July 4, 2008Discuss the Declaration of IndependenceToday, we reprinted the Declaration of Independence. You can read it here. July 3, 2008The G8 needs to work on fixing a world food crisisAn unscheduled editorial will look at warnings that record fuel and food prices have left many of the world’s poor facing starvation. Next week's Group of 8 economic summit needs to take up the work of alleviating a man-made catastrophe that is threatening the stability of nations. No foreigners allowedThe Washington Post today has a story about campaign contributions from a company that operates toll roads. It seems Transurban has been pumping money in campaigns -- $172,000 to 90 campaigns over three years. Of course it's just a coincidence that many Virginia elected officials have been talking glowingly about privatizing the state's public highways. But wait, there's more. It turns out that Transurban's donations were illegal. It's a U.S. subsidiary of an Australian company, and foreign companies may not contribute to American campaigns under federal election law. The moral: If corporations are going to run this country, damn it, they are going to be American corporations. It should be interesting to watch how all this plays out in an age of increasingly multi-national companies. Roundabouts in Southwest Virginia
For years, there have been rumblings about roundabouts coming to Roanoke and other communities. They are closer than ever to reality. No doubt there will be worries and complaints. No one likes changes on the roads and they do take some getting used to. But experience in other communities and research show that roundabouts calm traffic, make it flow more smoothly, and are safer for motorists and pedestrians. These aren't big traffic circles like Dupont Circle in Washington. That's the case we'll lay out in an editorial on Monday. Not sure how roundabouts work? Here's a handy guide. Discuss Thursday's editorialsThe Manchurian interrogation chart July 2, 2008It's torture, and it's a disgraceSome unnamed, independent expert on interrogation techniques tipped The New York Times to the fact that the coercive methods military trainers taught at Guantanamo Bay in 2002 were taken, verbatim, from a 1957 Air Force study of techniques the Chinese Communists used during the Korean War to get American POWs to confess to atrocities. Many of their confessions were false. Thursday, we'll argue yet again that, even in times of peril, such "alternative" interrogation methods are un-American. Going nuclear
Nuclear power isn't the entire answer to producing cleaner and available electricity, but it should be part of the mix. Civic involvement need not end with an election defeatIn our Sunday NRV Current editorial, we will commend two Blacksburg Town Council members, Paul Lancaster and Mary Holliman, who lost their election bids but chose to remain involved in local government by serving on the planning commission. Town residents should appreciate their devotion to the community and the example of public service they set. Discuss Wednesday's editorialsMedicare cuts a symptom of failure July 1, 2008Counting on teens to save lives
Obama's foray into faith-based campaigning rings an alarmBarack Obama is making a bold and often well-received attempt to win over evangelical Christians in his campaign as the presumptive Democratic candidate for president. Today, he's is to unveil a plan to expand President Bush's faith-based social services initiative with promises of more federal dollars -- and a lower wall separating church and state that sounds constitutionally suspect. Anyone who wants to read the full text of Obama's prepared remarks can find them here. Fix Medicare
The Bush administration stepped in to postpone cuts, but Congress must act promptly on its return. Any quick fix, however, will be just that, but it will buy some time to get Washington past the next election when Congress and the White House might be more willing to take on an overhaul of Medicare and health care funding in general. Discuss Tuesday's editorialsNew Virginia laws take effect June 30, 2008Down and out(?) in Roanoke's West EndIn an upcoming editorial we'll take a look at a movement to extend downtown's trendy lofts and condos to a section of the city known more for reaching out to the down-and-out than the up-and-coming. A new Manhattan Project for energy - sort of
After all, it's not like the Manhattan Project offered up a reward to the first scientist to successfully detonate an atomic bomb. Still, at least Forbes is talking about doing something - while naysayers complain that the plan does nothing to bring down high gas prices RIGHT NOW. Ironically, some of the critics support increasing off-shore drilling, which also does nothing to bring down gas prices immediately. It also does nothing to end our long-term dependence on a scarce energy source that will grow only scarcer. We're writing about Forbes' proposal for an editorial that will run tomorrow. Watch out for the new laws tomorrowIn an editorial on Tuesday, we'll have a roundup of some of the new Virginia laws taking effect tomorrow. There are some good, some bad, and some entertaining. Discuss Monday's editorialsHow much for a Senate seat? June 29, 2008Discuss Sunday's editorialsA housing adjustment Fear not the Virginia tomato New River Forum editorial June 28, 2008Discuss Saturday's editorialsShort takes June 27, 2008A White House that sees no evil that it doesn't want to seeNext week, we'll write about a New York Times report that the White House refused to open an e-mail containing EPA findings that don't jibe with the administration's resistance to enforcing the Clean Air Act. The Millionaire's Amendment to campaign finance lawOn Monday we'll have an editorial about the Supreme Court's decision to strike the Millionaire's Amendment to campaign finance law. We think it's a bad decision that ultimately harms the electoral process in America. See this previous entry for details about the decision. Discuss Friday's editorialsCHIP's legacy is healthier children Gas tax increase wouldn't have to hurt June 26, 2008A housing adjustment in the new new economySunday, we'll acknowledge, somewhat reluctantly, that the housing foreclosure failure rate is so steep and having such an adverse effect on the economy, Congress needs to do something to stop the bleeding. The bill that's likely to land on the president's desk is not an outright bailout, and would mete out some discipline with the sugar. Boucher's sell out voteComing soon: In March, Rep. Rick Boucher stood on principle and voted to not extend immunity to telecom companies that helped the government spy on Americans without a court's knowledge or approval. Last week, he voted to give them that immunity. What changed his mind? Boucher claims it's because the bill was tweaked to require the government to establish probable cause before listening in on Americans' calls. MAPlight.org suggests its because of the $27,500 in PAC money that Boucher received from Verizon, AT&T and Sprint. In all, 94 House Democrats changed their votes. On average, they received $8,359 from the telecoms. Those Democrats who remained opposed pocketed about half that. Gas taxThe Virginia Senate has once more passed a gasoline tax increase that will once more, undoubtedly, be killed in the anti-tax House of Delegates. But the general assumption here is that any increase in the gas tax will automatically be passed on to consumers. An analysis of gas taxes and prices around the nation show cause to doubt that assumption. The highest gas price in the nation is Alaska ($4.54 a gallon), which also has the lowest gas tax (8 cents a gallon). Yes, Alaska is a special state - its location, size and geographic dispersion of the market, etc., are all greater factors in the price of gas than the tax. But that's true almost anywhere. (Note to stat geeks: the correlation between state gas taxes and average price of gas is .06, which is incredibly weak.) We'll use this information to make one last effort to argue in favor of an increase in the gas tax to fund Virginia's increasingly desperate transportation needs. The table of prices and taxes follows on the jump. A bridge over Virginia 114 in Christiansburg
In an editorial for the Sunday New River Current, we will urge the town to keep working on the trail. Build the extension to the recreation center and perhaps the aquatic center so everything is in place when bridge money becomes available. Or, the town might even consider paying for the bridge itself. (Full disclosure, The Roanoke Times' New River Bureau is near the proposed crossing site.) Discuss Thursday's editorialsNew athletic proposal doesn't make the grade A house not worth preserving June 25, 2008A blight on Old SouthwestFor Thursday: Roanoke City Council was right to overrule the Architectural Review Board by agreeing that it is better to save the neighborhood than one blighted house. The Marshall Avenue home, vacant for 20 years, was beyond restoration as detailed in the history of attempts to save it. Discuss Wednesday's editorialsDon't blame VDOT Power to the people June 24, 2008FDA approves of Va. tomatoes, so do weBefore Thomas Jefferson planted love apples in his Virginian gardens, Americans believed tomatoes would poison them. Unfortunately, with the salmonella scare, Americans again fear 'maters. Take heart, Virginia's bounty is coming in and is on the federally approved list of safe eats. To celebrate, we plan an ode to tomatoes sometime this week. CHIP-ping away at obstacles to children's health careWe're working on an editorial to run later in the week lauding the Child Health Investment Partnership, a Roanoke-based nonprofit that is celebrating its 20th anniversary. Virginia GOP puts up its auditing smokescreen againWith the special session of the General Assembly in full standstill, the House GOP has dug in its heels against new revenue for transportation. Their latest excuse? Not until the Virginia Department of Transportation undergoes an audit to eliminate waste. House leaders so fear action, they punted any plans to the Senate for the first votes. We're writing an editorial for Wednesday pointing out the silliness of audit demands. VDOT is one of the most transparent state agencies, has undergone multiple audits in recent years and doesn't have hundreds of millions of dollars in waste. Discuss Tuesday's editorialsAn oily deal over Iraq's fields Don't fear the Census Bureau June 23, 2008Athletic proposal fails to make the gradeLater this week: Roanoke board members, educators and coaches signal their lack of confidence in students by backing away from higher academic standards for athletes. A substation compromiseFor later in the week, we're writing about Appalachian Power Co.'s proposal for a new power substation. The original locations met with fierce opposition, but a property owner stepped up with an alternate site that's actually better for AEP. This is yet another indication that the power company actually listens when it puts these proposals out for public comment. An oily deal over Iraq's oil fieldsFor Tuesday: The New York Times reported last week that Iraq is negotiating no-bid contracts to upgrade its oil fields with the original partners in the old Iraq Petroleum Company, Western companies that lost their concession when Iraq nationalized its oil industry 36 years ago. Such favored treatment might help oil giants Exxon Mobil, Shell, BP and Total, a French company, increase Iraq's oil output, a good thing. But it also is likely to feed suspicions in the Arab world that the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq was not about fighting global terrorism or spreading seeds of democracy, but laying Western hands on Iraq's oil -- just as in the bad old days of colonialism and economic imperialism. Stoking those fires would be a bad thing for the West and for Iraq, which does need help to exploit its oil wealth. Answer the Census Bureau's questionsA Hollins University professor is in a standoff with the U.S. Census Bureau. She refuses to participate in the American Community Survey. Aside from the fact that she is legally required to do so, Americans have a civic responsibility to help the bureau gather aggregate data that shapes federal policy and spending. So we'll argue in an editorial on Tuesday. Discuss Monday's editorialsCleaning up coal June 22, 2008Discuss Sunday's editorialsThe real gridlock A playground for canines New River Current editorial June 21, 2008Discuss Saturday’s editorialsShort takesA home for the Oliver Hill museumThe Roanoke Planning Commission approved a rezoning request that will allow The Oliver Hill Foundation to convert the civil rights hero's childhood home on Gilmer Avenue into a fitting tribute. ... Bush concedes, will support vets' education President Bush decided Thursday that he won't stand in the way if Congress wants to support the troops. Bush had been vehemently opposed to Virginia Sen. Jim Webb's plan to increase benefits under the GI bill so that today's combat veterans can enjoy tuition benefits equivalent to those enjoyed by yesterday's World War II vets. ... June 20, 2008Discuss Friday's editorialsAn energy plan powered by ideas |
For Sunday: We'll lend support to Dominion Power's quest to add a third nuclear reactor at its North Anna Power Station by 2016. 
An upcoming editorial: Since teenagers aren’t likely to fit into most categories that exclude adults from donating blood, the trend now is to increase the donor pool by decreasing the age of donors. Virginia today lowered the age for blood donors from 17 to 16. Minors still need a parent's consent.
For Wednesday, we are writing about the 
Virginia Rep. Randy Forbes, R-Hampton Roads, is on the right track with his call for 
