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Workin man, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, (A beautiful tribute) to a working person.

By Staff | Aug 30, 2023

I will start my letter with the radio commentator and his most favorite stateman, Earl Pitts, âYou know what makes me sick.ã And labor day is as broad as it is wide, dealing with a society of workers, Iáve worked in so many professions, from top to bottom.

Of course the thing that draws me closest to it is the part that hurts the most, the late 70ás thru 80ás and 90ás. Originally I started teaching at John Marshall high school for a few years. Then in 1975 I went to work in the mines, then lost my job in the first layoff as a result of hourly and salary reductions. I was laid off for four months. I went to work at a mine in Mannington and was laid off again in 1982 after one year of service. After 18 months laid off, I finally got on at PPG from 1984-2019. I thanked God everyday.

Here is the deal, I lucked out, because here in the Ohio Valley, 5,100 miners lost their jobs. Miners at that timetotaled about 250,000 nation wide, today there are somewhere around 30,000 working in high sulfur coal, shipped west. Guess what we have today, itás called fluidized lime, and to my knowledge knocks 98 percent of sulfur dioxide out of the air. Steel mills have shut down, chemical plants closed, along with many other businesses and industry. I believe it was in the 1976 congress that they sat on a bill that would have created the job saving and enviromental issues. The result would have been 1. synthetic fuel made from coal for about $100 a barrel, abut the same as opec oil is today. 2.Solar Energy. 3. Wind mills. 4. Hydro power. 5. Sea Motion and equipment that would make energy from the motion. 6Fluisized lime, that now exists at all updated power plants in Wes Virginia.

Had congress not set on their hands, who knows whether we would have had to eliminate any fossil fuels. If you have or are thinking about an electric car, guess what fuel is firing it up, no brainer, itás called coal. Iheard in the big picture those batteries will become a nightmare. Big business could care less about us common folks, always been that way. And we worry about a clean enviroment, we willnever pollute the envioment like China, Russia and India.

In this last bit I would like to pay compliments and greatfulness that are not on the industrial side. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Dr. Prabadka, Dr. Herron, and Dr. Hooda for the great heart surgery you did for me and brought me back to life. I am eternally grateful to PA Nurses, Nurses Aides and to all the staff that works there at WVU Medicine at Wheeling Park Hospital.

My last and hopefully Iám not missing a group of people, our city employees, from top to bottom. We take for granted police protection, trash pickup, fresh water, sewage, our street department, and food on our tables.

Make sure you all take a minute and listen too a song that hoors working people.

In sincere love for a great country, that needs a little work on all our parts. Solomon said it best in ECCL. âThere is nothing in death you can take out of your hand.ã

Always, Larry Ritz

New Martinsville