Nothing could have meant more to J.D. Stiltner than to play with guitar virtuoso" Don Reno.
  Sadly, in 1984, Reno died -- two years before Stiltner was born. However, in March he realized his dream could still -- in a way -- be realized at the RenoFest Bluegrass Festival in Hartsville, SC.
  A 2004 Hurley High School graduate, Stiltner says his childhood in Paw Paw was filled with an appreciation for music. The son of Connie and Lonnie Williamson, he learned to play many instruments, including the mandolin, banjo, drums and bass guitar, before becoming passionate about the guitar four years ago.
  After only a year playing the guitar, he joined his grandfather Johnny Jackson's band, which also consists of Stiltner's grandmother Edith Jackson; wife, Cindi Stiltner, and uncle Randy Stiltner.
  Every Sunday after church, the family gathers at Jackson's home in Paw Paw to play. It's something  that really means a lot to the family.
  "If it wasn't for him," Stiltner's grandfather said, "I might not be doing it anymore. I'm really proud of him." 

   As work to tear down the existing town of Grundy buildings began this week, the U.S. House of Representatives has agreed to provide an additional $2.5 million for the Grundy Flood Control project.
  Ninth District Rep. Rick Boucher made the announcement last week, adding he will now work with Sens. George Allen and John Warner to ensure approval of the funding package by the Senate.
  Boucher noted the $2.5 million is the amount needed to finance the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ work on the project for the coming year.   Specifically, the federal funds will be used to continue construction of the ringwall which will protect the courthouse and remaining downtown area from future flooding and to fund voluntary floodproofing and acquisition projects.
   It will bring the total federal investment in the project to date to $87.3 million.
  "I am extremely pleased that the House of Representatives has honored my request to provide the funding which will keep the Grundy Flood Control and Redevelopment Project on track and on schedule," Boucher said.
  This is the ninth consecutive year in which Congress has appropriated funding for the construction of the Grundy Project. Construction on the final three major elements of the project -- the ringwall, Rt. 460 widening and the levee -- has already begun.
  "The project is a unique partnership among the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Virginia Department of Transportation and the Town of Grundy," Boucher said. "It will bring to the town major flood control improvements, new highway construction and the creation of a major new site across the Levisa River from the present downtown upon which many existing businesses will be relocated and new businesses will be built."
  Since 1929, the town has experienced nine major floods -- an average of almost one each decade. The flood of 1977 caused $15 million in damages to 228 residential and commercial structures. In 1984, another flood caused $3.9 million in damages.
  "I am pleased that the federal government is centrally involved in the development and funding of the flood control and redevelopment project," Boucher said. "This most recent installment of federal funding for the project represents another major step forward in the work and will greatly benefit the residents of Buchanan County."

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by Cathy St. Clair
News Editor
     Displaying the various products she and her family have used to get rid of lice contracted at a county school, Katie Blankenship asked the Buchanan County School Board to implement stricter policies to prevent the spread of the pesky little insects.
  Blankenship, whose children attend Russell Prater Elementary School, said she was not at last Monday’s meeting of the school board to point a finger, but rather that she attended in hopes of the problem being properly addressed.
  "I’m not here to be a finger pointer," Blankenship said. "I don’t know what the policy is."
  She said Russell Prater parents have been dealing with the problem of lice since December and to her, she said that should be considered an "infestation."
  Notes go home each time, but in the end, the problem never seems to go away, she said.
  Blankenship said her heart goes out to those who keep bringing lice back to school, but at the same time, she said she is tired of her children then bringing them home. Since December, she said, there had been four instances involving her family.
  She said she thought it was important for a school nurse to be at the school so that if lice are found, the child with them can be sent home and she suggested before the child found to have lice is allowed to re-enter school, he or she should have to go to the health department to be checked.
  "I never experienced it as a child," she said. "The shame is not to get them, but to keep them."
  Since December, she added, she had receipts showing her family had spent some $120.96 in care products to eliminate lice. She then pulled many of those product boxes and bottles from a plastic bag she brought into Monday’s meeting.
  In dealing with the problem, she added, she had shampooed carpets, gotten rid of pillows and tossed out her children’s stuffed animals.
  "At school, the teachers are frustrated and an aide carries a lice comb," she said.
  She added she had spoken with Superintendent Tommy P. Justus, School Nurse Susan Caudill and RPES Principal Dave Bevins.
  Board members listened, but took no action.

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