September 30, 2007Discuss Trejbal's column about electronic voting machinesThe registrar has a secret lair Montgomery County Registrar Randy Wertz has a secret lair somewhere in the New River Valley. Between elections, he stores his voting machines in an undisclosed location to help ensure no one tampers with them. A couple of weeks ago, he let me visit. Comment on Sunday's local commentariesFaith, religion and human intellect Carr is an ordained Baptist minister and teaches at Virginia Western Community College and Hollins University. Story took a callous view of 911 abuse Wright is a social worker who lives in Roanoke. Sunday's letters are here. Comment on Sunday's editorials Virginia's illegal immigrant blues Tax penalties have lost their bite Blacksburg goes its own way --Sen. Edward Kennedy, explaining how the Senate, on a voice vote last week, could attach hate-crimes legislation to help states prosecute attacks on homosexuals to a bill funding the war in Iraq. September 29, 2007Comment on Saturday's commentariesIran matters. (Or is it manners?) John Freivalds Freivalds runs an international communication firm in Lexington. He previously worked in Iran and Afghanistan and speaks Farsi. The worst thing you can say to someone in Farsi, the language they speak in Iran, is adap naderi -- you have no manners. So the rude manners shown in the reception that Iran's President Ahmadinejad got at Columbia University reinforced all the stereotypes that people in Iran if not the Middle East, had about the U.S. Read here. Saturday's letters are here. Comment on Saturday's editorialsStruggling toward school success Make no mistake, the special committees established to help three Roanoke schools meet state accreditation standards aren't remedies initiated by the schools or the school system. Read here. A health field of his own Marc Edwards eschewed the much greater earning potential of a medical degree for a degree in environmental engineering for one reason. He thought he could make a bigger difference in people's health. And he was right. Read here. September 28, 2007At Virginia Tech, engineering a fight for what's rightOn Saturday, we'll laud the work of Marc Edwards, the Virginia Tech engineering professor who won a MacArthur Foundation award this week for his tireless fight to ensure the safety of people's drinking water. Esam Omeish resigns from state immigration commissionFor Monday, we are writing about Omeish's remarks that disqualified him from political service. People on state boards must be sensitive about what they say, and support jihad fails that. Committees give troubled schools another chance to successFor Saturday: If special committees can help three Roanoke schools that failed to earn state accreditation for the fourth straight year clear this academic hurdle, then let the process begin. Comment on Friday's commentariesWhy prisoner re-entry is important Auldridge is executive director of Citizens United for Rehabilitation of Errants-Virginia Inc., based in Alexandria Read Friday's letters here. Comment on Friday's editorialsThe state can wait to exact its blood The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to decide if lethal injections are cruel and unusual punishment. Hours later, Texas executed an inmate. Virginia should not treat this court review so cavalierly. Read here.
Former Virginia state climatologist Patrick Michaels is free now to spread his skepticism about global warming without his views being mistaken as official state pronouncements. He can accept a consulting fee from a utility co-op without fear of conflict of interest. Talking point "For over 200 years, this nation has adhered to the rule of law -- with unparalleled success. A shift to a nation based on extra-constitutional authority is prohibited, as well as ill-advised." -- U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken, who ruled this week that portions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act are unconstitutional. September 27, 2007Hey, BURG, don't freak outBlacksburg has issued a grading permit for the controversial First and Main project. The Wal-Mart issue is still tied up in court. So don't freak out when the buildings start falling and the land gets smoothed. It needs to happen for whatever ultimately will go up there and should be welcome removal of some eyesores. Read more below the jump. The state climatologist's departureFor Friday: Former Virginia state climatologist Patrick Michaels, who resigned quietly this summer, is free now to spread his skepticism about global warming without his views being mistaken for the entire state’s. This is perhaps the best possible end to a case where a man who carried the title of state climatologist failed to see the problem of personal views differing vastly from state position. Blacksburg takes over road constructionIn our Sunday NRV Current editorial, we'll laud Blacksburg's decision to break from VDOT and oversee town road construction. Comment on Thursday's commentariesIt's OK to eat meat Decks lives in Blacksburg and cooks for his family. Virginia: a tale of two states? Fleming is a professor emeritus of education at Virginia Tech and co-author of two books on Virginia history and government Is the old saw still true, "If we didn't have Northern Virginia, we would be Mississippi"? As Virginia has moved from an agricultural and manufacturing base to a high-tech economy, parts of the state have suffered severe job and population losses. Virginia is a wealthy state, but a recent government study found that Southwest and Southside Virginia had a per capita income of $21,000, lower than any of the 50 states, making even Mississippi look good. Read here. Thursday's letters are here. Comment on Thursday's editorialsAct now to protect our mountaintops Safeguard federally protected income Money from a deposited paycheck, certainly. But not money from Social Security benefits, or veterans' benefits, or railroad retirement. Read here. Talking point -- "Jane Doe," the Utah woman whose forced marriage at age 14 led a jury Tuesday to convict Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints leader Warren Jeffs as an accomplice to rape. Prosecutors argued Jeffs knew the marriage would lead to nonconsensual sex. His church is a polygamous Mormon sect with about 10,000 members. September 26, 2007Take mountaintop removal off the tableFor Thursday we will write about Dominion Virginia Power's plan to build a coal-fired plant in Wise County and environmentalists' concerns that it will be powered by coal mined through mountaintop removal. Comment on Traud's columnFrom imperialism to a nation of law Last week, Virginia Supreme Court Justice Donald Lemons shared a brief story with an audience of international delegates gathered in Colonial Williamsburg: Stephen Adkins, chief of the Chickahominy tribe, had approached Lemons as he began to work as a member of the state steering committee for the Jamestown Commission. The committee faced the challenge of telling the story of the longest, continuous democracy. It is a story that begins in barbaric imperialism and evolves into a democracy based on the two-volume set of free and fair elections and the rule of law. Adkins asked: "Tell me when the rule of law was with my people." The query weighed heavily on the white, middle-aged male jurist. Comment on Wednesday's editorialsTax relief goes into reruns Bush still out of step on climate change Nothing has happened, and no one should be surprised. Read here. -- U.S. Army Gen. Dan K. McNeill, top NATO commander in Afghanistan, on a resurgence of Taliban attacks even in provinces ringing the capital of Kabul. Comment on Wednesday's local commentariesFostering acceptance? Hardly Sterling lives in Roanoke and has been active in the gay community for 20 years. "Fostering acceptance" can't be gained by Duncan Adams' Sept. 17 article under that headline. Unbelievable! That word is about all I can say about the article once my brain stopped exploding with disgust, irritation and disappointment. Did we even attend the same event? How in the world did Sen. Larry Craig come up in relation to the Pride Festival in Roanoke? Half of the article is about the senator, not about the festival. I have lived in three metropolitan areas (Norfolk, Atlanta and now Roanoke) and each time, the news media always find some way to focus on a small percentage of our community rather than the majority of attendees. Read here. Read Wednesday's letters here. September 25, 2007Hurt the tax scofflawsWe're writing an editorial to run later in the week about a Government Accountability Office report released Monday. The GAO found that because Congress never linked many of the penalties against tax evaders to inflation, their deterrent value has decreased as well as the revenue they generate. Congress should correct this shortcoming. Bush remains out of step on climate changeFor Wednesday: The Bush administration, six years after rejecting the Kyoto Protocol international treaty, promised instead to develop an alternative plan to address global climate change. Nothing's happened, and no one should be surprised. The administration remains out of step with much of the nation, and world, on global warming. Ho-hum; the Virginia GOP's real-estate tax-relief plan is nothing newFor Wednesday: Virginia Republicans said they were introducing a real estate tax-relief proposal on Monday as they campaigned to maintain control of both houses of the General Assembly in this fall's election. But the "introduction" was mainly campaign hype. The plan, one Democrat Tim Kaine proposed in 2005 in his successful race for governor, would require amending the state constitution -- a process that's already well on its way. Comment on Tuesday's local commentariesCampaign contributions buy something Balliet is a retired chemist living in Bedford. Don't blame exterminator for school's rats Stegall is director of marketing for National Exterminators Inc. Shortly after beginning my first year as a special education teacher, I learned one of the most important and valuable tools in reaching out to the children I served: the simple aspect of leading by example. The most brilliant teachers often have the hardest time reaching out to their pupils and communicating what it is that they expect of them. Read here. Find Tuesday's letters here. Comment on Tuesday's editorialsValuable winds blow on federal land Bush thinks America is a nation of fools Now add these three to the bag of presidential lies and distortions: Read here. Talking point -- John Coatsworth, a Columbia University dean, explaining to CNN why Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was speaking at the school on Monday. The talk generated large protests. September 24, 2007Hold on a minute, Mr. PresidentFor Tuesday: Just because President Bush says Congress wants to give free health insurance to kids in families earning $83,000 doesn't make it so. We'll take a look at Bushspeak on the State Children's Health Insurance Program. Even politics needs a theme songA couple of weeks ago I mentioned a site called Politifact and its surprisingly rocking theme song. The full song is now available with a video. Wind power in the national forestsFor Tuesday, we're writing about proposed rules from the Forest Service to govern wind turbines in national forests. Clarifying the rules now, before a bunch of applications come in, is a smart move. The trick is balancing the commercial use of the forest (which is part of the original intent) and the recreational and environmental needs. Read the proposed rules here. Comment on Monday's local commentariesCaring for -- and about -- veterans
Kreutzer is a former professor of economics at James Madison University Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards is terribly misguided about how to reduce poverty in America. I know, I know -- it's blasphemous to even suggest that a man who has scraped by on million-dollar lawsuit commissions and subsistence-level hedge fund consulting fees doesn't have his finger on the pulse of the nation's poor. Read here. Monday's letters can be found here. Comment on Monday's editorialsRep. Moran spins Iraq with old prejudices One locality wages an immigration war Talking point -- President Bush, not commenting on an Israeli attack on what it claims was a Syrian nuclear-related facility. September 23, 2007Comment on Radmacher's columnShades of gray in payday lending Editorial crusades are more fun in black and white. A clearly defined villain and a sympathetic victim are essential elements. Throw in a little hint of potential political corruption, and the average editorial writer has all the ingredients needed to work up a satisfying head of steam. The movement to ban payday lending in Virginia seems, at first blush, to fit the bill. Read here. Comment on Sunday's local commentariesBuilding more than a gym in Roanoke County Hodge is administrator of Roanoke County. The author of "Why a government-built gym?" (Sept. 16 commentary) addresses Roanoke County's plans to construct a multigenerational recreation center, and he asks a valuable question -- "Why do it?" Read here. Frazier is a registered nurse and administrator of Personal HomeCare Inc. in South Boston. When you think of personal care, what comes to mind? To a personal care patient, it means just what it says -- personal. Personal care aides go to a person's home and help him or her with activities of daily living, from bathing, toileting and dressing to cooking, cleaning and doing other household chores. Read here. McClaskey is chairwoman and Moore is vice chairwoman of the Southwest Virginia Behavioral Health Board. Read Sunday's letters here. Comment on Sunday's editorialsSidewalks belong to the public The town code governing sidewalk sales is out of date and burdensome to shop owners, she reported. Not a major issue, to be sure, but one the council should address as it takes other steps to revitalize downtown. Read more here A river in recovery No taxation without representation Discuss Trejbal's column on the Tech golf courseKeep buildings off Tech's fairways Virginia Tech students, staff and faculty have a recreation option enjoyed at few other schools -- a golf course in the middle of campus. At least they do for now. University planners entertain distant dreams of construction on that valuable land. Read here. September 21, 2007It'll take a lot of safaris to balance Virginia's budgetFor Saturday, we're writing about the charges filed against the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. More specifically, about how much money the case actually involves. The total fraud involving state dollars was miniscule, yet this is just the sort of waste, fraud and abuse whose elimination many point to as the way to fix the Virginia budget and fund transportation. The Jena Six protestFor Saturday: Reaction to the Jena Six case - even in our own back yards - illustrates that Americans still are willing to fight the good fight against racial injustice. A national disgrace that we still have to. Discuss Friday's editorialsBay watch Discuss Friday's local commentary and lettersThe struggle to create the 'good life' Stave hunger and save billions of dollars Friday's letters can be read here. September 20, 2007The Roanoke River's meandering journeyFor Sunday, we'll write about Roanoke's welcome interest in reclaiming the Roanoke River from past abuses. A controversial flood control project is of only arguable benefit when weighed against its cost, but taken with a companion greenway project, the initiative holds the promise of truly revitalizing this compromised natural resource. Work out the Wi-Fi glitches in downtown RoanokeComing Friday: To the city of Roanoke and Cox Communications: Work it out on the downtown Wi-Fi network. Christiansburg sidewalk salesFor our Sunday NRV Current editorial, we're writing about the Christiansburg town code's provision to grant effective authority over sidewalk sales to the now nonexistent Christiansburg Chamber of Commerce. The town should update its outdated code and oversee sidewalk use itself. Discuss Thursday's editorialsBlackwater's murky war |