https://buchananbedrock.com/What’s going on in Buchanan County, and where it says so.en-ushttps://buchananbedrock.com/a/heating-help-deadline-nov-13https://buchananbedrock.com/a/heating-help-deadline-nov-13Sat, 07 Nov 2026 12:00:00 +0000Virginia's yearly Fuel Assistance applications close Friday, Nov. 13 (Virginia DSS). You can apply online, by phone at 855-635-4370, or on paper at the…https://buchananbedrock.com/a/health-coverage-enrollment-deadlineshttps://buchananbedrock.com/a/health-coverage-enrollment-deadlinesSat, 07 Nov 2026 12:00:00 +0000Medicare's open enrollment ends Monday, Dec. 7 (Medicare.gov). Virginia's Insurance Marketplace is open Nov. 1 through Jan. 29, and you need to sign up by…https://buchananbedrock.com/a/deer-firearms-season-opens-nov-14https://buchananbedrock.com/a/deer-firearms-season-opens-nov-14Sat, 07 Nov 2026 12:00:00 +0000The general firearms deer season in Buchanan County runs Saturday, Nov. 14, through Saturday, Dec. 12 (Virginia DWR). Buchanan has no general either-sex…https://buchananbedrock.com/a/what-buchanan-decided-nov-3-2026https://buchananbedrock.com/a/what-buchanan-decided-nov-3-2026Thu, 05 Nov 2026 12:00:00 +00005,393 people voted in Buchanan County on Nov. 3, about 38% of the 14,336 registered. The county backed Bert Mizusawa for U.S.https://buchananbedrock.com/a/twin-valley-school-propertyhttps://buchananbedrock.com/a/twin-valley-school-propertyTue, 03 Nov 2026 12:00:00 +0000The county board had a public hearing on its agenda for Monday, Nov. 2, on giving the old Twin Valley High School property at Pilgrim's Knob to the county's…https://buchananbedrock.com/a/flood-buyout-programhttps://buchananbedrock.com/a/flood-buyout-programTue, 03 Nov 2026 12:00:00 +0000A federal flood program for buildings damaged in the April 1977 flood (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) is still moving homes out of harm's way in Buchanan…https://buchananbedrock.com/a/county-roads-this-fallhttps://buchananbedrock.com/a/county-roads-this-fallTue, 03 Nov 2026 12:00:00 +0000The county is hiring snow removal vendors for county roads (Sept. 14 minutes; Nov. 2 agenda). Since August, metal-tracked equipment is banned from county…https://buchananbedrock.com/a/the-county-in-numbershttps://buchananbedrock.com/a/the-county-in-numbersTue, 03 Nov 2026 12:00:00 +0000Sources: U.S. Census QuickFacts , USAFacts , Cardinal News on the Weldon Cooper Center projection .https://buchananbedrock.com/a/who-decides-thingshttps://buchananbedrock.com/a/who-decides-thingsTue, 03 Nov 2026 12:00:00 +0000The members named in 2026 coverage are Chairman Tim Hess (Hurricane District), Vice Chairman Jeff Cooper (Garden), Lee Dotson (North Grundy), Roger Rife…https://buchananbedrock.com/a/tuesday-s-election-nov-3-2026https://buchananbedrock.com/a/tuesday-s-election-nov-3-2026Tue, 03 Nov 2026 12:00:00 +0000Read on the local races. When the Grundy mayor runs unopposed and the council has exactly as many candidates as seats, the outcome is set before the polls…https://buchananbedrock.com/a/where-the-county-s-money-goeshttps://buchananbedrock.com/a/where-the-county-s-money-goesTue, 03 Nov 2026 12:00:00 +0000Supervisors unanimously adopted a $197.7 million all-funds budget for FY2026-27. The general fund is $61.12 million, with the largest items being social…https://buchananbedrock.com/a/coal-still-the-enginehttps://buchananbedrock.com/a/coal-still-the-engineTue, 03 Nov 2026 12:00:00 +0000Coronado Global Resources' Buchanan Mine Complex produces metallurgical coal, the kind used to make steel, not to burn for power. After an expansion, it…https://buchananbedrock.com/a/the-big-tech-and-energy-story-twin-valleyhttps://buchananbedrock.com/a/the-big-tech-and-energy-story-twin-valleyTue, 03 Nov 2026 12:00:00 +0000Diversified Energy, a Birmingham, Alabama gas producer that bought Buchanan County gas wells in 2025, wants to put a fuel cell running on coal-mine methane…https://buchananbedrock.com/a/broadband-and-connectivityhttps://buchananbedrock.com/a/broadband-and-connectivityTue, 03 Nov 2026 12:00:00 +0000Fiber is arriving in pieces. Point Broadband lists several Buchanan build areas: Greenbriar/Vicey/Prater, Loggy Bottom and Pea Patch (finished August 2021)…https://buchananbedrock.com/a/schools-four-high-schools-became-onehttps://buchananbedrock.com/a/schools-four-high-schools-became-oneTue, 03 Nov 2026 12:00:00 +0000Southern Gap High School opened Aug. 21, 2026, merging Grundy, Hurley, Council, and Twin Valley high schools into a roughly 200,000-square-foot campus for…https://buchananbedrock.com/a/mined-land-is-the-county-s-real-estatehttps://buchananbedrock.com/a/mined-land-is-the-county-s-real-estateTue, 03 Nov 2026 12:00:00 +0000In a county this steep, flat ground is scarce, and much of the flat ground that exists was made by mining. That's why nearly every development idea in…https://buchananbedrock.com/a/getting-help-when-it-countshttps://buchananbedrock.com/a/getting-help-when-it-countsTue, 03 Nov 2026 12:00:00 +0000The tech story that matters most day to day here isn't data centers. It's whether your phone works on the road, how fast an ambulance can reach a hollow…https://buchananbedrock.com/a/the-river-the-pipes-and-who-runs-themhttps://buchananbedrock.com/a/the-river-the-pipes-and-who-runs-themTue, 03 Nov 2026 12:00:00 +0000Every big project in this county, from the new high school to the four-lane 460, is partly a flood story. The Levisa Fork and creeks like Knox Creek and…https://buchananbedrock.com/a/addiction-recovery-and-the-jail-billhttps://buchananbedrock.com/a/addiction-recovery-and-the-jail-billTue, 03 Nov 2026 12:00:00 +0000The flood and utility story is about pipes. This one is about people, and it shows up in the county budget too.https://buchananbedrock.com/a/coal-pays-for-the-roads-and-the-check-is-shrinkinghttps://buchananbedrock.com/a/coal-pays-for-the-roads-and-the-check-is-shrinkingTue, 03 Nov 2026 12:00:00 +0000Most counties leave roads to the state. Buchanan doesn't, and the reason ties straight back to coal.https://buchananbedrock.com/a/cheap-houses-a-low-tax-and-a-reassessment-coming-duehttps://buchananbedrock.com/a/cheap-houses-a-low-tax-and-a-reassessment-coming-dueTue, 03 Nov 2026 12:00:00 +0000Housing here looks affordable on paper and is hard to find in practice. The tax on it is one of the lowest in Virginia, the stock is old and heavy on mobile…https://buchananbedrock.com/a/the-two-graduate-schools-the-county-is-fighting-to-keephttps://buchananbedrock.com/a/the-two-graduate-schools-the-county-is-fighting-to-keepTue, 03 Nov 2026 12:00:00 +0000For a rural county its size, Buchanan has something unusual: two graduate professional schools. The Appalachian School of Law sits in Grundy, and the…https://buchananbedrock.com/a/who-hires-here-what-it-pays-and-the-trail-bethttps://buchananbedrock.com/a/who-hires-here-what-it-pays-and-the-trail-betTue, 03 Nov 2026 12:00:00 +0000Earlier editions kept coming back to one number: only one in three adults here is in the labor force. This edition looks at the jobs themselves, using the…https://buchananbedrock.com/a/the-electric-bill-and-who-decides-ithttps://buchananbedrock.com/a/the-electric-bill-and-who-decides-itTue, 03 Nov 2026 12:00:00 +0000Buchanan has no electric co-op and no municipal utility to speak of. Homes here buy power from Appalachian Power (APCo), the American Electric Power…https://buchananbedrock.com/a/black-lung-and-the-dust-rule-on-holdhttps://buchananbedrock.com/a/black-lung-and-the-dust-rule-on-holdTue, 03 Nov 2026 12:00:00 +0000Every other edition of this briefing has treated coal as an economy: jobs, severance taxes, road money, bankruptcies. This one is about what coal does to…https://buchananbedrock.com/a/who-inspects-the-mines-and-the-rules-being-rewrittenhttps://buchananbedrock.com/a/who-inspects-the-mines-and-the-rules-being-rewrittenTue, 03 Nov 2026 12:00:00 +0000The eleventh edition covered the slow danger underground, dust. This one covers the fast ones, roof falls and methane, and the two layers of inspectors who…https://buchananbedrock.com/a/coalbed-methane-forced-pooling-and-the-gas-royalties-that-sihttps://buchananbedrock.com/a/coalbed-methane-forced-pooling-and-the-gas-royalties-that-siTue, 03 Nov 2026 12:00:00 +0000Coal gets the headlines, but under much of Buchanan there's a second mineral business running quietly: methane drawn out of the coal seams through thousands…https://buchananbedrock.com/a/how-buchanan-votes-from-union-democrat-to-85-republicanhttps://buchananbedrock.com/a/how-buchanan-votes-from-union-democrat-to-85-republicanTue, 03 Nov 2026 12:00:00 +0000Tuesday is the right moment to look at the long arc. Twenty-six years ago Buchanan was one of the most reliably Democratic counties in Virginia.https://buchananbedrock.com/a/inside-the-classroom-test-scores-teacher-pay-and-the-pipelinhttps://buchananbedrock.com/a/inside-the-classroom-test-scores-teacher-pay-and-the-pipelinTue, 03 Nov 2026 12:00:00 +0000The first edition covered the building: four high schools merged into Southern Gap. This one looks at what goes on inside, because the school system is the…