August 31, 2007A doctor for CraigFor Saturday: Health care finally comes home to Craig County residents. Thanks to a federal grant the rural county will now have a medical center. Cancer fight shifts to a campaign for health care reformFor Tuesday: The American Cancer Society plans to spend all of its $15 million advertising budget this year on ads that target the need for expanded access to health care. Some people might find the cost excessive and the money better spent on providing free mammograms and colonoscopies. But an ad campaign that acknowledges the nation's greatest hope of winning the fight against cancer is fixing its health care system, is money well spent. Discuss Friday's editorialsNo place for political ploys Discuss Friday's local commentary and lettersA sustainable future is within reach Friday's letters can be read here. August 30, 2007What might have been at Virginia TechOn Sunday, we'll comment on the report by the governor's panel that investigated the April 16 shootings at Virginia Tech. It's a thorough and critical report on the actions and inaction of university officials and Tech and state mental health agencies in dealing with gunman Seung Hui-Cho in the months before his shooting spree and during the critical two hours between the time he killed his first two victims in a dorm and began the wholesale slaughter in Norris Hall. The conclusion: A quicker campuswide alert could have reduced, but not prevented, the carnage, and it would have done no harm. Rats! A school closesFor Friday: A rat infestation at Fairview Elementary will close the school. Good thing as no one wants to share classrooms with rodents. But why did it take so long to deal with this vermin? State GOP leaders' illegal immigration ploy, er, planFor Friday: State Republicans have found a way to divert attention from bad-driver fees. It's an illegal immigration proposal that would prohibit public colleges and universities from accepting illegal immigrants. There is no basis for the proposal, no statistics to speak of showing that illegal immigrants are taking slots away from applicants who are here legally. The proposal is a political ploy that plays on the fears of an impatient, angered public. Discuss Thursday's editorialsPoverty by the numbers Bad rap, but right call Discuss Thursday's local commentary and lettersVick's path to redemption Thursday's letters can be read here. August 29, 2007Larry Craig's footsiesThe good people at Slate have put together a video reenactment of Idaho Sen. Larry Craig's bathroom rendezvous based on the police report. You can watch it here. Warning: I've never been able to get Slate Video to work properly with Firefox, so start up Internet Explorer or use an IE tab. There's little joy for most Americans in poverty statisticsFor Thursday: The headline says "Poverty rate shows significant decline," but a closer look at statistics the Census Bureau released this week shows that wages went down from 2005 to 2006, and the income gap between households in the top 5 percent and everyone else grew wider than ever. That isn't the worst news for ordinary Americans, though. Worse is the increase in the number of Americans without health insurance. Rapper should perform at Tech concertFor Thursday, we support Virginia Tech administration's decision to allow rapper Nas to perform, with other artists, at the Sept. 6 Concert for Virginia Tech. Public shouldn't pay for traveling sports teamsFor our Sunday NRV Current editorial we're writing about Montgomery County's decision to help pay for youth sports teams to travel to championships. It's a waste of taxpayer money. Discuss Wednesday's editorialsSpend bridge money on bridges Discuss Strother's columnGodspeed; it's on to a new life Discuss Wednesday's local commentary and lettersFree of faith's false promise Wednesday's letters can be read here. August 28, 2007Underpromise but overdeliverFor Wednesday: Roanoke's new superintendent Rita Bishop said she lives by the "underpromise but overdeliver" motto. Since she took over the post, she's been making many promises. Will she deliver? Keep immigration enforcement out of state police purviewThis week: Local governments in Virginia are on the stampede to tackle illegal immigration with local measures, including adopting resolutions that direct local agencies to partner with ICE to train officers in immigration law enforcement. But such a directive should not be extended to state police in the form of a mandated statewide partnership with federal immigration officials. Gov. Tim Kaine this week said he has no interest in such an arrangement. He is right not to want state troopers to assume primary enforcement for what are federal responsibilities. Spend bridge money on bridgesFor Wednesday, we're commenting on findings by The Washington Post that Virginia spent federal dollars for bridges on other transportation projects. It was all legal but a wretched abuse of the system forced on VDOT by lawmakers who refused to adequately fund the state's transportation needs. Going forward, as Congress contemplates a massive infusion of cash to upgrade the nation's bridges, it should craft the law more tightly so that bridge money actually goes into bridges. Discuss Tuesday's editorialsDivided, they will fall Goodbye, Gonzales Discuss Tuesday's local commentary and lettersThe problem with government is us Tuesday's letters can be read here. August 27, 2007AP blows the whistleAn as yet unscheduled editorial: Whistleblowers — employees of the government and its contractors — have filed numerous suits on behalf of the government trying to recoup tens of millions of dollars fraudulently spent. Not only has the government not joined in any of these lawsuits, it has punished those who dare to challenge the corruption. Council division will block progress on amphitheaterFor Tuesday: A divided Roanoke City Council will be the death of progress on major city projects. Who can blame the manager of the Charlottesville Pavilion for not wanting to get near a governing body whose members send mixed signals on the proposed amphitheater? Thoughts on a new attornery generalFor Tuesday, we'll be saying farewell to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and, more importantly, looking ahead to the sort of replacement President Bush should choose and Senate democrats should demand. Discuss Monday's editorialsRoanoke still fails its students Discuss Monday's local commentary and lettersSummer, simply Schools at the crossroads Monday's letters can be read here. August 26, 2007Comment on Sunday's New River ForumWhere's Blacksburg's Dumbledore?
Read today's letters here. Comment on Trejbal's columnYou got Plato in my popcorn Back-to-school season is a little different this year for some New River Community College students. Those in Montgomery County have a brand-new campus -- of a sort. They no longer head to the dumpy little building on Roanoke Street in Christiansburg. This year, classes are at the mall. A mall-college. It's a strange juxtaposition of opposites, an oxymoron if you will. Discuss Sunday's editorialsReady, aim backfire... ...a gentler counterattack New River Forum editorial Discuss Radmacher's columnThe president in a bubble Discuss Sunday's local commentaries and lettersDriver fees infringe on happy living No new fees or higher taxes; go to the flat tax Putting women back in the debate Sunday's letters can be read here. August 25, 2007Comment on Saturday's editorialsWarner pulls for an exit strategy Republican U.S. Sen. John Warner stopped short of agreeing with war critics who demand a timeline for withdrawing American forces from Iraq. But his call Thursday for President Bush to bring some troops home by Christmas says no to the status quo. A vision for Radford Radford University President Penelope Kyle has been working on a new strategic plan for the last two years. This week, she finally unveiled all eight pages of it. Two years may seem like a long time for eight pages. But the document would have benefited from a little more time to translate the managerese. Comment on Saturday's local commentaryWith the right leader, authority can recover I was the kind of commissioner who carried Roanoke's comprehensive plan in my car. I arranged my schedule around the Roanoke Redevelopment and Housing Authority meetings, worked with employees between meetings -- even attended a national seminar for commissioners where I discovered how well the RRHA was run, at least prior to May 2006. So, it was particularly galling that your Aug. 14 editorial "Overseeing the overseer" pronounced that the board had not fully exercised oversight in the past, when there had not been newspaper reporters at our monthly board meetings more than once a year in the 10 years I served. Read today's letters here. August 24, 2007Failing schoolsFor Monday: Roanoke's students performed as expected, with 13 of 29 city schools failing to mark adequate yearly progress. This is no surprise. If the schools keep doing things the same way, they'll keep getting the same results. Warner steps up pressure for an Iraq exit strategyFor Saturday: U.S. Sen. John Warner did not go so far as war critics who are demanding a timeline for withdrawing American forces from Iraq. But his call Thursday for President Bush to set a date for bringing some of the troops home by Christmas gives fellow Republicans leave to fall out of lockstep with the White House on the war. Radford U has goals but how will it reach them?For Saturday, we are writing about Radford University's recently approved 10-year strategic goals. Two-years in the making, it is high on goals and low on actually implementing and paying for them. Good ideas are great, but more substance would have been nice after all this time. Discuss Friday's editorialsTech's review is all about post-April 16 It's like taking health away from babies Discuss Friday's local commentaries and lettersLet's get the money out of politics Friday's letters can be read here. August 23, 2007Tech takes stock in light of the April 16 shootingsOn Friday, we'll admonish Virginia Tech's critics that they shouldn't have expected the university's systems review to be an investigation into the actions of university officials or emergency responders the day Seung-Hui Cho shot and killed 33 people, including himself. That investigation, properly, is the purview of the governor's independent panel. Tech's review has quite enough recommendations to consider, though, for improving the way it deals with troubled students and tightening security and emergency communications. Chipping away at kids' healthFor Friday: The Bush administration doesn't like that Congress or the states think more children should benefit from health care. The unitarian president is now chipping away at the Children's Health Insurance Program. The politics of bad-driver feesFor Sunday, a bad-driver fee two-parter: Shame on House Democrats for using illegal immigration as a political wedge by accusing Republicans of exempting illegal immigrants from paying abusive-driver fees. Their linking one hot-button issue to another, in hopes of stoking voter outrage against the GOP, is sure to backfire. But political self-preservation being what it is, Republicans could be accused of a little spin themselves: They've come up with a plan to overhaul the fees - to fix that flaw in the transportation plan they adopted this year, but more likely to stem voter resentment against the fees. Radford's grade scaleFor our Sunday NRV Current editorial, we're writing about Radford school's plans to study whether they should tweak their grading scale to make it easier for kids to get higher grades. While there's a kernel of truth motivating the exercise, it is senseless in the grand scheme of things and a waste of resources. Discuss Thursday's editorialsA ruling not of historic proportions |