Nineteen states and the District of Columbia already prohibit all drivers from texting behind the wheel according to the Governors Highway Safety Association. Another 10 states restrict texting by novice drivers. Texting while driving may soon be illegal in Kentucky, if legislation moving in the 2010 General Assembly becomes law. The bill cleared its first major hurdle.

West Virginia’s three representatives have joined a new coal caucus in Congress. The group is made up of coal state members who hope to provide a more vocal voice for coal in Congress. Meanwhile, during a recent press conference West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin made a commitment to create an atmosphere for constructive and nonviolent debate to counteract months of protests and death threats in the coalfields.

For years, West Virginia was the only game in town for video lottery at the state’s horse and dog racetracks. But our neighboring states Pennsylvania, Ohio and Maryland are closing in on the state hoping to cash in on gaming revenues.

In 1962, Appalachian Power Company decided to look into the feasibility of building two dams on the New River to supply electricity to urban centers in the Northeast and Midwest. The pair of dams would have flooded more than 40,000 acres of VA and NC. A group of citizens who rose up to fight the dams eventually won. In September, 26.5 miles of the South Fork of the New River were designated “Wild and Scenic,” prohibiting anything like the Blue Ridge Project. A conservation organization called the National Committee for the New River grew out of that successful campaign and last year the group sponsored its first New River Expedition, paddling the river from Boone, NC, to Gauley Bridge, WV.