THE MAN BEHIND CRANDALL CANYON. Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. has publicly attacked Crandall Canyon's co-owner, Robert Murray: "I thought the way the families were treated was unconscionable and they deserved better," he told The Salt Lake Tribune. Huntsman is one of the few political leaders in Utah or elsewhere who has gone after the mine's co-owner -- despite numerous lapses in safety standards at Crandall Canyon and a dodgy background. Murray had previously been an outspoken opponent of additional regulation of the coal industry, "even going as far as to call Sen. Hillary Clinton 'anti-American' for suggesting the nation needed a president who is for workers' safety," according to an August 7 Salt Lake Tribune article. Long before the August mining accident, which has entombed six workers, Murray had "made huge contributions to the GOP and (surprise!) got a troublesome mining safety inspector transferred," writes my friend Ron Rosenbaum on his blog. Murray had disappeared from public view in recent days and was, according to family members of lost miners, no longer "available" to them, writes Rosenbaum: "Find Him and Charge Him!" --Tara McKelvey
