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UP: To the start of the Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang, South Korea. For the next couple of weeks, we can revel in the victories, the stories, the pageantry … the curling. The Olympics are more than simply an athletic competition. They are a gathering of the world, with 92 countries participating, and even North and South Korea joining to form a single marching unit during the opening ceremonies.

UP: To news the Federal Aviation Administration is considering upgrading the Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Airport to “full air service.” Such a change could be beneficial to the airport by, among other things, allowing for regular service with 50-passenger regional jets, and more flexibility. Airport Manager Glen Kelly says he does not expect it to be long before the FAA makes its decision.

DOWN: To another underground coal miner killed in West Virginia, this time at the Wolf Run Mining LLC Sentinel Mine, in Barbour County. That news comes amid data that shows doctors are seeing “epidemic” levels of black lung among miners in Appalachia. A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows between January 2013 and February 2017, the disease has been more severe and miners were dying younger than in previous cases. Black lung has also been considered rare, since the late 1990s, but according to one of the clinics used in the study, 154 cases were diagnosed in that facility alone in the past year. An investigation by NPR suggests the alarming change may be due to longer shifts and mining thinner strips of coal, which can create more dust. Whatever the cause, movement in Washington, D.C., to suggest loosening of mine and miner safety regulations should be quelled immediately, as there is no excuse for making the work of our coal miners any more dangerous than it already is.

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