Over the summer, former Grundy High School graduate Justin Stiltner found himself one of the few small-town interns at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
   Traveling there for the NASA Robotics Academy, Stiltner, who now resides in Bluefield, was one of 29 students selected nationwide to participate in challenging and inspiring robotics research projects.
   "I'm really proud of it. A lot of people from the cities, they don't think a lot about people from the country," he says. "I like to think that I showed them where you live doesn't make an impact on who you are or what you know."
   The students worked all summer to develop sophisticated robotic systems and, by the end of the 10-week program, presented working prototypes. Stiltner joined teams of undergraduate and graduate students, who worked closely with Goddard and industry robotic specialists to produce advanced robots that visualize, sense and successfully traverse a complex environment.
   The NASA Robotics Academy, which targets rising college freshmen and sophomores that internship programs often overlook, split students into seven four-member teams. Each participant is particularly interested in robotics and often experienced in robot design and development. Therefore, the undergraduate students' preliminary knowledge of robotic systems and a youthful tendency toward ingenuity and innovation plus key contributions from graduate students and robotic specialists prime the NASA Robotics Academy for success.
   It all began for Stiltner in the late 1990s when Frank Stiltner, his uncle, introduced him to the world of computers. As a teacher at Grundy High School at the time and later a computer technician there, Frank exposed Stiltner to computer games and programs that resulted in a domino effect for him.
   From that moment on, he was hooked.
   When his parents bought him his first laser computer, Stiltner says it wasn't long before he became very popular with the teachers at GHS.
   "I was that kid in school that when teachers had a computer problem, they'd send to get me," he says, laughing.

by JoBeth Wampler
Staff Reporter
  Grundy Town Council decided last week to allow its attorneys to file a lawsuit against any water discharge by CONSOL Energy into the Levisa River.
  After returning from an approximately hour and a half closed session meeting called to discuss personnel, councilman Gary Prater made a motion to stop CONSOL from discharging water into the Levisa. The motion was seconded by Diann Hagy and passed unanimously.
  No action was taken on any personnel matter.
  The action related to CONSOL came 11 days after the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy granted the company a permit to discharge water from its underground Buchanan No. 1 coal mine into the Levisa River.
   The permit drew considerable attention after it was announced that the water would contain high levels of chloride.
   According to town attorney Tom Mullins, the town passed a resolution almost a year ago on November 8, 2005, opposing the discharge of underground mine water into the Levisa.
   In the event CONSOL was permitted to discharge the water into the Levisa, the resolution requested that the appropriate regulatory agencies require CONSOL "treat the toxic water to remove the chlorides and other contaminants prior to piping or discharging the water in the Levisa River or the Levisa River watershed."
  According to Mullins, it was after DMME granted the permit that the town decided further action would be necessary to stop CONSOL from discharging the underground mine water into the Levisa.
  Though the council has not discussed such action in a public forum to his knowledge, Mullins confirmed that the issue had been addressed by council with members of the community.

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  The Appalachian Regional Commission will provide a federal grant in the amount of $500,000 to Buchanan County for the construction of a new access road to the Poplar Gap-Lover's Gap Industrial Site.
  The access road will connect the Lover's Gap site to State Route 83.
  "The Lover's Gap Industrial Site will be of substantial economic benefit to Buchanan County and this provision of federal funding will help make necessary infrastructure improvements to accommodate the needs of future businesses and other users of this site," said Ninth District Rep. Rick Boucher.
   The Poplar Gap-Lover's Gap Industrial site is being developed off of Route 83 between Vansant and Haysi. The 1,800-acre site will provide space for a variety of future business and commercial development interests and will also include residential space. The federal funds announced last week will enable the construction  of a 1.6 mile access road linking the industrial site with Route 83.
   The construction and pavement of the access road will help to complete Phase I of the development which will include the installation of water, sewer, and fiber optic cable.
   The Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority and Buchanan County will provide $800,000 for the access road project, bringing the total project cost of $1.3 million.