Has it really been 6½ years? It seems like yesterday that Jim Gilmore ended his term as governor. Well, to us anyway. Most Virginians barely remember the guy.
By Robert Craig
Craig, USMC Ret. Col., served in Vietnam as a Company grade officer. He lives in Roanoke.
Despite frequent references to my extended misspent youth, I don't often think of myself as old. I think of old as a state of mind. I know people in their 20s who are "old." They are very boring.
However, every so often something happens that reminds me I am in far reaches of the second standard deviation from the mean of the average age. At such times I don't feel old, I feel like a curmudgeon.
Read today's letters here.
"Don't get saucy with me, Bernaise."
What saucy topic is on your mind this weekend?
Christiansburg Town Councilman Brad Stipes has started his own blog called AdvanceChristiansburg. On it he plans to share information with town residents about town issues and seek citizen input.
Residents might remember that Stipes is also the councilman largely responsible for pushing the town Web site redesign. Perhaps there's hope for Christiansburg's digital future with people like Stipes around.
Attorney General Bob McDonnell has decided to appeal to the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals a decision by a panel that struck down Virginia's partial-birth abortion law.
McDonnell's press release said "Following this decision, the Commonwealth had two options in proceeding: petition for a rehearing by the full Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, or appeal the decision to the Supreme Court of the United States."
That's no so. The commonwealth had two other options: tweak the language to mirror the U.S. Supreme Court sanctioned law or leave it alone as the federal ban already applies. Of course either of those options takes the spotlight off McDonnell, the gubernatorial candidate.
For Monday: The General Assembly acted quickly when an Associated Press investigation found that classroom teachers in states, including Virginia, accused of sexual misconduct could slip through a loophole that allowed them to find jobs in other classrooms. A new law goes into effect next month.
Dominion Virginia Power wants to sell more green power to customers willing to pay up. The State Corporation Commission should grant the request. If there are people who want to do the right thing for the environment, they should be able to.
This however, is but a small step toward what the commonwealth and the nation needs to do to reduce significantly its output of pollution that contributes to global warming and other environmental damage. The SCC itself needs to explain better what it finds acceptable after shooting down a "clean-coal" plant.
So we'll argue in an editorial on Monday.
Last fall, just before the Patrick Henry High School football team played its first home game ever in its own stadium on its own campus, members of the 1973 state championship team gathered in the new auditorium to pay tribute to their coach, the late Merrill Gainer.
The Interior Department in Washington is considering changing a rule that forbids people to carry concealed firearms in national parks and wildlife refuges. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne proposes to let visitors carry them if they're allowed on similar state lands.
National parks frequently cross state borders, though. So where there is clarity, the change would sow confusion. That's not a good idea.
By Allen Baker
Baker, of Pass Christian, Miss., is a pilot for United Airlines and a retired U.S. Naval officer and fighter pilot who flew FA-18s during the first Gulf War (Desert Storm).
Last Friday afternoon found me in England, preparing to fly back from London to Washington, D.C. After a week of international flying, I was eager to get home for Memorial Day weekend with my wife, Janet. In the midst of my ordinary preflight routine, something extraordinary happened.
Read today's letters here.
"Roses are red. Violets are blue. The Russians have satellite laser weapons. Why can't we, too?"
What do you desire today?
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