Advertise With the Virginia Mountaineer Today!
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Rt.
680
Construction
Underway!
Construction
on
the
long-awaited
Rt.
680,
Bill
Young
Mountain,
project
began
last
week
as
Bizzack
Inc.
crews
began
cutting
trees
and
moving
dirt
in
preparation
for
changes
to
the
road
which
will
include
the
elimination
of
several
curves
and
a
lowering
of
the
gap.
The
route
will
be
closed
to
thru
traffic
this
summer
to
allow
for
additional
uninterrupted
construction
time.
Traffic
flow
will
also
be
limited
to
before
and
after
school
hours
later
this
year
in
an
effort
to
get
some
of
the
blasting
needed
on
the
project
completed.
(Staff
photo/Cathy
St.
Clair.)
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James
Keen
Is
Named
Interim
Town
Manager |
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by
JoBeth
Wampler
Staff
Reporter
James
Keen
will
serve
as
interim
town
manager
in
Grundy.
The
decision
was
made
last
Tuesday
at
a
regularly
scheduled
meeting
of
the
Grundy
Town
Council,
when
council
returned
from
an
hour-long
closed
session
to
vote
in
Keen
as
the
town's
new
leader.
Rebecca
Elkins
made
the
motion
to
retain
the
services
of
Keen
at
the
specified
wages
of
$25,219.59
with
a
starting
date
of
April
1.
Town
Attorney
Tom
Mullins
emphasized
the
fact
that
a
permanent
position
will
be
re-advertised
at
a
later
date.
Diann
Hagy
seconded
the
motion
and
it
passed
unanimously.
Keen
is
the
retired
manager
of
human
resources
for
Jewell
Smokeless
and
is
currently
a
member
of
the
Virginia
Commonwealth
Transportation
Board.
He
is
also
the
president-elect
of
the
Buchanan
County
Chamber
of
Commerce
–
a
role
he
will
also
assume
in
April
this
year.
"I
see
it
as
an
important
and
challenging
job
in
terms
of
the
potential
growth
the
town
has
in
its
near
future,"
Keen
said
of
the
town
post
during
a
telephone
interview
this
week.
"I'll
be
looking
forward
to
offering
all
that
I
can
to
see
that
the
job
gets
done."
Keen,
who
is
originally
from
Whitewood,
currently
resides
in
the
Deel
area
of
Grundy
with
his
wife
of
38
years
Jackie.
After
graduating
Whitewood
High
School
in
1964,
he
enrolled
at
Pikeville
College.
When
he
graduated
in
1968
with
a
Bachelor's
Degree
in
Business,
he
began
teaching
Business
and
History
at
Whitewood
High
School.
It
wasn't
until
1974
that
Keen
decided
to
join
Jewell
Smokeless
Coal
Corporation
as
a
Safety
Inspector
Trainee.
He
went
on
to
become
Jewell's
manager
of
human
resources
after
earning
his
Master's
Degree
in
Mine
Safety
and
Management
in
1985
from
Marshall
University.
Keen
said
he
directly
managed
up
to
15
employees
and
indirectly
managed
up
to
1,205
at
Jewell
Smokeless'
height
before
retiring
in
2001.
He
holds
a
professional
certification
for
managing
human
resources
by
the
Society
for
Human
Resources
Management.
"I'm
pleased
to
have
James,"
Mayor
Roger
Powers
said.
"He's
been
a
long
time
friend
and
I
have
all
the
confidence
in
the
world
in
him."
Keen
has
also
worked
with
councilman
Gary
Prater
when
the
two
worked
alongside
one
another
for
around
25
years
at
Jewell,
with
Prater
taking
Keen's
position
managing
human
resources
at
Jewell
after
his
retirement.
Keen
continues
to
play
a
role
at
Jewell
Smokeless,
hired
as
a
consultant
in
2001,
and
has
provided
his
services
to
Austin
Sales
for
two
years
as
well.
Among
his
accomplishments,
Keen
joined
the
Rail
Advisory
Board
this
year.
He
is
also
a
deacon
at
Vansant
Baptist
Church.
Keen
and
his
wife
have
two
sons,
Jarrod
Lee
Keen,
33,
of
Raleigh,
N.C.,
and
Jonathan
Chad,
28,
of
Damascus.
Their
three
grandchildren,
Charlie,
5,
Jarrod
Patrick
"JP",
3,
and
Myra
Jane,
7
months,
are
all
of
Raleigh,
N.C.
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School
Board
to
Eye
Changes
to
Calendar
to
Make
Up
Lost
Days
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by
Cathy
St.
Clair
News
Editor
With
13
days
in
the
current
school
year
now
missed
due
to
inclement
weather,
Buchanan
County
School
Superintendent
Tommy
P.
Justus
said
the
school
board
will
be
making
a
decision
next
week
on
how
best
to
make
up
the
missed
days.
Originally,
the
school
board
had
projected
a
closing
date
of
May
24,
however
the
missed
days
have
now
pushed
that
closing
date
to
June
13
--
unless
the
school
board
takes
some
other
action
to
make-up
the
missed
days
--
in
order
to
get
the
state's
required
180
days
in
session.
Three
days
were
built
into
the
school
calendar
for
spring
break
and
one
was
built
in
for
Memorial
Day
in
May.
Justus
said
he
did
not
want
to
encroach
on
those
days,
however,
he
said
that
was
an
option
the
school
board
could
consider
when
it
determines
how
best
to
adjust
the
school
calendar.
Other
options
to
make
up
lost
days
are
also
possible,
including
extending
the
length
of
the
school
day,
or
even
holding
school
on
some
Saturdays,
Justus
said.
The
Saturday
school
option,
he
suggested,
should
be
a
last
resort.
Typically,
when
it
has
been
tried
in
the
past,
it
has
resulted
in
lower
attendance
rates.
"Attendance
is
crucial
to
accreditation,"
Justus
said,
noting
for
that
reason
alone,
it
appeared
the
best
option
might
be
to
lengthen
the
school
day
to
get
in
the
required
time.
"The
weather
looks
pretty
good
for
the
rest
of
the
week
and
it
looks
like
we
will
get
in
the
rest
of
the
week,"
Justus
said
of
school
being
in
session
based
on
the
current
weather
forecast.
Through
the
end
of
January,
the
Buchanan
school
system
had
been
closed
for
four
days
due
to
weather.
However,
February
began
with
the
school
system
closed
for
the
first
six
school
days.
Three
additional
days
have
also
been
missed
since
that
start
to
the
month,
bringing
the
total
number
of
school
days
missed
in
February
to
nine
out
of
a
possible
14
--
at
press
time.
"The
month
of
February
has
not
been
kind
to
us
at
all,"
Justus
said.
The
school
board
is
expected
to
take
a
look
at
the
calendar
when
it
meets
Tuesday
(February
27)
at
1
p.m.
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24614-2040
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