Former Governor Touts Expressway, Other Accomplishments
Planning District Commission Elects New Slate of Officers

by Lodge Compton
Publisher
     Former Virginia Governor Mark Warner was the guest speaker for the 40th annual meeting of the Cumberland Plateau Planning District Commission held Wednesday, April 2, in the new Russell County Conference Center in downtown Lebanon.
    An enthusiastic crowd from the four-county area was on hand for this special membership meeting to hear the former governor's remarks as well as the installation of new officers to serve the commission for the new year.
    "I am so proud of what you have accomplished . . . what we have been able to accomplish by working together," Warner told the crowd. "One of the keys to the economic development here in the coalfields is your willingness to work for strong bipartisan, local-state-and federal partnerships."
     Warner reminded that during his recent administration, some 67-million dollars in new investment was announced along with nearly 2,000 new jobs for the four-county area.
     Warner said that he was especially proud to have been a part of securing millions in funding for UVA/Wise, Southwest Virginia Community College and the SWVA Higher Education Center.
     The former governor expressed his belief that the Coalfields Expressway is the foremost economic development project for Wise, Dickenson and Buchanan counties - and the region that adjoins them. "The potential economic benefits of the road to Southwest Virginia cannot be overstated," Warner said.

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Off-Duty Deputy Work Approved
County Officers Now Can Patrol for Railroad Company

by Scotty Wampler
News Editor      
      Some Buchanan County sheriff's deputies will begin patrolling public roadways on their off-days for Norfolk-Southern Railroad.
      The railroad company approached the sheriff's office in recent weeks about the possibility of having uniformed officers interested in working extra hours patrol sites near railroad property. The company would, in turn, reimburse the county, which would then pay the officers directly.
      The request, originally made last month to the board of supervisors by Chief Deputy Alan Honaker, was approved on a 6-1 vote Monday. South Grundy Supervisor Roger Rife cast the lone vote of dissent, citing questionable public perception of the arrangement and overtime concerns.
      "The biggest problem I have is public appearance," he told Honaker. "Do [the officers] serve the company or do they serve the public?"
      Rife added he wouldn't have a problem with the arrangement if the officers were out-of-uniform and not operating a county vehicle while performing what he dubbed last month "private security."
      "We are serving the public," Honaker insisted, explaining the officers would be patrolling public roads near railroad property. "It's in the interest of public safety."
      "If they want to work on their off-time," Hurricane Supervisor William P. Harris said, "I don't have a problem with it."

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