Sports | Page 6 | Raiders dispose of Castlewood 46-12. | Page 7| Warriors toppled by Lee’s grinding offense Check With Us On ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ LIFETIME TUESDAY WARRANTY the October 25, 2016 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Vol. 105 • No. 86 www.NothingLikeFreedom.com FREEDOM FORD 12 Pages Lincoln, Inc. NORTON, VA 24273 151 Woodland Drive • Wise, Virginia USPS 120-120 $1.00 (276) 328-2686A ProgressiveA Progressive Newspaper Newspaper Serving Serving Our Our Mountain Mountain Area Area Since Since 1911 1911 PROGRESS Body found near Guest River Gorge JEFF LESTER so from the gorge’s trailhead. long it will take for the medical NEWS EDITOR The remains were badly decom- examiner’s office to complete its The remains were sent posed and have been sent to the state work. The Wise County Sheriff’s Office medical examiner’s office in Officials are not releasing infor- and the office of Commonwealth Roanoke for identification and to mation at this time on a possible to the state medical Attorney Chuck Slemp are investigat- determine the cause of death, cause of death or the possible identi- ing the discovery of a deceased man’s Wagner said. ty of the man. body near the Guest River Gorge. Because of decomposition, it is However, Slemp said one possibil- examiner’s office for Sheriff’s Lt. Tim Wagner and impossible for police to estimate the ity they are looking at pertains to a Slemp confirmed Monday afternoon age of the deceased at this time, he man whose family reported him that hikers found the body Sunday said. missing. He declined to elaborate on identification. around 2:30 p.m., about one mile or Wagner said he does not know how that case at this time. A break in the storm Guilty plea? Lintz to appear in court JEFF LESTER NEWS EDITOR Former Norton parks and recreation maintenance supervisor Mike Lintz is expected to plead guilty Thursday to charges includ- ing sexual harassment. According to the schedule for the U.S. district court in Abingdon, Lintz is set for a hearing Thursday afternoon. JEFF LESTER PHOTO The scheduling item indi- After two days of unrelenting cloud cover accompanied by chilly temperatures and occasional rain, a bit of cates that a guilty plea is anticipated. blue sky and sunlight broke through late Friday afternoon as many folks were driving home from work. Lintz had previously been Several people pulled off U.S. 23 to snap photos of the ensuing light show. scheduled for trial in late November. Brian McGinn, public relations specialist for the U.S. attorney’s office in High Knob Music Woodboogers, western Virginia, confirmed Monday morning that Lintz is expected to plead guilty. A change of plea hearing is Festival seeks ‘the wall’ are only scheduled when a defendant makes the court aware of intent to plead site improvements council topics guilty, he wrote in an email. A criminal complaint was filed with the court in KATIE DUNN ing schedules, the festi- JEFF LESTER The High Knob February by a special agent STAFF WRITER val’s attendance and NEWS EDITOR of the Bureau of Alcohol, Enhancement feedback have been Tobacco, Firearms and DUNGANNON Corporation last “fantastic.” NORTON — Tourism advocates have adopted — Explosives. As the group looks a whimsical take on the “woodbooger” legend to Efforts to expand a Wednesday In late July, a federal toward next year’s festi- promote the city. fledgling music festival grand jury indicted Lintz on agreed to serve val, which will be held Now, Norton’s tourism committee wants to at High Knob misdemeanor counts of June 17 and in conjunc- bring that marketing concept downtown to com- Recreation Area are as the festival’s using his authority to engage tion with the city of pliment the big statue of a woodbooger — anoth- moving forward with a in coercive sexual relations fiscal agent. Norton’s Best Friend er name for “bigfoot” — that visitors see at Flag proposal to renovate the with two different women on Festival and Crooked Rock. site’s amphitheater. probation who were The daylong event festival began three Road’s annual During an Oct. 18 meeting, Chris Jones of the brought an estimated years ago, but every- Mountains of Music committee gave city council an update on the 700 people to the recre- thing finally “clicked” Homecoming, Jones group’s activities. LINTZ, PAGE 3 ation area this past July. this year. The 10-person said it is exploring sev- Near the end of his comments on a variety of Chris Jones, High committee planned the eral renovations at the tourism initiatives and ideas, Jones explained Knob Music Festival event in seven weeks, he recreation area’s that the committee wants to buy “mama and The former city committee member, said, and eight musical amphitheater. Proposed baby” woodbooger statues — $700 total includ- spoke about the endeav- acts graced the stage. A work involves con- ing delivery — and set them up downtown with employee was set or at the High Knob concentrated advertis- structing a new stage, signs to point city visitors toward Flag Rock and Enhancement Corp.’s ing push, primarily via erecting a roof over the High Knob, Jones explained. to go to trial in meeting last Wednesday. social media, helped stage, making the site The committee settled on two potential loca- tions. Topping the list, he said, is the municipal Jones, accompanied by reach 80,000 people, handicap accessible, November. several other festival reported Jones. And and remodeling the committee members, despite abbreviated TOURISM, told the corporation the planning and advertis- FESTIVAL, PAGE 2 PAGE 2 Gov. here SUBSCRIBER INFORMATION HERE SUBSCRIBER INFORMATION Wednesday Gov. Terry McAuliffe will be at Mountain Empire Community College’s Goodloe Center Wednesday at 2 p.m. to announce significant federal investments to revitalize coal-impacted communities in Virginia and the Appalachian region. The awards are funded through the Obama administration’s Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization (POWER) Initiative to stimulate economic growth and opportu- nity in communities that have historically relied on the coal economy for economic stability, according to an announcement Monday afternoon by the federal Appalachian Regional Commission. McAuliffe will be joined by ARC Federal Co-Chair Earl Gohl, Aurora Flight Sciences President and CEO John Langford and state Secretary of Technology Karen Jackson, according to Wise County Circuit Court Clerk Jack Kennedy. Manassas-based Aurora Flight Sciences develops unmanned flight systems and aerospace vehicles. Student research Specifics on the business and workforce develop- Wondering what these Eastside High students are studying so ment grants are not yet available. Look for coverage in Friday’s Coalfield Progress. intently? It’s scientific research. See Page 2. PAGE 2 Tuesday, October 25, 2016 The Coalfield Progress Norton, Virginia 24273 Students release mussels, snails Local high school stu- by DGIF into specially dents released more than built nursery silos in the 350 juvenile rainbow Clinch River. That first mussels and 100 spiny year, four silos were river snails into the placed at four sites north Clinch River earlier this of St. Paul, and students month at St. Paul’s A.R. monitored the mussels Matthews Memorial monthly and then tagged Park. and released them. In The Oct. 14 release by 2011, five silos were Team Estonoa, which placed at four sites south includes more than 50 of St. Paul and students students from repeated the above moni- Castlewood and Eastside toring process. Each high schools, represents release also coincided the group’s fourth with presentations to release. local fourth grade stu- This month’s release dents by Team Estonoa was also part of a larger, and DGIF. The 2014 and long-term goal to estab- 2016 monitoring/release lish an endangered mus- cycles were done along sel nursery on the Clinch. sections of the Clinch In spring 2010, Team River near St. Paul. Estonoa, directed by The project remains a Teresa Vencil and spon- success because of the sored by Dominion collaborative efforts of Resources, partnered the Nature Conservancy, with the Virginia DGIF, Dominion Department of Game and Resources, the town of St. Inland Fisheries to place Paul, and Russell and juvenile mussels raised Wise counties’ schools. Castlewood High students release mussels into the Clinch River. SWVA branding, BRIEFLY tourism region High Knob group Group wants rec areas’ announced wants more signs fall operations extended DUNGANNON — As efforts continue to promote DUNGANNON — Vibrant autumnal colors now The Southwest Virginia Cultural Heritage Foundation unveiled its new branding for Southwest Virginia in an High Knob as a tourism destination, the High blanket High Knob, and the High Knob event Oct. 18 in Abingdon. Knob Enhancement Corp. believes more signs are Enhancement Corp. last Wednesday voiced sup- The press conference at Heartwood: Southwest needed to direct visitors to the observation tower port for providing visitors extended opportunities Virginia’s Artisan Gateway, was the kickoff for a destination atop the mountain. The board last Wednesday to enjoy the annual fall leaf display. brand that is representative of 19 counties and four cities in agreed to aim for next spring to install more signs, It was suggested that requests be made for the both the Heart of Appalachia and Blue Ridge Highlands particularly one at the base of the approach road mountain’s recreation areas — Flag Rock, High areas of Southwest Virginia. that leads to the tower off Forest Service Road 238. Knob and Bark Camp Lake — to remain open Ben Muldrow of Arnett Muldrow & Associates called the Michael Wampler, a corporation board member through the end of October. The U.S. Forest effort “the most aggressive regional branding initiative that and Wise County’s tourism director, said visitors Service operates Bark Camp and High Knob has ever been undertaken in the United States.” The brand- routinely drive by the tower turn-off because there recreation areas, and both these sites’ camp- ing team visited all 19 counties, 54 towns and four cities to is no sign.