April 30, 2008A debate about scienceI missed this during the run-up to the Pennsylvania primary, but with Oregon still a few weeks out, it's worth talking about. A group of scientists has proposed holding a debate between Hillary Clinton and Barrack Obama just on science and technology issues. It sure would beat a debate focussed on flag pins and phantom sniper fire. As it is, issues of science and technology, though they are some of the most important for the nation's future, get shallow treatment by candidates. Global warming, Internet infrastructure, data encryption, intellectual property law, patents and trademarks, net neutrality, NASA funding, evolution education, violent video games, and others are good topics for a debate. Let's have a debate now and another in the fall between John McCain and whoever winds up being the Democratic nominee. Does the old guy even know what e-mail is? Is he in the Ted Stevens tubes camp? Would you tune in for a debate grounded in science and technology? One citizen forces Christiansburg to open upIn our Sunday NRV Current editorial, we'll write about the work being done by one Christiansburg citizen to force town government to open up. The secretive council and town manager don't like to share, but Carol Lindstrom has been gathering together public documents through Freedom of Information Act requests. It's cost her hundreds of dollars, but she's getting the stuff online. Check out her under-construction site that already has the town charter and mp3s of some council meetings. Webb's GI billFor Thursday: Sen. James Webb's GI bill to increase educational benefits to military veterans who have seen active duty since 9/11 is gaining needed momentum to pass Congress. President Bush, even as he presses for hundreds of billions dollars more in war spending, say's he'll veto additional benefits for the men and women he places in the firing line. Comment on Wednesday's commentariesRoanoke has so much potential Chuck White White is the president of Charles E. White Inc, a remodeling and contracting company in Roanoke. In my almost half a century, I've spent countless days hiking, biking and hunting in the mountains, as well as fishing and floating on rivers. Nothing is better than being on a mountain or a river. As fine as Mill Mountain is, it is, when all is said and done, a city park. Read here. Read Wednesday's letters. Comment on Wednesday's editorialsRe-elect Harris for Roanoke mayor Roanoke voters have the advantage this year of knowing how two of the four candidates for mayor have performed in the job: Incumbent Nelson Harris is being challenged by onetime Mayor David Bowers, as well as two political unknowns. Read here. The foolishness of a gas tax holidayFor later in the week, we are writing about proposals supported by presidential contenders John McCain and Hillary Clinton to create a gas tax holiday from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Barack Obama, the other major party contender, opposes the idea. It's a terrible idea. The benefit to individual motorists would be small, while the harm to federal transportation funding would be great. McCain and Clinton should be ashamed of such pandering. Discuss Tuesday's editorialsA road plan remains elusive Discuss Tuesday's commentary and lettersA commonality with the French Read Tuesday's letters here. April 28, 2008Where did your federal tax dollars go in 2006?
The Consolidated Federal Funds Report: 2006 reveals that Virginia remains near the top of the list for receiving federal expenditures. The federal government spent $13,484.67 for every resident of the commonwealth in 2006. That ranked fourth among states, behind Louisiana, Mississippi and Alaska. Throw out the first two as exceptional that year because of continued Hurricane Katrina spending, and Virginia is living large. The next time you hear a Virginian complaining about federal taxes, remind him that his state receives more back than it pays. Would the commonwealth's economy be humming as well as it is without all that federal funding? More detailed spending data, down to the county level and over multiple years, can be viewed and organized here. The second report, Federal Aid to States for Fiscal Year 2006 reveals information about federal grants to state and local governments. In this category, Virginia ranks dead last per capita. So we get a lot of federal money spent here; Washington just doesn't give it to our local governments. Blogging in ChristiansburgChristiansburg has a couple of home grown blogs keeping some extra eyes on town government. We've written several times on the lack of transparency there. In a story over the weekend, Donna Alvis-Banks reported on citizens joining the fray and their Web sites. Such citizen activism is welcome in a town that has been on cruise control for too long. Transportation solutions range from non-existent to fragmentedThe governor plans to call a special session whether or not there's anything remotely resembling a solution to the commonwealth's transportation crisis. None seems likely at this point given dogmatic Republican hatred of increasing funding for roads and the inability or Democrats to even agree on one plan. Meanwhile, lawmakers from Northern Virginia and Hampton roads, where most of the states most congested highways and byways are, will get together to figure out a solution that works for them. The whole system of shared state responsibility is falling apart, and rural Virginia could be left in the lurch. On Tuesday, we will again urge lawmakers and the governor to hammer out a sensible compromise that would fund transportation now and into the future. Discuss Monday's editorialsA sound investment in higher education Discuss Monday's commentaryRain grants a needed day of rest Vote for business in Salem and Roanoke Read Monday's letters here. April 27, 2008Discuss Sunday's editorialsProtecting discrimination Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled, nonsensically, that only the original decision to pay someone a lower salary because of their race or gender constituted a discriminatory act. Prior to that ruling, each paycheck reduced by discrimination constituted a cause of action. Because of this ruling, workers who have been discriminated against had only six months from the initial salary decision to file suit against their employer.
Virginia is one of a dwindling number of states that permanently revokes the voting rights of felons, even after they have served their time and paid their debt to society. Ex-felons can petition to get their rights restored after a number of years, but they must go through a tedious and time-consuming process. In most states, voting rights are automatically restored, either after release or after any probation or parole is served. NRV Current editorialsGood candidates abound in Blacksburg May 6 is the last time Blacksburg residents will choose town council members in the spring. Starting in 2009, the council election will take place in November of odd numbered years. To mark the occasion, we hope voters turn out en masse to elect Don Langrehr, Paul Lancaster and Leslie Hager-Smith. Christiansburg needs a change If Christiansburg is to be anything more than a concrete-coated shopping hub for the New River Valley, it needs leaders with a different philosophy. Voters cannot overturn the current council majority on May 6, but they can elect three forward-thinking council members: Michael Barber, Jim VanHoozier and Henry Showalter. Discuss Sunday's New River ForumSupervisors aren't fighting the intermodal yard In his April 14 commentary, "Virginia failed its taxpayers with intermodal decision," Michael Hemphill missed the entire point of the issue of whether Norfolk Southern Corp., aided and abetted by the state, will force an intermodal freight station on the citizens of Montgomery County against our will. Read today's letters here. Discuss Sunday's local commentarySTEP in the right direction It's noon on a Thursday at Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke. Classes are changing with a lot of noise. "Whazup?" "I'm not gonna do that. I gotta go to my class." "How cool is that?" "OK, move on to class now." Drifting in by ones, twos, threes to a small conference room in McQuilkin Hall office, African-American teenage males gather around a table. The Students Transitional Educational Program comes to order. Read today's letters here. Sunday open thread"When I was driving once I saw this painted on a bridge: What do you want today? April 26, 2008Discuss Saturday's editorialsShort takes Discuss Saturday's commentary and lettersKeep your life on prom night Read Saturday's letters here. April 25, 2008For Monday, our endorsements for the Vinton City Council raceWe've interviewed all the candidates, and will share our assessment on Monday. DNA and insuranceThe editorial board this morning had a spirited debate about a bill that the Senate passed yesterday. It would forbid insurance companies and businesses from discriminating on the basis of genetic test results. We split on whether this was a good bill. What do you think? Discuss Friday's editorialsJust an arm's-length study of gun sales Web sites are part of the executive record Discuss Friday's commentary and lettersWorking for the good of the public Read Friday's letters here. April 24, 2008Virginia is taking an arm's-length look at its 'gun-show loophole'For Friday: Virginia's State Crime Commission has agreed to do a little research into the state's "gun-show loophole," which is good. But its members already have made it clear the commission won't be making any recommendations on new legislation because the topic is just too politically explosive. And that is bad. Public safety should trump politics, no matter how controversial an issue is likely to be. The National Archives abdicates its responsibilityFor Friday, we are writing about the National Archives and Records Administration's decision not to create a snapshot of executive Web sites in the final days of the Bush administration. The archives created such records when Bill Clinton left office and again at the end of Bush's first term. It also recorded Congressional sites in 2006. Not this time. The archives thinks that private Internet sites and the departments themselves can handle the responsibility. The nation shouldn't trust its permanent historic record to Web sites that could disappear tomorrow and an administration that has proven incapable of keeping digital records in the past. If money is at issue, Congress and the White House should come up with funds promptly to preserve records for future historians. Wage discriminationFor Sunday, we're writing about wage discrimination and how Republicans blocked an attempt by Congress to enact a legislative remedy to a boneheaded U.S. Supreme Court decision on the issue. The court ruled that a discrimination suit can only be filed within six months of a discriminatory pay decision - even if evidence of the discrimination doesn't come to light until long after the deadline. Discuss Thursday's editorialsFor overage students, time is of the essence Discuss Thursday's commentary and lettersEvolution and aliens Power substation threatens neighbors Read Thursday's letters here. April 23, 2008Congress needs to get over its fear of immigation policymakingFor Thursday: This is how irrational the national debate over immigration has become: Seafood processing plants in Virginia and North Carolina haven't opened or won't last the season for lack of seasonal foreign workers. Legal seasonal foreign workers. Congress needs to renew a key provision of a temporary-worker visa program that, in years past, has opened the door a little wider for seasonal workers. The employers who rely on their temporary labor are fuming that fear of the politically charged immigration debate is threatening their businesses. How pathetic. Congress must act. A school for overage studentsFor Thursday we will lend support to efforts by Roanoke schools to get a school for overage students ready for the coming school term. Discuss Wednesday's editorialsShield reporters and their sources Discuss Wednesday's commentary and lettersIt's not sludge, it's compost Read Wednesday's letters here. April 22, 2008"Win if you can, lose if you must, but always cheat."Truly campaigns based on informed debate and competing ideas are dead. The three major party candidates gave introduced themselves on the WWE professional wrestling. I'm all for having a sense of humor on the campaign trail, and if this were the exception rather than the norm, I'd think it was great. Alas, gimmicks have replaced substance. The actual wrestling match was much better satire. Roanoke adopts limits to council spendingFor Wednesday: We'll take a look at the new policy Roanoke City Council adopted in the wake of the Alfred Dowe scandal. |