West Virginia quarterback Garrett Greene, who finished his college career Wednesday in the Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl, is headed to the NFL draft as a wide receiver.

Greene noted the position change in his NFL draft announcement Thursday night on social media. He started the past two seasons at quarterback for West Virginia and finished his career with 5,370 passing yards, 36 touchdown passes and 19 interceptions.

The 5-foot-11, 201-pound Greene showcased his mobility as a quarterback with 2,136 career rushing yards and 28 touchdowns on 352 carries. He caught four passes during the 2022 season, when he primarily backed up J.T. Daniels.

Greene had 328 passing yards, 95 rushing yards, two passing touchdowns and a rushing score in Wednesday’s 42-37 loss to Memphis in Frisco, Texas.

“I look forward to this next chapter in my career and the opportunity to continue playing the game I love at the next level,” Greene wrote on social media.

Patrick Martin, 31, of Jane Lew is set to be the West Virginia Senate’s youngest majority leader.

The incoming Senate president, Randy Smith of Preston County, has announced that Martin will be his wingman.

“Patrick is a bright and talented individual. I have said for a while that he is the hidden gem in our chamber and everyone is about to find out how gifted this young man is,” Smith said in the announcement.

“I have full confidence that he will no doubt be one of the most effective majority leaders in our state’s history.”

While Smith will typically preside over floor sessions from a dais, the majority leader regularly makes procedural motions. The majority leader also plays a big role on the Senate’s leadership team and promotes the majority party’s agenda.

Martin, R-Lewis, was elected to the Senate in 2020 and was re-elected this year, when he was unopposed in both the primary and the general. He served in the House of Delegates starting in 2017.

The Senate leadership is changing because the current president, Craig Blair of Berkeley County, was defeated in a primary election. So Blair is set to leave.

The Republican majority in the Senate met earlier this month and selected Smith to be the next president. He defeated two members of the outgoing leadership team, senators Tom Takubo and Eric Tarr.

Smith is now in line to be formally nominated and elected as president when the Senate gathers Jan. 8 for an organizational session.

Smith is likely to make significant changes across the leadership roles and committee chairs. Martin is the first that he has publicly announced.

“I am honored to serve under Randy Smith as he becomes Senate President and excited to work alongside all my colleagues in the Senate,” Senator Martin stated.

“Randy is a Godly man whose dedication to faith, family, and the people of West Virginia sets a strong example for us all. As the youngest Majority Leader in West Virginia Senate history, I’m eager to bring fresh energy to our work and help guide our state toward a brighter future.”

A new final rule was issued by the federal Department of Labor last week that will require coal operators who self-insure to post adequate security bonds that cover all of their black lung benefit liabilities.

The rule comes as a protection for coal miners who currently or could in the future receive black lung benefits, which are supposed to be paid by the operators who employed them and who, through that employment, exposed them to dangerous silica dust that causes black lung disease. 

“This is a long-overdue rule that will have a significant impact in helping to ensure benefits to miners who have contracted black lung will be paid, and be paid by those responsible — the coal companies,” said Cecil Roberts, president of the United Mine Workers of America, in an emailed news release earlier this week.

The finalized rule requires self-insured coal companies to post collateral — through surety bonds or other forms — that is equal to 100% of their black lung benefit liabilities.

With the new rule, coal companies that merge or file for bankruptcy will not be able to buck their responsibility for paying out benefits. Roberts said coal companies often use the bankruptcy process to shift these expenses to taxpayers by transferring the responsibility to the federal Black Lung Disability Trust Fund. 

“That means taxpayers are now picking up the tab for coal companies that did not adequately protect their workers from dangerous levels of respirable coal dust,” Roberts said in his statement.

The trust fund exists to cover benefits for miners when no specific coal operator can be held responsible for their illness or when the operators fail to pay their share. Self-insured coal operators, however, are obligated to pay their own expenses. 

Between 2014 and 2016, bankruptcies at just three coal companies resulted in an estimated $865 million in benefit payments being transferred to the taxpayer-funded trust, according to a 2020 report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office. The new rule came partially in response to that report, Muckian-Bates said.

The finalized rule is especially timely as two of the country’s largest coal producers — Arch Resources and CONSOL Energy — are in the middle of a merger that, once complete, will create a new, $5 billion coal company based in Pennsylvania. 

Those companies combined, Muckian-Bates said, report at least $300 million in black lung liability that — without the rule — could potentially be passed on to the trust fund.

Nationwide, Muckian-Bates said, it’s known that black lung benefit liabilities at self-insured coal companies total at least $615 million, but Milliman — a risk analysis consulting group — estimates that amount could actually be much higher, totaling between $9 billion and $14 billion.

Despite the high liability, Roberts said that only $119 million in security has been posted by self-insured coal companies to cover the costs of benefits.

If bankruptcies or mergers occur — which is likely given the ongoing decline in the coal market — the difference between what is posted and what is owed would be passed on to the trust fund, threatening its solvency and the access of benefits for coal miners who rely on it, Muckian-Bates said.

“This is a powerful rule to ensure that as the coal market becomes a bit more unstable — knowing that large companies have used these bankruptcies to shed their liabilities — this ensures that they can’t do that now,” Muckian-Bates said. “They can’t transfer that [liability] to a trust fund that’s … been a target sometimes of certain administrations.”

The rule is scheduled to go into effect on Jan. 11.