Public Hearing Set to Receive Input on Naming Supervisor for North Grundy District

by Cathy St. Clair
News Editor
      The wheels were set in motion Monday to pick a replacement for North Grundy Supervisor Joe Keene, who died last week in a tragic car wreck.
       Members of the Buchanan County Board of Supervisors agreed to hold a public hearing on Monday, February 23 at 6 p.m. to consider nominations for a supervisor to represent the North Grundy District until a special election is held in November 2006.
      County Attorney Mickey McGlothlin advised board members at Monday’s continued meeting that the board has 45 days to fill the vacant post created when Keene died. Absent the supervisors’ action, however, the responsibility of appointing a successor to Keene would fall to the court.
        In addition to agreeing to hold a public hearing, the board also authorized McGlothlin to seek a writ of election for a special election to be held in November. The person elected then, McGlothlin said, would assume office immediately and fill out the remainder of Keene’s term of office, which was set to end in December 2007.
        The decision to hold the public hearing in two weeks will allow the board to seat a new supervisor prior to the March regular meeting of the board.
       The only candidate who has stepped forward to date to express an interest in filling the post is Democrat Carroll Branham.
        Branham, who attended Monday’s meeting, said he had not yet made up his mind whether he would seek the post, adding he was still considering it. However, he said, he was interested in the post.
       Spokesman for the Democrat and Republican parties in the county indicated they would likely check with precinct chairmen in the North Grundy District and their memberships to determine how to proceed in recommending any candidate for the post, if the parties opt to get involved directly in the process.

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.

 Garden Creek Teen Reported Missing Last Week Reunited with Family Tuesday

by Cathy St. Clair
News Editor
      A 15-year-old Buchanan County girl reported by her family as missing Friday morning was found safe Tuesday.
       Buchanan County Sheriff’s Department investigators located the missing 15-year-old Garden Creek area girl at the home of a friend five to six miles from where the teen shared a home with her parents.
       Sheriff’s Department Investigator Mike Thompson said a friend of the girl contacted him late Tuesday afternoon to tell him she knew of the missing teen’s whereabouts.
        Thompson said the teen was reunited with her parents Tuesday night.
       The girl was first reported missing Friday morning after her mother went to awaken her for school and found she was not in the home.
       The teen’s bicycle was missing and was located beside the road at the mouth of the hollow on which the family lived.
       Sheriff’s Department Investigator Larry Crouse said deputies reported frost on the bicycle which appeared to indicate it had been at the mouth of the hollow overnight.
       The teen had last been seen by her parents Thursday around midnight when she went to bed.
       Family and friends were contacted and an investigation was launched by the sheriff’s department to find the missing girl.
        Several leads were being followed Tuesday prior to the time the teen was located.
       Crouse and Thompson said at no time was foul play suspected and the case has been classified as an apparent runaway incident

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.