January 31, 2008Rotary's free trips can be a tough sellErnest Bentley is a Christiansburg businessman with a great story to share. But often he can't get anyone to listen. He's got a tantalizing offer that should be hard to refuse, but many do. What Bentley is selling doesn't cost anything, but it pays off in huge returns of personal enrichment, enlightenment and a sense of adventure. Bentley is a Rotary Club member. As chairman of Western Virginia's Rotary Group Study Exchange, he's always looking for people to send on trips abroad. These are monthlong excursions to such places as Brazil, the Philippines, Mexico, Japan, the Bahamas, New Zealand ... and the list goes on. Rotary sponsors the trips -- read, they're free. Now is anybody listening? Continue reading "Rotary's free trips can be a tough sell" » January 29, 2008School board needs to act nowI can't sit by quietly as the Roanoke School Board fiddles while Rome burns. The board's inertia in closing schools and revisiting school boundaries is stalling the system's effort to move forward. The longer the board sits on its hands because it fears angry parents at raucous meetings, the longer scarce school dollars will continue to prop up underused buildings -- and the longer before that money will be available for programs to help students graduate. And that, after all, should be the system's mission and priority. January 28, 2008Questions of the dayDid Bill Clinton's unrelenting attacks against Barack Obama in recent weeks help lead to Hillary's huge loss in South Carolina? Given the ugly primary results, should Bill pack it in and go back Harlem? If Hillary wins the White House, will this be a two-for-one presidency? I'm just askin.' You answer. (And folks, this isn't math; there is no right or wrong response on this one.) (See what Colbert King at the Washington Post had to say about the ex-prez's conduct on the campaign trail.) s January 27, 2008Roanoke outstrips Minn. city every wayMinneapolis-St. Paul International Airport? That's what this is all about? That's why Advanced Auto is turning its roving eye from its founding hometown headquarters in Roanoke toward Minneapolis as its seat of power? Some New York analyst let slip last week that he could see the advantages of Advance's new leadership team hunkering down in Minneapolis. The first thing to pop out of his mouth? "The Minneapolis airport is a hub for Northwest Airlines." January 26, 2008Nah, I'm not a racist, but......maybe the caller was. OK, let me go back to the beginning. I published a piece Tuesday morning about Allen Iverson maturing, right? I say good things about A.I. I chronicled his evolution from cocky kid to overall good NBA citizen. I got this message at 10:28 a.m. on voicemail: January 24, 2008Don't we have a duty to close gun loopholes?Virginians do love their guns. Roanoke-area gun rights advocate Bobby Woolwine copied me on an e-mail he sent this week to one of my colleagues. Among the things that had Woolwine a little steamed under the collar was that friends and kin of Virginia Tech shooting victims sought to close a loophole in the state's gun laws that allows unlicensed sellers at gun shows to skip background checks on buyers. Even with Wednesday's defeat of a state Senate bill on the issue, we haven't heard the last in the long-running debate on gun shows. Continue reading "Don't we have a duty to close gun loopholes?" » January 23, 2008Bad boy gets props for being a good manVirginia, our little Allen Iverson is growing up. The NBA star and Hampton Roads native donated $100,000 last week to the Newport News Police Department's "Gun Buy Back" program. Used in many urban areas, the program offers money to residents to turn in guns to police with no questions asked. I'm fully mindful of Iverson's run-ins with the law and his less-than-stellar history with guns. And his act of generosity undoubtedly is not solely rooted in altruism. Iverson is mindful of the tax benefit of his philanthropy as well as the good press. But I'm willing to give The Answer the benefit of the doubt, to hope that his philanthropy also is a sign of someone growing into a law-abiding husband and father. Continue reading "Bad boy gets props for being a good man" » January 20, 2008Senator takes best route with driver feesDear. Sen. Phillip Puckett: Stay strong, brother. You're probably being elbowed out of the way up there in Richmond as your colleagues in the General Assembly trip over one another to take credit for reversing last session's "abusive driver" fee debacle. You know how it is. Everybody wants to be a hero -- undoing the fiscal fiasco is the easy part. The hard part is staying a step ahead of the pack. You're there, Senator. Continue reading "Senator takes best route with driver fees" » January 17, 2008Courage can spark change in workplaceAs the top cop at the Roanoke sheriff department, George McMillan was straight out of central casting. Large and imposing. Gregarious and effusive. Whether the next election was a month or two years away, McMillan spent his off hours campaigning for the job. He was an enthusiastic and accessible fixture at community functions -- a minority job fair, a Little League baseball game, a parade. Friendly, hand-shaking, confident. In an elected position, McMillan was the consummate politician. But this week, the testimony of woman after woman in a sexual harassment case made him out to be a predator -- a serial groper who preyed upon women who worked for him or who wanted to. January 15, 2008Picture perfectA few months ago, the folks at Calvin Jones' after-school program dispatched the Patrick Henry High School ninth-grader onto the streets of Roanoke with a digital point-and-shoot camera. His only instructions were to come back with pictures that reflected the theme "All Can Achieve the Dream." The pictures would be part of a youth photo exhibit celebrating Martin Luther King Jr.'s life. It opens next week at the O. Winston Link Museum. Armed with his own imagination and the rich subject of King's dream, Calvin shot ... a house? January 13, 2008West End Center's benefits unsungThe West End Center has no more rabbits to pull out of its hat. The scrappy little agency that always has managed somehow to find the dollars to keep its doors open after school to some of Roanoke's most disadvantaged youngsters said Friday it has no more money mojo. Executive Director Kaye Hale, board Chairman Joe Christenbury, and board members Frankie Robbins and Judith Jackson said that without an infusion of cash by March, the center is looking at reducing an already bare-bones staff, merging with another organization or, in the worst case, closing. January 7, 2008Hillary's humanityHillary Clinton's campaign has been hoping for a moment in which she would show her humanity. The moment came Monday afternoon when the Democratic presidential candidate became emotional after a voter asked how she coped every day on the campaign trail. The cynical question circulating is, "Was she for real or did she turn on the tears?" I'd hate to campaign day in and day out for nearly two years, always having to be "on" and never sleeping in my own bed, getting a full night's sleep or enjoying my own home-cooking. I imagine campaigning gets real old, real quick. And on top of that, your well-scripted plans are imploding around you, for the world to see. Yeah, these politicians sign on for the grind. But each of us experiences a low point that forces us to ask ourselves, "Why am I doing this?" The difference between you, me and Hillary Clinton is that her low point came before a roomful of people and was re-broadcast to millions of television and You Tube viewers. Whether you like her or not, show your humanity. s January 6, 2008Obama's win in Iowa lifts hearts in RoanokeI have to eat a little crow. Just more than a year ago, I wrote a column urging Barack Obama to wait until 2012 to run for president. My reasoning was that he didn't have the experience to run in '08. While I'm not on the Hillary Clinton bandwagon, Obama's limited political seasoning remains an issue for me. But Thursday night, his charisma was infectious as he stood at a podium in Iowa, the runaway winner of the Democratic political caucus. Continue reading "Obama's win in Iowa lifts hearts in Roanoke" » January 3, 2008'Mudcat' on trail today in IowaToday, much of the nation's attention is on Iowa and its political caucuses. Even though the people in the mostly rural state are nearly a thousand miles away from Western Virginia, they're a lot like us. "There's only 50 cents of difference," drawled Dave "Mudcat" Saunders. And that is? "Oh, just the way we talk. People have to say, 'What'd you say?' " Anyone who has seen the movie "Forest Gump" is familiar with the lovable simpleton's uncanny knack for insinuating himself in the pivotal, transcendent moments of history, with the newsmakers of the time. Saunders is far from a simpleton. Behind the homespun, bluegrass facade is a shrewd and calculating man. But along with Gump's drawl, Saunders shares the fictitious character's talent for being in the right place at the right time. That's why the Roanoke County native son is in Iowa today, crisscrossing the state as a senior strategist for Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards. January 1, 2008Another new year, but still no new homeThe state's New Year's resolution should be to make sure the Roanoke City Health Department gets a new home. Public health director Dr. Stephanie Harper and her staff have been confined to the wire- and cable-strewn, dank cave at Eighth Street and Campbell Avenue for too long. Is it asking too much for them to be able to practice 21st-century medicine in 21st-century conditions? Continue reading "Another new year, but still no new home" » |
About this blog In her signature plainspoken style, Michigan native Shanna Flowers peels away the layers and gets to the heart of the issues. No pretense. Just straightforward perspective. Shanna writes about local people whose circumstances reflect decisions made as near as City Hall or as far away as the halls of Congress. Other times, she weighs in on a topic because it is incredibly ridiculous. Or heartening. Or fascinating. Read Shanna's column three days a week, Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, at roanoke.com
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