 1-877-381-3811

Interestingly, they don’t specify that she’s going to re-report it *for Rolling Stone.* RS is supposedly revisiting the UVA story too but you would think at this point they’d want nothing more to do with Erdely, especially with her previous work for them and others newly under suspicion. What happens if they agree to let her “re-report” Jackie’s story for them and then her previous bombshell for the magazine begins falling apart under scrutiny?There are only two ways an Erdely mea culpa can go. She could in theory blame the whole thing on Jackie, but she won’t. “Rape culture” true...

Richmond, Va. (1140wrva.com) Look for gas prices in the area to fall below $2 in the near future. Local gas industry analyst John Zehler, President of wholesaler Virginia Fuels, is predicting under $2 pump prices as the free fall in crude prices continues. Zehler says the price plunge has been going on for 6 months and it's going to be hard to turn it around until demand catches up with production. He says some folks think, with the current trend, we could see gas fall to $1.60 by the summer but admits it wild speculation.

JOURNALISTS, SAYS Jorge Ramos, shouldn't make a fetish of accuracy and impartiality. Speaking last month at the International Press Freedom Awards, Univision's influential news anchor told his audience that while he has "nothing against objectivity," journalism is meant to be wielded as "a weapon for a higher purpose: justice." To be sure, he said, it is important to get the facts right — five deaths should be reported as five, not six or seven. But "the best of journalism happens when we, purposely, stop pretending that we are neutral and recognize that we have a moral obligation to tell truth...

“As God is my witness,” I did not want to write about Bill Clinton ever again. But he is a persistent cuss. Like Jack Torrance (Nicholson) said in The Shining, as he used an axe to chop through the door, “Little pigs, little pigs, let me in. Not by the hair of your chinny-chin-chin? Well then I'll huff and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house in.” Is there any doubt, by now, that Clinton (him) is equally persistent? That as long as he has life and breath he will continue to break into the present to upstage all other...

On Oprah's Wednesday 'voting party' show featuring very important celebrities like P. Diddy (Vote or Die!), Drew Barrymore, Christina Aguilera, svelte suffragette Cameron Diaz took to shock tactics to get the female vote out. After a discussion on lynching and the vote, Diaz spoke of the dire consequences for women if they sit out this election: Ms. DIAZ: We have a voice now, and we're not using it, and women have so much to lose. I mean, we could lose the right to our bodies. We could lo--if you think that rape should be legal, then don't vote. But if...

The young woman who introduced Jackie Coakley to journalist Sabrina Rubin Erdely used Jackie’s story to push a federal law eroding due process for men on college campuses. Emily Renda, a 2011 sociology major who wrote on Title IX and the campus rape myth for her college thesis, testified before a U.S. senate panel earlier this year. Here’s what she said in June.

<p>In a now-infamous Nov. 19 story in Rolling Stone, disgraced journalist Sabrina Rubin Erdely asserted that at least five members of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity gang-raped a freshman named Jackie at a frat house party, then left her in a bloodstained dress to exit via a conveniently vacant side staircase.</p>

Bill Cosby says he only expects the 'black media' to stay 'neutral' and give him a fair hearing over mounting rape claims. The 77-year-old said that African-American media should be impartial in reporting the allegations that he is a serial rapist. 'Let me say this. I only expect the black media to uphold the standards of excellence in journalism and when you do that you have to go in with a neutral mind,' Cosby told Page Six.

The first thing President Teresa Sullivan of the University of Virginia needs to do in the wake of what now appears to be a faux rape scandal is to apologize to the victims – that is, to the members of Phi Kappa Psi, who have been vilified, forced to move off campus into motels, and suffered suspicions even from family members and close friends. That would be the human and moral response. That Sullivan will not do so is nearly as certain as the chance of her taking false accusations as a matter that needs university attention. This is for...

Did you know that there’s been a massive uptick in white thugs setting black folks on fire, yet the media has been virtually silent on this horrendous subject? Sure, we all have heard of Darren Wilson's shooting Michael Brown, but there has been no coverage of the aforementioned. Like in zero… nada… nothing… zilch. What kind of racist “news outlets” would be so heinous to cover up such gross and unspeakable evil? Why haven’t the most powerful people in our government and the entertainment industry spoken out and condemned this obvious xenophobic act of viciousness? How come there has been...

Bill Cosby broke his silence Friday, albeit briefly, to lecture the media on remaining “neutral” and to say that his wife is standing by him. Reached at his Massachusetts home, the star declined to address the rape and sex abuse allegations from an ever-growing list of women that now includes supermodel Beverly Johnson. Instead, Cosby, 77, said that the African-American media — for which this reporter often writes — should be impartial. “Let me say this. I only expect the black media to uphold the standards of excellence in journalism and when you do that you have to go in...

What do Rolling Stone’s University of Virginia rape article and Senate CIA report have in common? Neither report talked to the accused. However, both also suffer from the same paralyzing component. Both reports' conclusions were determined before the facts were collected. Although each report touches on vastly different topics, they both expose a lack of unbiased critical thinking necessary for the honest, intellectual presentation of the facts. Both reports are a product of an “end justifies the means” philosophy, where the authors start with a desired conclusion and build the “facts” to support that end. Both reports are a demonstration...

There is one more bitter, tragic irony to Rolling Stone’s erroneous coverage of allegations of gang rape at the University of Virginia. Evidence is mounting that young women on the campus indeed faced a violent threat for a long time. It just didn’t come from fraternities or the student body. On September 13, 18-year-old University of Virginia student Hannah Graham disappeared; authorities recovered her remains from a rural part of Albemarle County, Va., on October 18. Police arrested Jesse Matthew Jr. on September 25, and he was charged in the disappearance of Graham. What’s astounding is how many young women...

The cromnibus had an unlikely savior Thursday afternoon in the form of a lame-duck lawmaker who used to raise reindeer. Rep. Kerry Bentivolio (R-Mich.), who lost his primary earlier this year, was originally among the conservative Republicans who voted against the rule. Without the help of Democrats, Republicans could only lose 17 of their own to pass the rule, which sets up floor debate for the underlying "cromnibus" spending bill. Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) intervened once there were 18 Republican defectors — and not a single Democrat voting "yes." Many Democrats will vote against the government spending measure because they...

Incoming Virginia congressman Dave Brat, whose historic GOP primary victory over then-House Majority Leader Eric Cantor shook up Washington’s power structure this summer, is blasting President Obama’s executive fiat on immigration reform as "morally vacuous" – while stopping short of calling for impeachment.

The Legacy Lives On! Mark’s Lost Dog & Cat Rescue Foundation “Conservatism is the antidote to tyranny precisely because its principles are the founding principles.” --Mark Levin in Liberty and TyrannyWelcome to “The Levin Lounge”… Step in and have a virtual FRink.Taking the country by storm, one radio station at a time – and kicking the BUTTS of the competition… it’s America’s Clean-Up Hitter! Welcome all, to the most FUN LIVE THREAD on FreeRepublic.com! You can call Mark’s show: 1-877-381-3811.

But after Barbara Bowman told her horrific story to the Washington Post in October and Johnson's longtime friend and fellow model Janice Dickinson did the same, Johnson knew the time had come. In her words: Finally, I reached the conclusion that the current attack on African American men has absolutely nothing to do at all with Bill Cosby. He brought this on himself when he decided he had the right to have his way with who knows how many women over the last four decades. If anything, Cosby is distinguished from the majority of black men in this country because...