CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A defiant Don Blankenship declared himself an “American political prisoner” on his blog, blaming others for the 2010 mine explosion that killed 29 men and led the former West Virginia coal operator to be imprisoned. The ex-Massey Energy CEO said this week that he plans to distribute 250,000 copies of the 67-page diatribe in booklet form. ...

WHITESVILLE, W.Va. (AP) — A man has been reported missing after authorities say he went to steal copper from a shuttered West Virginia mine that had been the site of a 2010 explosion that killed 29 coal miners. West Virginia State Police said in a statement that David Lee Adkins’ wife reported him missing Tuesday. She told authorities her husband ...

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship reported to a California prison Thursday to begin serving a one-year sentence for his conviction related to the deadliest U.S. mine explosion in four decades, a U.S. Bureau of Prisons spokesman said. Spokesman Justin Long said Thursday evening that Blankenship was in custody at a federal facility in Taft, California. ...

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Hillary Clinton is linking Donald Trump to a convicted coal executive who attended a protest at her West Virginia campaign stop. Clinton state campaign director Talley Sergent called Don Blankenship’s appearance Monday in Williamson “a pretty outrageous sight.” Protesters with Trump signs booed Clinton on Monday outside her Williamson campaign event, and Blankenship was spotted in ...

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Prosecutors say former coal company executive Don Blankenship has to head to prison on May 12, pending an appeal. Prosecutors mentioned the ex-Massey Energy CEO’s date to surrender to federal custody in a 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals filing on Wednesday. Blankenship was sentenced April 6 to the maximum penalties of a year in prison ...

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A former coal company executive is asking an appeals court if he can remain free while appealing a case that dealt him a prison sentence. Ex-Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship on Tuesday asked the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to let him remain free on $1 million bond, pending appeal. Otherwise, Blankenship’s attorneys say he ...

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — While he appeals a decision that served him a one-year prison sentence, former coal company executive Don Blankenship has paid his $250,000 fine. According to a U.S. District Court filing, the wealthy ex-Massey Energy CEO paid the fine in Charleston on Friday, plus a $25 court fee. Blankenship was sentenced Wednesday to the maximum prison time ...

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Convicted former energy company CEO Don Blankenship won’t have to pay a coal producer $28 million in restitution related to a mine explosion in 2010 that killed 29 men, a federal judge ruled Monday. In her order, Judge Irene Berger said Blankenship doesn’t have to pay the money to Alpha Natural Resources, which bought Massey in ...

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Federal inspectors issued 138 citations and four orders at U.S. mine operations in January. The Mine Safety and Health Administration says the inspections were conducted at 11 coal mines and six other mines in 12 states, including Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia. The impact inspections began in 2010 after the Upper Big Branch mine explosion in West Virginia ...

Despite several rulings that appeared to limit such a strategy, lawyers for Don Blankenship are mounting a defense that is already rich with the former Massey Energy CEO’s frequent criticism of government efforts to regulate the coal-mining industry and with Massey’s battles with federal mine-safety regulators. Jurors in the landmark trial have heard testimony and viewed documents that referenced an ...