November 30, 2006TailgaitingFor the Sunday Current editorial, we'll be taking a look at some ideas to bring wild tailgating at Tech games under control. We're all for people having a good time and a few drinks (if they are of age), but a few measures to tone things down would help. Comment on Thursday's editorialsSay no to robo-calls Bush's choice for family planning November 29, 2006Are you ready?I'm working on my column for Sunday's Current today. I'll be reflecting on the NFL Network. Not many cable subscribers can get it in the NRV, nor will they be able to soon. So who is the bad guy keeping us from our football? Well, it turns out all the players shoulder some blame: the NFL, the cable companies and even the fans. Comment on Wednesday's editorialsAn educated investment Republicans prefer a dead duck session November 28, 2006TurduckenAnd now for an inside view of the editorial page. Today, we've been debating the usage of the word 'turducken' in an upcoming editorial. Only one member of the board, the one who wrote the editorial, knows what it means to "shoot the duck, pluck the feathers and shove it inside John Madden’s holiday turducken." The Madden and turducken references have been cut from the editorial for fear that readers would not know what the hell we were talking about. Yes, this sort of minutia can generate some lively debate. The question for you, blog readers, is: Do you know what a turducken is? Post your responses below. Comment on Wednesday's editorialsA charitable investment in education High school students in Wythe and Bland counties are going to be handed the opportunity of a tuition-free community college education, courtesy of a local charitable foundation that fully appreciates the connection between an educated work force and economic prosperity. In one part of Southwest Virginia, visionaries are working to bring higher education within reach of more people. In a state that gets a failing grade for college affordability and need-based financial aid, the opportunity needs to spread. Ed GillespieEd Gillespie, former chairman of the Republican National Committee, looks like he's going to head up the party in Virginia. We'll be recounting some of the campaign low-lights under his watch, e.g., Swift Boat Captains, as illustrative of what the commonwealth can look forward to. Comment on Tuesday's editorialsState workers must make a better case November 27, 2006State workersFor tomorrow we are working on a piece about state workers' request for a 6 percent raise next year. Virginia has some extra money to throw around, but state workers have not made a compelling case for the raise yet. They need to marshall better than annecdotal evidence to justify such a whopping pay increase. IraqFor Tuesday, we're working on an editorial urging Americans to filter out a multitude of distractions that can only get in the way of attempts to find some sort of workable solution in Iraq. Quibbles over semantics (is Iraq engaged in a civil war or not) or partisan blame-games are counter-productive. Comment on Monday's editorialsWhen hospitals make their patients sicker Cracking open that last oyster November 26, 2006Comment on Sunday's editorialsDream big, Roanoke City Council After a divisive fight over the future of Victory Stadium, Roanoke City Council members appear to have found common ground on the future of land in and around the site of the now-demolished structure. A vision-rich proposal presented to council last week to develop the Reserve Avenue property left members wide-eyed about what could be. And oh, the possibilities. President Bush's citizenship exam Fanciers of irony might enjoy the juxtaposition of two recent news accounts. Item 1: The U.S. government wishes to enter into a more meaningful relationship with its immigrants by changing its citizenship exam to exclude trivia (Who wrote the Star-Spangled Banner?) and to include questions that measure their grasp of democracy and the rights they will enjoy. Item 2: President Bush decides that he can round up an immigrant living lawfully in say Peoria, Ill., lock him away indefinitely, declare him an enemy combatant without a hearing or declaration other than presidential insistence, and cut off due process rights to the court. Comment on Sunday's Current editorialMontgomery supervisors face tough funding decisions Increasing population and aging public facilities pose a challenge for Montgomery County, where officials have assembled a list of needed capital improvements with a hefty estimated $200 million price tag. Unfortunately, the county can raise only $130 million over the next few years to pay for them. The board of supervisors must demonstrate strong leadership to resolve that shortfall, and that means, in part, not punting the issue to voters. November 25, 2006What we've accomplished in IraqSo far, this appears to be our main concrete accomplishment: “I think Iran senses an opportunity to deliver a knock-out punch to the United States,” said Michael O’Hanlon, a regional specialist at the Brookings Institution. “They may see a chance that the US is driven out of the region altogether. Iran could become the great power of the Persian Gulf.” Despite this, there are some who want, desperately to attempt to blame this on the Democrats, who, let the record show, have not wielded any genuine power since the invasion and subsequent botched occupation of Iraq. But somehow, the mere fact that the Democrats won control of Congress, though they have yet to exercise such control, is enough to leave our soldiers impotent in the face of exploding civil war. I'm not sure how that's supposed to work. But the attempt to shift blame is pathetic and desperate - especially when our efforts should be focused on an attempt, however futile, to restrain this disaster. Comment on Saturday's editorialsWhat's wrong with the school bus? Deadly child's play November 24, 2006Comment on Friday's editorialsUninvited to the party Minority recruitment requires creativity November 22, 2006Thanksgiving open threadBlogging's liable to be very light around here until Monday. We've got a long weekend. Lots of good stuff coming up on the pages, though, and we'll try to get entries for each day's editorials. Other than that, though, we probably won't be checking in too much. So consider this an open invitation to comment about whatever's on your mind. Dead duck CongressWe're writing ahead about the Republican Congress' decision to punt on its responsibility to approve federal spending bills. Rather than do their job, Republicans will leave the work to the incoming Democrat-controlled Congress. Comment on Monday's editorialDon't crack that oyster ban Comment on Wednesday's editorialsTaking the edge off hunger Detecting a silent killer Dangerous toysFor Saturday: Just in time for the holidays the annual Trouble in Toyland issued its shoppers beware report of dangerous toys. Parents can check the Consumer Product Safety Commission Web site year round to look for recalls on their children’s toys, but more can be done to keep toys containing lead from lining stores’ shelves. November 21, 2006hospital infectionsAn upcoming editorial will recommend that Virginia collect information on hospital infections. Studies published this week in the American Journal of Medical Quality draw on data collected by Pennsylvania, the only state to require reporting. Researchers found that high infection rates can be blamed on hospitals and that the cost for treating patients who acquire hospital infections is far steeper than hospitals can hope to gain in reimbursments. Readers who are searching for ways to minimize the risk might want to check out this site hosted by the Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths.. PH ParkingTo run some day later in the week, we are working on an editorial about the student parking situation at Patrick Henry High School. Neighbors have fair complaints, and a permit parking system on nearby streets is a reasonable short-term solution during construction. Meanwhile, with a stadium coming, this might be just the start of parking headaches. Is a newspaper bad because you don't agree with its editorials?I used to work across the hall from Don Surber back in my days at the Charleston Gazette. I worked for the liberal morning paper. He was an editorial writer for the conservative afternoon Daily Mail. We'd trade good-natured barbs every once in awhile. After I moved to Roanoke, I found his blog. So now we continue to trade good-natured barbs occasionally. But I agreed with what he had to say in this post: Scott Johnson at the Powerline blog asked the musical question, “Is your newspaper America’s worst?” Good question. I would like to see which town suffers the most pedestrian civic-booster newspaper in the country. Instead, all that is listed are big-city newspapers that dare to be liberal on their editorial pages. Surber's main conclusion - "Isn’t it childish (and dangerous) to read only things with which we agree?" - is one I couldn't agree with more. Judging from my e-mails, many readers of The Roanoke Times only want to read opinions that mirror their own. Our editorials offend them not because of poor writing or inadequate research (our editorials suffer neither malady), but merely because the reader takes an opposing point of view. That's kind of sad. Comment on Tuesday's editorialsTraining for 'brownfields' Factory farms need better regulation November 20, 2006Training for 'brownfields'Roanoke is one of 12 U.S. localities to receive a job training grant through the EPA's brownfields program. The grant will enable the city to teach environmental cleanup to students recruited from communities surrounding those target areas. Read Tuesday about an encouraging initiative that involves public and nonprofit entities to provide skills training with the help of local programs that target the underskilled. Montgomery County capitalFor next Sunday's Current editorial, we're working on a piece about capital improvement needs and how to pay for them in Montgomery County. The county figures it has about $200 million worth of projects that need doing but can only raise about $130 million. That means something won't get done. More troubling are rumblings among supervisors who want to send any bonding out for voter approval. They are elected to make tough decisions, and this is one of them. Factory farmsFor tomorrow, we're writing about the growing number of factory farms, feedlots that pack hundreds, even thousands, of hogs, chicken or cattle into tight confinement. According to a series of studies published last week, regulations haven’t kept up with the changes to this industry. Comment on Monday's editorialsWebb and a plan to end the war Jamey Singleton, the much beleaguered WSLS weatherman, lost his job when a picture snapped months ago as he exited a shower turned up on MySpace. The nude picture was to Singleton what the "macaca" moment was to George Allen -- a public embarrassment that cost them their jobs. November 19, 2006Comment on Sunday's Current editorialA much-deserved thank you No editorials on the main page todayWe had a special section introducing the editorial department staff and explaining what we do. It's not available online, but pick up a copy of The Roanoke Times to check it out. November 18, 2006What we're fighting forHave we lost sight? That's the tragedy of the Bush administration, I think. They've been comparing our standard of conduct against barbarians who chop the heads off their victims. I think we are far, far better than that, while Bush and his people seem to think we should be satisfied merely being somewhat better than that. This post from Josh Marshall over at Talking Points Memo crystalized this feeling for me: Imbued within this training during the Cold War was the sense that part of what set us apart from our communist adversaries was our adherence to the Geneva Conventions, and that the inhumane tactics used by those adversaries was part and parcel of the totalitarianism that we were combating. There was also the sense--a point of pride really--that we could and would prevail despite holding ourselves to a higher standard. It was, in fact, the higher standard that we were fighting for. Not only are we better than the terrorists, we're supposedly fighting to prove that we're better. Let's not let anyone lose sight of that. Comment on Saturday's editorialsThe time it takes to grandstand The return of the queen November 17, 2006internetFor Monday we are working on an editorial about the downside of the Internet. How can people keep their children or their reputations safe? When it comes to the Internet, there really isn't a full-proof way. Just ask Jamey Singleton, the recently fired WSLS weatherman. The wrong lessonPresident Bush went to Vietnam - guess he couldn't get out of it this time - and told the world that the American experience in Vietnam more than 30 years ago offers a lesson for today. He's right about that, but, of course, he got the lesson wrong. He said the lesson is this: "We'll succeed unless we quit." He's absolutely wrong. The lesson we should have taken from Vietnam was to avoid unnecessary wars that we cannot win. Comment on Friday's editorialsMicromanaging VDOT's plan November 16, 2006carbon monoxide detectorsA future editorial: State lawmakers are likely to drop a proposal to require carbon monoxide detectors in certain public buildings since the alarms don't always work properly. The government, with a strong interest in protecting the public, should encourage the development of better detectors. Micromanaging VDOT's planFriday, we write about several lawmakers who have criticized a Virginia Department of Transportation plan to close 91 maintenance centers across the state and hire private contractors to maintain the interstates. But these same legislators were part of this year’s General Assembly, which voted unanimously to require VDOT to outsource all interstate maintenance by July 1, 2009, but did not stipulate how the department is to achieve that result. Hunger in America and RoanokeWe are working on an upcoming editorial that looks inside the USDA’s report that finds 35 million Americans live in food “insecure” households. Can food stamps that pay for about $2.89 worth of food a day take care of the hunger? Comment on Thursday's editorialsSurpluses will not fund Virginia's roads Virginia lawmakers gathered this week to talk about the budget. The revenue outlook is rosy for next year, but, after that, it will cool off. House Republicans prudently warn that additional revenue is no excuse for a spending spree. Read more. Little more than a week ago, a triumphant Rep. Nancy Pelosi promised an ethics House-cleaning by the ascendant Democrats. November 15, 2006Comment on Thursday's editorialPelosi's promise After last week's election, Rep. Nancy Pelosi promised an ethics House-cleaning by the new Democratic majority. When party members in the House elect their leaders today, though, presumptive Speaker Pelosi will be throwing her clout behind the ethically challenged Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania. What a disappointing failure in her first leadership test. editorial boardComing soon: Senate Finance Chairman John Chichester has suggested the General Assembly cut short its 2007 session. While little work will get accomplished, lawmakers won't want to give up one moment of grandstanding time during an election year. Planning stipendsFor Sunday's editorial in The Current, we'll be taking a look at newly approved stipends for members of the Blacksburg planning commission and board of zoning appeals. Such financial awards are common among Virginia localities to recognize the hard work these people do, but we can't help but feel a little saddened that they diminish the notion of citizens volunteering only to make their communities better places. Comment on Wednesday's editorialsMedicare Part D gets an F The new Democratic Congress should throw out the Medicare Part D drug benefit and start anew. The country's disabled and senior citizens need a law that is written with the interests of the people, not of the drug manufactures, in mind. More than a walk in the woods A new, scientific mission for the Appalachian Trail just might help to preserve its original purpose — for recreation — while serving a broader purpose, too. Western Virginia stands to reap benefits both ways, if it only will. |