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A return to segregation
A Supreme Court ruling says race can't be a factor in seeking racial balance. What, do tell, should schools use to achieve equality and diversity?

A narrow, radical majority on the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a half-century of progress toward integration of minorities. In finding the desegregation plans of Seattle and Louisville, Ky., schools unconstitutional, the justices might as well have said, "Stick with your own kind."

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No ordinary library

Had Roanoke ignored the citizen uproar over a Texas consultant's 1996 study and followed his recommendation to close several of the city's five branch libraries, the "heart" of the historic Gainsboro community -- its library -- would have stopped beating. Thankfully, it didn't.

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Why won't Roanoke's businesses hire young workers?
Brandon Turner
Turner, of Hurt, is a graduate student at Lynchburg College, and has had a lifelong dream of living and working in the Roanoke Valley.

I have attained a bachelor's degree in marketing and am just a few courses away from having my MBA. I have work experience in retail, medical and academic institutions. I have never been written up for violating any company policies, have been praised on high for my customer service skills and always go above my calling to finish a project.

Would you hire me? Oh, I forgot to mention that I am 24 and have no "professional experience."

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Read today's letters here.

Republicans in the Senate this week blocked a bill that would have made it easier for unions to form. On Monday we'll argue it was a bad bill that didn't deserve passage. Preserving anonymous voting is important to accurately reflecting the will of workers.

For Saturday: A Texas consultant more than a decade ago failed miserably in recognizing the importance of branch libraries to Roanoke's citizens. Think what would have happened had the city ignored the citizen uproar and followed his 1996 recomendation to close some of the five branches that put library offerings within residents' close reach. In part, "the heart" of the historic Gainsboro community - the Gainsboro branch library - would have stopped beating. But plans for a $1.1 million Gainsboro library renovation, unveiled Thursday, give people hope that their communities, and what helps sustain them, do matter.

Immigration politics ahead
With the immigration debate over, for now, in Washington, the issue is likely to heat up in Virginia. Let the voters beware.
The U.S. Senate's refusal Thursday to bring a controversial immigration reform bill to a vote will increase pressure on state and local governments to police the millions of immigrant workers who have entered the country illegally.
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Something doesn't seem right. Now what?
The state Department of Health promotes a hotline to help prevent child sexual abuse.
Virginians have grown accustomed to the two-prong approach in combating child sexual abuse: First, teach children to tell a trusted adult if someone's touches make them uncomfortable; and second, severely punish those who molest children.
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Young, rash and armed?
Gary Skaggs
Skaggs is an associate professor in the educational research and evaluation program at Virginia Tech.
Many of my colleagues, friends and students at Virginia Tech who are not from this country are bewildered by our insistence on owning firearms and even more so by the numerous letters and essays in this newspaper that propose greater, not less, access to guns.
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A second chance to live productive lives
Charles Benninghoff
Benninghoff is the founder and trustee of The Rehabilitated Project.
Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., stated on the floor of Congress that the federal penal system is structured in such a way that it actually drives good people into prison. He also noted that this so-called "justice system" unduly impacts minority communities.
Read more.

Friday's letters can be read here.

For the Sunday Current editorial, we'll suggest the town of Pulaski investigate giving up its townness and becoming a normal part of the county.

For Sunday, we'll be writing about President Bush's resistance to increased congressional oversight now that Democrats are in control of Congress. As Senate Judiciary Chairman Pat Leahy said after the White House refused to honor congressional subpoenas seeking documents concerning the firing of U.S. attorneys, "Increasingly, the President and Vice President feel they are above the law --- in America no one is above law."

For Sunday: Residents of the Roanoke and New River valleys have not yet felt the great push to the far outer fringes to find affordable homes - not in the same way as people in other parts of the state. But as the gap widens between what the average citizen in this region earns and the cost of housing, that push could become all too real if the affordable housing issue is ignored.

Housing Virginia, Inc., a statewide organization whose board chairman is a Roanoke Valley REALTOR, is preparing to tackle the issue by addressing barriers that prevent average citizens from living in communities of their choice.

For Friday we will comment on Virginia's new method to combat child sexual abuse with a hotline that connects people with resources.