High Speed Internet Access Coming
$3 Million Federal Grant Awarded

      A $3 million federal grant to the Coalfield Coalition will allow six coalfield counties, including Buchanan, to establish a fiber optic backbone making high speed internet access accessible.
       Ninth District Rep. Rick Boucher made the announcement last week.
       “The large provision of federal funding which I am announcing will be used to link the Cumberland Plateau and the Lenowisco fiber optic backbones,” Boucher said. “By linking the two networks, high-speed broadband services will be established in communities  in Buchanan, Dickenson, Lee, Russell, Tazewell and Wise counties which currently do not have access to such services.
       A $3 million matching grant from the Virginia Tobacco Commission will also be used to fund the project.
      Bristol Virginia Utilities (BVU) will deploy high-capacity optical fiber along 160 miles in Buchanan, Dickenson, Lee, Russell, Tazewell and Wise counties to make the project possible.
       Boucher said the establishment of high-speed internet and other broadband services is a vital step in attracting new jobs to Southwest Virginia.
      The Cumberland Plateau fiber optic backbone will be extended into Buchanan County and new communities in Russell and Tazewell counties.
        In Buchanan County, the backbone will extend from the Town of Richlands where it currently terminates into Buchanan County through Vansant and the Town of Grundy by way of Rt. 460. From the intersection of Rt. 460 and Rt. 83, new fiber will be buried along Rt. 83 to Slate Creek to the Buchanan County Information Park and the University of Appalachia College of Pharmacy.
        In Russell County, fiber optic will be installed along Alternate Route 58 from Hansonville to Castlewood.
        In Tazewell County, new fiber will be buried along Routes 19 and 460 from Claypool Hill to the Town of Bluefield.
        Lenowisco’s fiber optic backbone will also be extended in Lee, Wise and Dickenson Counties.
        In Lee County, fiber optic cable will be buried along Route 58 from the Town of Jonesville to the Rose Hill community.
        In Wise County, the backbone will be installed from the Town of St. Paul to Coeburn along Alternate Route 58. From Coeburn, the fiber will be installed to the Lonesome Pine Regional Technology Park in Wise. The backbone’s route will then follow U.S. Route 23 through the Town of Wise to the Town of Pound.

For more of the story, see the print edition of the Mountaineer, on sale at newsstands now.  For more information on how to subscribe to the Mountaineer, call 276-935-2123 today.
 

General Assembly to Consider Variety of Bills
Marriage, Safety Belts, Cell Phones and More...

       When the General Assembly convenes next week, a variety of pre-filed bills await the action of its members, including the newly elected delegate of the third House District.
        From a constitutional amendment declaring that marriage is a bond between a man and a woman to a bill requiring school buses purchased in the future to be equipped with safety belts, to legislation designating a state amphibian, the topics legislators will look at in the coming weeks are varied.
       As of Monday, some 176 bills had been filed by delegates and 33 by senators. Joint resolutions filed included 28 in the House and 23 in the Senate. The
total number of pieces of legislation to act on as of Monday was 260.
        Some of the pre-filed bills of interest are as follows:
      • Marriage: a constitutional amendment is proposed which calls for a November 2006 referendum to be held to define marriage. The bill synopsis notes the proposed amendment provides that “only a union between one man and one woman may be a marriage valid in or recognized by this Commonwealth and its political subdivisions.” The proposed amendment also prohibits the Commonwealth and its political subdivisions from creating or recognizing “a legal status for relationships of unmarried individuals that intends to approximate the design, qualities, significance or effects of marriage.”
         It also prohibits the commonwealth or its political subdivisions from creating or recognizing “another union, partnership, or other legal status to which is assigned the rights, benefits, obligations, qualities, or effects of marriage.”
         • Absentee voting: the bill proposed would allow qualified voters to vote absentee for any reason. The bill eliminates the present statutory list of specific reasons entitling a voter to cast an absentee ballot.
         It also consolidates special provisions concerning military and overseas absentee voters and disabled voters.
         • Cell phones: the proposed bill prohibits the use of handheld mobile telephones in vehicles while vehicles are in motion. Exceptions are made for emergencies and for use by law enforcement or emergency service personnel. The bill would take effect August 1, 2006 and would allow warnings to be issued during July 2006. The bill also requires a study by the Department of Motor Vehicles on the impact of mobile telephones on traffic safety and collection of related data by VCU’s Crash Investigation Team.

For more of the story, see the print edition of the Mountaineer, on sale at newsstands now.  For more information on how to subscribe to the Mountaineer, call 276-935-2123 today.
 

Former Resident Dies In Electric Plant Accident

      A former Buchanan County resident died Christmas Eve in a Florida electric power plant accident. Michael Scott Estep Jr., 28, of Ray City, Ga., formerly of Buchanan County, was dead at the scene in Putnam County, Fla., where he was working to clean a boiler at Seminole Electric Power Plant, according to reports of the accident carried in a Florida daily newspaper.
     The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the accident.
       Estep was an employee of Precision Blasting, Inc., of Flatwoods, Ky., the company hired to conduct the cleaning, or deslagging, of the boiler.
        The accident occurred when explosives on a blast pole with which Estep was working apparently detonated prematurely.
        The fatality has been ruled accidental by the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office, according to reports in a Florida daily newspaper.