AP:

A cave-in killed a miner in West Virginia's coal country, marking the second mine fatality in the area in a month.

The state is investigating the death Monday at the mine in Mingo County, about 80 miles southwest of Charleston, said Terry Farley of the state Office of Miners' Health, Safety and Training.

Calls to the mine's owner, Consol of Kentucky, were not immediately returned Tuesday morning.

Brent Reynolds, 35, of Virgie, Ky., was killed by a collapsing roof Monday afternoon, according to State Trooper P.A. Sparks. His death at the Bronzite Mine was the second at a Mingo County mine in less than a month. In August, a 24-year-old section foreman died after suffering head injuries at the Rockhouse Creek Development No. 8 Mine near Gilbert.

Yesterday Congressman George Miller asked Secretary Chao for "specific information about how the Department of Labor carried out its roles and responsibilities in overseeing mining activities" at Crandall Canyon.

Just today, Secretary Chao denied a request from miners at Crandall Canyon that the United Mine Workers represent them during the MSHA investigation of the accident. UMWA got answers for the victims of the Sago, and it looks like neither Elaine Chao nor Senator McConnell's friend Bob Murray want a repeat.

Bush recess appointee, Richard Stickler:

Sonny Olsen, families spokesperson said, "We are at the mercy of the officials in charge and their so-called experts."

Increasing attention is now being paid to Stickler, the federal government's main mine man.

Stickler used to be a mining executive who - according to various media reports - ran mines which had several fatalities and "...an incident rate that was often twice the national average."

The buck shouldn't stop with Stickler. As the Courier Journal editorialized back in March:

Mr. Stickler hasn't been in charge of the federal mine safety effort all that long, but Ms. Chao has been responsible for overseeing it during the entire Bush administration. And Sen. McConnell is supposed to have been looking out for miners during more than two decades in Washington.

Even if one wanted to lay all the blame on Stickler, Senator McConnell was his main champion in the Senate.

McConnell played a lead role in pushing the nomination of Richard Stickler, a mining-safety official, this week. Despite his efforts, the nomination was put on hold because of unexpectedly stout Democratic opposition.

Alexander Bolton, "McConnell prepares for top job," The Hill June 14, 2006

Here's McConnell arguing on the floor for Stickler's appointment:

It is my understanding that efforts are underway on both sides to get this legislation cleared, we hope, as soon as tomorrow. But there is one other thing we ought to do. I was looking at the Executive Calendar. I noticed that the MSHA, the Mine Safety and Health Administration, is without a Director, and not because the HELP Committee has not acted. On March 8, 2006, the HELP Committee reported out an individual from West Virginia to be Director of the Mine Safety and Health Administration. His nomination has been languishing on the calendar for 21⁄2 months. I can’t think of a worse time to have MSHA without a permanent Director than now. We have had a raft of coal mine deaths this year in West Virginia and Kentucky. With coal production up and coal prices up, it is a virtual certainty that more and more coal is going to be mined. Therefore, more and more miners will be involved in mining coal. We need a permanent Director of MSHA, and we need to pass the legislation I hope we will pass tomorrow.

I know there has been a hold on the MSHA Director nomination on the other side of the aisle. I have been told that there will be an objection yet again today. But I want to plead with those from the other side who may believe that this is not the perfect nominee— he is the nominee, nominated by the President, reported out of the HELP Committee. If he were to be drawn down and this whole process were to be started all over again, we wouldn’t have an MSHA Director for months and months into the future. We need a permanent Director of the Mine Safety and Health Administration.

Bearing that in mind, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to executive session for the consideration of Calendar No. 553, the nomination of Richard Stickler of West Virginia to be the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health; provided further that the nomination be confirmed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, the President be immediately notified of the Senate’s action, and the Senate resume legislative session.

Before the Chair rules, as I have indicated already, let me say again, this nominee has been reported out of the HELP Committee. He has been on the calendar since March 8 of this year. MSHA is without a permanent Director, and I would hope that my unanimous consent request will not be objected to.

Mitch McConnell, Congressional Record, S4861 May 22 2006.

In the Houston Chronicle:

Tim Thompson, who was an MSHA district manager at the time and now works as a safety specialist for several coal companies, would not talk about Murray, but took notes of the meeting. According to those notes, Murray warned inspectors to back off or face retribution.

"I will have your jobs. They are gone," Murray allegedly said. "The clock is ticking."

And: "Mitch McConnell calls me one of the five finest men in America, and the last I checked, he was sleeping with your boss." McConnell, a Republican senator from Kentucky, is married to U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao.