David Bowers

Once a year Roanoke Mayor David Bowers opens his office to citizens without appointment. They can wander in, give the mayor a piece of their mind (whether it’s positive or negative) and have their photo — or their child’s or grandchild’s photo — taken in the mayor’s chair. After all, as the sign on his desk reads, “This Chair belongs to the People.”

This year’s open house comes a little early: It’s happening after the city council meeting on Monday, from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. The mayor’s office is Room 452 on the fourth floor in the Noel C. Taylor Municipal Building in downtown Roanoke.

– Mason Adams

In mid-December I’ll begin a new chapter in my life.

After nearly 10 years at The Roanoke Times, I’m leaving to take a job with SustainFloyd, a non profit that aims to bridge the gap between rural traditions and the 21st Century global economy.

There are inherent risks in such a career jump, and it’s not a move I’m making lightly.

For more about the why’s of this, read on below the fold.

– Mason Adams

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Carol Lee McGuire-Bishop. The Roanoke Times | File 2009

I wanted to take a moment today to note the passing of Carol Lee McGuire-Bishop — my sixth and seventh grade social studies teacher and probably the biggest reason you’re reading my reporting in the Roanoke Times and on the Blue Ridge Caucus.

McGuire-Bishop — I still have a strong urge to call her Ms. McGuire — died early yesterday from injuries she suffered in a car wreck in Clifton Forge on Friday morning.

As some of you know, I’m a Clifton Forge native. I lived just outside the city limits on the east side, which meant that I attended Sharon Elementary School, which in the 1980s meant that I had Ms. McGuire as a teacher.

Her reputation was already well established at a school-wide level by the time I started kindergarten. She taught 6th and 7th grade social studies, but stories of her legendary temper trickled down to the lowest levels of the then-K-through-7 school. One story (probably a myth, but I wouldn’t rule it out as possibly true) had her slamming a door so hard that the window came out and flew across the hall, where it shattered on the opposite wall. When I first started school and paddling by the principal was still a real threat, that story was terrifying.

By the time I reached 6th grade, I was struggling with the onset of adolescence and dealing with one of the more challenging years of my life. But contrary to what I and my classmates had feared, Ms. McGuire wasn’t as bad as we’d heard.

True, she did work us hard. She all but required us to keep up with current events — preferably by reading a newspaper, whether it was the Roanoke Times or the local Virginian Review — and quizzed us regularly. She also lived up to her reputation for assigning lots and lots of reports: I think we did at least a dozen each on various aspects of the Civil War and World War II, ranging in length from a half a page to 3 or more pages.

But we found out she had a wicked sense of humor and could keep students laughing when she wanted. Her love of sports rivaled and probably surpassed that of even the most fervent fanboys in our classes. To some extent, we could predict her mood and homework load based on how the Washington Redskins, Virginia Tech Hokies and New York Yankees played.

And as stressful as the current events quizzes could be, they proved to be the gateway into the daily paper for me. I read the comics and sports pages for fun, but I read the news section for class. And it turned out the fall of 1988 through the spring of 1990 turned out to be a dramatic time for historic events — the fall of the Berlin Wall and the dissolution of the Soviet Union. That doesn’t even take into account the the 1988 presidential election.

Ms. McGuire would dictate current events for our notes. She didn’t cover every story in the paper, of course, so in some ways her delivery of each day’s events helped illustrate the idea of sorting stories by importance. As I got used to the paper, I got to where I could tell when something truly monumental had happened — and on those days I looked forward to hearing her take.

All of that helped prepare me for this job: I don’t know that there’s any better training to report and write for a newspaper than by spending years reading one.

In 2009, when Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Bath County, won the Democratic primary for governor, I was assigned to travel up to my home Alleghany Highlands and get reaction from locals. I knew to hit some local hotspots — Cucci’s Pizzeria in Covington, the old Varsity Grill in Warm Springs — but on the drive up U.S. 220 I decided to call Ms. McGuire. She was retired then, so she was at home and was happy to agree to an interview.

She told me she was “elated” by his victory and added some local history:

“When Creigh first started out, he was so nervous and so self-conscious, but he always had the fire in his belly and the fire in the heart,” said Carol Lee McGuire-Bishop, who taught social studies in the Alleghany County school system for 31 years. “When you see him over TV or out with big crowds, you don’t understand how much he feels what he says. His grandparents were poor. He still lives in the same house his grandparents used to live in. His mother still carries the mail. I bet he’s the only candidate whose wife works. He is just true to his values. I don’t think his basic values have changed one bit.”

She introduced me to her new Scottie (her classrooms had been laced with images of the dog), but I didn’t realize until this weekend how she had regularly driven stray animals to other states to find “no-kill” shelters for them.

I did know, of course, about her love for Virginia Tech. I had an old Bimbo Coles poster from his time at VT, and Ms. McGuire is identifiable in the crowd in the background.

And earlier this year I was thrilled to see that she was the “feisty 70-year-old woman” who grilled Shane Beamer at a meeting of the Roanoke Valley Sports Club, which drew the notice of columnist Aaron McFarling.

Perhaps also noteworthy: The 2011 Ford Mustang she was driving at the time of her wreck on Friday was maroon with custom burnt orange pin stripes and VT logos.

In any case, I wanted to pay tribute to Ms. McGuire, who inspired me and a ton of other students in the Alleghany Highlands. I’ve been struck by how many people have written on Facebook and elsewhere, citing her as their favorite teacher. She certainly was a heck of an influence on me.

– Mason Adams

Last week we were joined by two international journalists who flew in to the Star City to cover the presidential election from the Roanoke Times newsroom.

In the time they’ve been here, Reem Yousuf Al-Harami, from Qatar, and Elham Mustafa A.Salih, from Sudan, have gotten to cover visits to the Roanoke Valley by Mitt Romney, Bill Clinton and Joe Biden.

And today, of course, they’re covering the actual election.

The two are part of a program sponsored by the International Center for Journalists, which has placed reporters in newsrooms throughout the battleground states.

If you want to read coverage of tonight’s election by those participants, they’re posting in a live blog at ICFJ’s website.

Reem and Elham will wrap up their time in Roanoke tomorrow.

– Mason Adams

Biden's motorcade on Campbell Avenue

I served as the pool print reporter for Vice President Joe Biden’s “unscheduled” visit to the Star City, from his arrival at the Roanoke Regional Airport to Benny Marconi’s to the Obama For America campaign office.

Here’s what I filed:

Air Force 2 touched down at the Roanoke Regional Airport at 3:25 p.m.

Anne Holton, daughter of former Virginia Gov. Linwood Holton and wife of former governor and current U.S. Senate candidate Tim Kaine waited at the bottom of the ladder.

At 3:26, Vice President Joe Biden emerged with wife Jill Biden, Kaine and U.S. Sen. Mark Warner. They descended the ladder and greeted Holton before getting into a car.

The vice president’s motorcade headed south on Interstate 581 into the heart of downtown Roanoke, stopping on Campbell Avenue.

Biden entered Benny Marconi’s, a locally owned pizzeria known for its large slices, at 3:49 p.m. to applause from the people gathered there. Warner and Kaine followed him in. Biden greeted the pizzeria’s patrons, shaking hands and posing for photos.

Warner introduced himself to a man wearing red flannel, who responded, “I know who you are!”

Biden then put his arm around the shoulders of that man and the woman sitting next to them and talked to them for a bit. The man in red flannel laughed heartily at something Biden said that went unheard by your pool reporter.

Biden then glanced over the counter at a cheese pizza, saying, “Look at that size of that pie! Holy moley!”

More after the jump:

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Gov. Bob McDonnell

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell appeared in the opening segment of “Face the Nation” yesterday with former Gov. Ted Strickland, D-Ohio, former Gov. Ed Rendell, D-Penn., and Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla.

McDonnell probably spoke the most of any of those four, and host Bob Schieffer led with a question to him.

Schieffer’s lead remarks on the show helped underscore why McDonnell was there and why Virginia is so important in the national election:

“it’s coming down to eleven states that are now basically ground zero for the candidates; Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Ohio, Iowa, Colorado, Nevada, and New Mexico. The nation is so polarized now that the undecided votes in these states represent about five percent and that is consistent with the rest of the country. Thirty-nine states lean so heavily to one candidate or another, both candidates are focusing their efforts now on those eleven states.”

McDonnell said he thinks the race in Virginia is a “dead heat” right now, but the Republican governor predicted that Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney will ultimately win because he’s got a better plan for the economy.

Schieffer asked about Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s allegation that Romney may have had some years where he paid no taxes, since he’s declined to release returns for more than the last two years. McDonnell called that “a reckless and slanderous charge.”

He added, “You know, Bob, people don’t care about Mitt Romney’s tax returns. They care about their own tax returns and the taxes that are going to be increased under President Barack Obama where nearly a million small business people are getting a whopping tax increase. That’s the issue in this race. This is a more “change the situation,” “hide the ball,” where they don’t want to focus on jobs and the economy and spending and debt and deficit and energy because their record is so bad, and, of course, they’re trying to change the subject to tax returns? You know what we know about his returns. He has paid his taxes. He’s a very generous man, and he’s made a lot of money because he’s been successful. Why don’t we start talking about the things that are important that people are going to vote about and that’s jobs and spending.”

Later, Schieffer asked McDonnell whether he was being vetted as a possible vice-presidential candidate to run with Romney.

McDonnell’s response: “You know I’m not talking about it. That’s up to Mitt Romney. He’s going to make that announcement soon. But I’ll tell you what vice presidents don’t win elections. Presidents and their candidates and their vision do; and Mitt Romney’s vision for the middle class that he outlined this week on jobs and deficit reduction and small business promotion and energy is the way to go.”

You can read the rest of the discussion by clicking this link for the transcripts from yesterday’s “Face the Nation.”

After the fold, though, you can also read Schieffer’s end-of-the-first-half-hour monologue about what it’s like to suddenly live in a battleground state. Those of you who are already sick of the unrelenting TV ads may appreciate his comments.

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Cross-posted from the Back Cover blog.

“J. Lindsay Almond: Virginia’s Reluctant Rebel”
By Ben Beagle and Ozzie Osborne. Full Court Press.
173 pages. Out of print, but available in the Roanoke Valley Library system and through used booksellers like Amazon.

Many Roanoke Times readers know Ben Beagle for his long-running column in the Extra section.

As a young man growing up in Clifton Forge in the ‘80s and ‘90s, I remember reading of “the greatest station wagon driver of them all” and his takes on celebrities and other foibles of modern life. But it wasn’t until I was a few years into my tenure here at the Roanoke Times that I realized Beagle also was a heck of a reporter for many years, too.

I heard stories, but I didn’t understand fully until covering former U.S. Sen. John Warner’s retirement announcement in 2007. I pulled a bunch of stories from Warner’s first run for Senate in 1978, only to see Beagle’s byline at the top of most of them. He wrote well, getting to the point but including a lot of nice details along the way.

Mel “Buster” Carrico is the Roanoke Times’ most storied political reporter, but Beagle definitely deserves a place in the conversation too.

Several years ago I tracked down a second-hand signed copy of “J. Lindsay Almond: Virginia’s Reluctant Rebel” – a 1984 book that Beagle co-wrote with Ozzie Osborne, another former Roanoke Times reporter.

There are a few legends surrounding the book – that it was rushed to print, that Beagle and Osborne decided to write alternating chapters but then Osborne wouldn’t let Beagle read his work. I visited Beagle last week at his home, and he doesn’t remember that part of it. On the other hand, he didn’t seem all that proud of the book, either. Maybe that’s just Beagle’s modesty.

“Virginia’s Reluctant Rebel” does make for a clunky read at times – there are typos here and there, and sometimes information is unnecessarily repeated. On the other hand, the story it tells is so compelling that the reader can’t help but turn the page.

Former Virginia Gov. Lindsay Almond

Almond came to prominence through Harry Byrd Sr.’s political machine that dominated Virginia politics through the 20th Century. He served as a state court judge in Roanoke from 1933 to 1945, then was elected to Congress representing the 6th District (the seat currently held by Bob Goodlatte).

In 1957 Almond was elected as governor at the height of massive resistance by running as a staunch segregationist. Brown v. Board of Education had already been handed down by the United States Supreme Court, but Byrd and his associates were willing to shut schools down rather than integrate.

But suddenly, halfway through his term – and one week after making a vehement speech for segregation – Almond made an abrupt 180-degree turn and came out in favor of integrating schools. It was the first step on a hard road to where we are today.

Almond paid a terrible political price for his change of mind. Byrd refused to speak to him ever after that. And these days, he seems almost lost to history. Virginians talk a lot more about the founding fathers and the Civil War than about massive resistance and the fight over integration.

“J. Lindsay Almond: Virginia’s Reluctant Rebel” has also been forgotten, but it’s available if you look for it and is worth the search. It details an important piece of state history – I don’t know if you can really understand Linwood Holton, another governor with a Roanoke link and memoir that’s much easier to find, if you don’t know about Almond – and helps solidify Beagle’s reputation as not just a columnist but a reporter.

For more thoughts on Beagle about the writing of the book and on Lindsay Almond, check out the audio file below.

Ben Beagle on "J. Lindsay Almond: Virginia's Reluctant Rebel" by Mason Adams

– Mason Adams

We’ve got at least several readers who are interested in the latest happenings with Roanoke political consultant and “Bubba” expert Dave “Mudcat” Saunders.

The latest: Saunders is going to work for Democrat Wayne Powell, a trial lawyer and retired Army colonel who is running against House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in Virginia’s 7th Congressional District.

“It’s going to be a bloody son of a b—-,” Saunders said. “We’re really going to do some cool s—. I’ve got help out of Hollywood and Nashville.”

The 7th District doesn’t fall into our coverage area, obviously, but we may bring you occasional updates if they’re merited or there’s a western Virginia connection.

– Mason Adams

Virgil Goode speaks to the Salem Rotary Club

Virgil Goode said this afternoon that he’s won ballot access in 17 states as the Constitution Party’s presidential nominee – but Virginia isn’t yet one of them.

The former Virginia senator and 5th District congressman said he’s aiming to be on the ballot in 40 states on Election Day, and more if possible. Four years ago, the Constitution Party appeared on 37 ballots in the presidential race.

Goode said he’s already won ballot access in Colorado, Florida, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Utah, Wyoming and other states. In Virginia, he needs to secure at least 10,000 signatures from qualified voters, including at least 400 from each of the state’s 11 congressional districts. The deadline is noon on August 24.

He said he’s already working on that and will focus mostly on the 5th, 6th and 9th Districts in western and southern Virginia to obtain the bulk of those signatures.

Goode spoke for about 20 minutes to about 75 members of the Salem Rotary Club, fielding questions and outlining three key differences between him, incumbent President Barack Obama and likely Republican nominee Mitt Romney.

Goode said he favors deeper cuts to the federal budget to avoid running a deficit. He said Obama’s plan runs a $1.3 trillion deficit while the House Republican plan runs a $600 billion deficit while cutting Medicare.

“This is old Franklin County horse sense, but you’re not going to borrow your way to prosperity,” Goode said.

He said he’d preserve the social security and Medicare programs while making deep cuts to social programs and defense.

Goode said that Democrats and Republicans have become compromised by taking large amounts from “heavy hitter” PACs. SO he pledged to take no more than $200 from any individual donor and said he’d eschew money from political action committees.

Goode said if he wins election in November, “you’ll know that the grassroots is back in charge.”

And at a time when both major parties are softening their stance on immigration, Goode said he’d eliminate illegal immigration and largely shut down legal immigration as well, saying there’s no need for the country to issue 1.2 million green cards annually when unemployment is running between 8 percent and 9 percent.

“The best thing to help the working man in this country is to put a moratorium on so many green cards,” Goode said.

– Mason Adams

The Salahis in happier times.

If you can’t enough of the limelight-seeking Salahis of White House gate-crashing fame, you may be in luck.

As for the rest of you, bear with us just a minute.

Tareq Salahi apparently thinks he can be Virginia’s next governor.

The winery owner/reality television figure/scorned husband tells celebrity gossip site TMZ.com that he plans to run for governor. According to a document posted on TMZ’s site, Salahi will file to run as a Republican. That would put him in a three-way contest for the GOP nomination with Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling and Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli.

The Internet may be a bottomless news hole, but there will be no attempt here to fill it with all the details about the trials and tribulations of Tareq Salahi and his estranged wife Michaele.

But you might find this interesting. Earlier this week, Cuccinelli announced that he has sued Tareq Salahi for alleged violations of the state’s consumer protection law. The attorney general’s lawsuit alleges that Salahi ran a wine tour business that, among other things, failed to deliver tours as promised, didn’t provide refunds for tours it canceled, and misrepresented other businesses as “official partners.” The lawsuit was filed in Fauquier County, where Salahi’s family once operated a winery.

– Michael Sluss