Judges and mine owners—true love—The Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed the case of Jerry Hall. Allegedly Hall was fired from his job as a miner in Kentucky by Consolidated Coal. He had taken photos of mine equipment to show how his co-worker, Carter Martin, who is seeking workers' comp, was injured on the job. While Martin's claim is pending, the court has upheld the firing of Hall for snapping photos.

How creative—“Los Angeles has cleanup plan—50-block area would get dozens more cops”—News headline.

The march of civilization—“Madison, Wisconsin—The State Department of Corrections will no longer shackle inmates during childbirth.”—News item.

The great society—“Picher, Oklahoma—A school playground that also serves as a community park is in danger of collapsing because it sits on top of an abandoned mine cavern, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers warned. A corps geologist said the elementary school playground had a 20 percent to 50 percent chance of collapsing. The Picher area has been undermined by decades of lead and zinc mining.”—News item.

Business is business—Rosa Parks became an historic figure when she sparked a successful 1955 fight against the Jim Crow segregation of Black bus riders who had been required to yield their seats to whites in Montgomery, Alabama. With her recent death in Detroit, she was buried in a Woodlawn crypt. Those who also wish to be buried there face skyrocketing fees. According to a news account, Parks and some of her relatives were interred free in a spot priced at $17,000. The market price for current burial range, according to location, from some $25,000 to $65,000.

They’re in mourning?—Syndicated columnist Lloyd Grove did a scathing account of the parties thrown by billionaire Wilbur Ross in the immediate wake of the catastrophic January 2 explosion at Ross’s Sago Mine in West Virginia that killed 12 miners and left another in a coma. “Mr. Ross moves in different circles,” commented a United Mine Workers Union spokesperson. The New York Daily News headlined the article: “Old King Coal still a merry old soul.”  
 
 
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