Three recipients of the Appalachian School of Law Service Award were recognized Friday for their service to their communities and their professions during ASL's annual Founders Day luncheon.
  Frank Kilgore, Benjamin F. Sutherland and the Honorable James C. Turk all received the 2007 Appalachian Service Award.
  The Appalachian Service Award was established to recognize lawyers or judges residing in Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia or West Virginia who have displayed throughout their careers distinctive service to their profession and/or humanitarian community service.
  Virginia Lawyers Weekly Editor-In-Chief Paul E. Fletcher gave the keynote address (see related story, page one).
  Knowledgeable individuals or professional organizations submit written nominations of candidates for the annual award, which also includes a $1,000 cash prize for each recipient.
  "We try to model, try to encourage that this is a virtue," ASL President Lu Ellsworth said of law service in making the presentations. "What better way to spend your time than meeting the needs of others?"

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by Cathy St. Clair
News Editor
  A change in Buchanan County's coyote bounty ordinance which became effective Monday following a public hearing on the topic will see the county pay a bounty for the killing of coyotes in the county regardless of whether they are male or female.
  Previously, the county only paid a bounty on female coyotes, however it was agreed Monday during a meeting of the Buchanan County Board of Supervisors to extend the $50 bounty to all coyotes, regardless of sex.
  Before the bounty is paid, the coyote carcass must be presented to the landfill. Only coyotes which are shot are eligible for the bounty.
  In addition to extending the bounty to both males and females, the ordinance change approved Monday also sets the payment cap by the county at $5,000 annually.  Previously, the cap had been $2,500 annually.
  Danny Edward Clevinger, a Virginia Department of Forestry Officer, in attendance at Monday's meeting said he had been hunting for a number of years and he said in that time, the coyote population had continued to multiply.
  He said that in some areas of Kentucky, parents must sit on the porches with guns to protect their small children playing outside.
  South Grundy Supervisor Roger Rife questioned what effect, if any the bounty has had on the coyote population in Buchanan County.
  "They've been poisoned, and shot and they keep multiplying," he said.
  Clevinger said he knew of no worse predator, adding that coyotes in effect are "eating machines."
  He said their adaptability to conditions is strong and out of a litter of six pups, he said five routinely survive. Out of a litter of seven, he said the surviving number was six.
  "I don't know what you do," Rife said. "I see just as many or more since we began paying a bounty.
  Clevinger said the coyote population is getting smarter and he said he had seen them before when they would come in and look over a berm at the surroundings below.
  "If they don't like what they see, they're gone," he said.
  Ray Davis, another resident in attendance at the hearing, said coyotes were destroying cats and dogs and he said cats and dogs ought to be kept under supervision, or on a leash, not allowed to run at will.
  Rife noted that a town in Pennsylvania has a coyote week which it operates almost like a fair, offering rewards to those bringing in the largest number of coyotes, the biggest coyote, etc.
  Clevinger said he knew of instances of coyotes being taken in the region which weighed 62 to 81 pounds.
  Hurricane Supervisor William P. Harris made the motion to adopt the amended coyote ordinance. Knox Supervisor Pat Justus seconded the motion. It was agreed to unanimously.

by Cathy St. Clair
News Editor
  As the temperature has edged up outside in the past two weeks, the temperatures in some Twin Valley Elementary-Middle School classrooms have gone up too, leading school officials to try to find a stop-gap to cool things down until this summer when an apparently malfunctioning chiller unit can be replaced.
  According to Buchanan County School Superintendent Tommy P. Justus, temperatures in some half-dozen or so third floor classrooms have reached the 85 to 90 degree mark.
  "We are having trouble keeping the classrooms cool," Justus said.
  He noted that Trane, the company which manufactured the chiller unit in use at Twin Valley, has been at the school almost daily trying to make adjustments to the unit which will enable it to function more efficiently.
  The windows on the third floor don't open, which is true of other schools in the county constructed in the 1980s, Justus said. As a result, he said, there is no way to put window units in.
  However, he said fans are available and he said teachers have the authority to move their students from the classroom to another location in the building if it becomes unbearably hot in their classroom.
  "We are looking at putting in some type of temporary cooling system," Justus said of short-term plans. In the larger picture, specifications are being written to determine the cost of fixing or replacing the unit if need be.
  In either event, Justus said, the school system is bound to follow procurement procedures which means it is likely to be this summer before the chillier unit can be fully repaired or replaced.
  Justus said in addition to Trane, Carrier and York officials have also looked at the chiller system in an attempt to make recommendations on how to fix it.
  "Trane is our contracted maintenance on this and the chiller is where the problem is," Justus said.
  He noted the chiller system functions by cooling down the water heated up in the morning to provide heat for the building when it is cool. The chiller, when functioning properly, he explained, then chills the water to provide cool air when cool air is needed in the afternoon.
  "It's lost its ability to do that," Justus said.
  He said problems with the system have become evident in the past two weeks as afternoon temperatures outside have gone up into the 70s and even 80s.
  With 47 days of school still left before the current school year is completed, Justus said, the temporary cooling option appears to be the best avenue to pursue.
  "We are trying to find a way to put some kind of temporary cooling apparatus in those classrooms," Justus said. "We are also continuing to try to make adjustments to the system to try to make it better."