True Leadership Inspires Others To Follow

W.Va. Governor Joe Manchin proposed and and state legislators quickly passed a series of laws last week to strengthen coal mine safety in light of the Sago and Alma disasters. Here's CBS on this and other developments.

West Virginia's aggressive leadership has prompted others to take action. Legislators in Illinois are moving to follow suit, reports WQAD-TV of Moline, Ill. Ohio is looking at doing something to strengthen state mine safety protections, too, says the Cincinnati Enquirer. And Pennsylvania, according to the Uniontown Herald-Standard.

Fantastic, some overnments are are taking action without waiting for a preventable death under their own jurisdiction -- an uncommon spectacle.

Meanwhile, after promising to do so since 2003, the federal Administration apparently has sent in proposed legislation to raise MSHA fines: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. MSHA also got its injunction MSHA requiring ICG to allow UMWA miners' representatives to accompany the mine investigators underground. (See CBS above.)

Also of note, the Courier-Journal is homing in on the subject of unpaid mine safety penalties, one issue that didn't get raised at last week's wide-ranging appropriations subcommittee hearing.