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EDITORIAL: Va. Republicans turn far right
When he dropped his bid for the Republican gubernatorial nomination late last year, Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling said the GOP “has to decide what it wants to be.” “Are we going to be a party that engages in a great ideological debate, or are we going to be a party that’s more focused on winning elections, earning the right to lead and leading responsibly?” Bolling asked. Virginia Republicans answered that question at
LETTERS: When sirens sound, think of responders
When sirens sound, think of responders Most people never think of our police officers and firefighters and the sacrifices they make for us. There is a lot of stress for the families of these men and women who so bravely serve us. When you see a police officer or firefighter or hear their sirens go off, thank God for them. They do their duty so bravely and courageously. I appreciate
EDITORIAL: Taking out the trash
Virginia’s Adopt-A-Highway program is a mess. Records are shoddy. Volunteers aren’t honoring their pledge. Last year, litter was picked up as often as required along fewer than 400 of the state’s nearly 75,000 miles of highway. Even a Virginia Department of Transportation group that included the agency’s commissioner fell short. Cleaning the shoulders of the road is a public service and one that the public isn’t too enthused about pitching
PICK OF THE DAY: Va. is for roadside trash
Virginia’s Adopt-A-Highway program only treats symptoms of a larger disease (“Adopt-A-Highway: Left on the roadside,” May 19 news story). Even if successful, it covers only a fraction of roadsides, most now lined with nondegradable materials just piling up. Glass, metal and plastic containers comprise a huge chunk of trash, so people need strong incentives not to toss such to begin with. Michigan adopted bottle deposits years ago, and that trash
COMMENTARY: Priorities for our fiscal future
As small business owners, my family considers it a tremendous responsibility and honor that our company provides great jobs for our valued employees while giving back to the communities that have made us so successful. We take our responsibility as employers and as taxpayers very seriously. We value the well-being of our employees just as much as we value our customers and our business. Like all Americans, we understand the
LETTERS: Thanks for writing of immigrant successes
Thanks for writing of immigrant successes Thanks for the recent stories on immigrants in our area — Norma Velez (“Breaking boundaries,” April 30 news story) and the Estacios, mother and daughter (“Success, defined,” May 12 news story). These women should be very proud of what they’ve accomplished. Each has overcome hardships and obstacles to become a successful and productive member of the American family. As we debate various proposals for
COMMENTARY: Rocky and Bullwinkle moment for Republicans
“Watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat!” Reality mirrored fiction on May 14 at the Roanoke County Administration Center. The Roanoke County Republicans looked just as cartoonish as Bullwinkle when choosing their candidate to run in the general election for the Hollins District seat on the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors. The May 11 firehouse primary ended in a rare 389-389 tie between Al Bedrosian and Mike Bailey. In
PICK OF THE DAY: Don’t let the peer-pressure lesson get lost
OMG! Front page news: “Parents upset over students’ drinking” (May 15 news story). I truly think that is a daily occurrence with way too many parents. Attention parents: This is a teachable moment. Teens will have numerous situations when they need to stand up for what they believe or think they should or shouldn’t do. The parent takes issue with the fact that Patrick Henry students traveled with another group
EDITORIAL: Ownership of genes stymies research
Angelina Jolie disclosed to the world last week in a New York Times op-ed that she had both of her breasts removed out of a very real concern that they would one day kill her. At a young age, Jolie’s mother had breast cancer and died of ovarian cancer, as did her mother before her. Family history clues that their cancer, like a small percentage of breast and ovarian cancers,
ESTHER CEPEDA: Missing school — for vacation
It’s that time. If you’re a teacher in a school with a large concentration of Hispanic students, you’re doing end-of-year reviews and preparing for final exams — and you have kids trickling up to you to let you know they won’t be around for them. This also happens at the beginning of the school year and during the holidays as parents take their children out of classes for long family
COMMENTARY: New law will undermine women’s health
Earlier this year, the Guttmacher Institute issued a state-by-state comparison of abortion restrictions enacted since Roe v. Wade. Oklahoma leads all states with 22 restrictive laws. Oregon has the fewest with zero. Virginia now has 20 and may surpass all states within a few years. Yet the sheer number of state-imposed hurdles in Virginia does not adequately convey the burdens confronting women in our state. That’s because one of these
EDITORIAL: Finding a home, not just a bed
Virginia leaders have spent far more time talking about refocusing the state’s behavioral health system to emphasize community-based services than actually implementing those reforms. Accessible housing is central to achieving this transformation. Mental health advocates have long sought greater flexibility for state housing grants used last year by 6,000 disabled and elderly Virginians, a majority with a physical or mental impairment. The grants are primarily funded by the commonwealth, with
EDITORIAL: Better machines, better elections
Some Montgomery County voters will go back to the future when they cast ballots in the June 11 Democratic Party primary. Voters in Montgomery Precinct F-1 will use paper ballots when they step into the booths at Luther Memorial Lutheran Church in Blacksburg, but not in an old-school way. They will feed their marked ballots into a Unisyn OVO optical scan voting machine, a new piece of equipment scheduled to be
Obama still says, ‘trust me’
Leaving aside the seriousness of lawlessness, and the corruption of our civic culture by the professionally pious, this past week has been amusing. There was the spectacle of advocates of an ever-larger regulatory government expressing shock about such government’s large capacity for misbehavior. And, entertainingly, the answer to the question “Will Barack Obama’s scandals derail his second-term agenda?” was a question: What agenda? The scandals are interlocking and overlapping in
EDITORIAL: Snooping on the press
Embarrassed by revelations of his administration’s flagrant intrusion into press freedoms, President Obama last week sought to squelch the bad publicity with an announcement that he still supports longdormant legislation establishing a federal shield law. The law, which would protect reporters from being forced to reveal confidential sources, is worth resuscitating. But it’s a tattered and inadequate fig leaf for the embattled president. The proposed law is riddled with loopholes,
LETTERS: Keep the FDA out of our food choices
Keep the FDA out of our food choices In the editorial “Trouble brewing over caffeine,” which ran on May 3, you said that the Food and Drug Administration needs to make sure that not too much caffeine is being marketed to the public. I strongly disagree with this point for a number of reasons. I don’t think the FDA should control what we are able to buy. It is our
PICK OF THE DAY: Bottom line, coal is filthy
In “Coal is more than yesterday’s fuel” (May 16 commentary), David Banks deflates his own argument for coal as a viable continuing energy source for generating electricity. He acknowledges that carbon capture and sequestration is needed to eliminate the carbon that burning coal generates, but admits it is too expensive and so has not been deployed (and will not be anytime soon). He wants to spend government funds to develop carbon
COMMENTARY: Wrench in plans to boost energy-efficiency standards
Virginia is at a critical juncture in setting its new building code that would dramatically boost energy efficiency in the state. Saving energy saves money and offers a variety of benefits to our communities. Sadly, an organization is attempting to prevent this adoption that could cause Virginia to miss out on this opportunity to modernize and improve our infrastructure statewide. The Home Builders Association of Virginia has spent a great
COMMENTARY: Perhaps the NRA is on to something
As I was driving down the interstate recently, it occurred to me that perhaps the National Rifle Association is on to something. There I was, driving along in the right-hand lane, striving to remain within striking distance of the posted speed limit while staying at least a heartbeat in front of the continuing stream of grilles that kept looming up ominously in my rearview mirror. I tried to ignore the
EDITORIAL: Performance review time in Roanoke
Roanoke City Council ordinarily leaves no navel ungazed upon when deciding even the nit-pickiest of issues. For substantial decisions, months drag by in briefings and meetings that offer ample opportunity for all to be heard. So it is astounding that council initially failed to consider that the public might have something to say about the 28.5 percent raises the majority wishes to grant itself. It looks as though those hankering for
1. Afternoon downpour turns downtown to a torrent
2. Former Virginia Tech receiver Danny Coale works to prove himself NFL-worthy after being released by the Dallas Cowboys
3. WOYM: Star City has co-starred in some Hollywood films
4. Roanoke's 'Mr. Fitness' Artie Levin lives on in B'nai B'rith Awards
5. Blacksburg man charged after reports of fight Sunday morning
6. Match is found for DNA at 2005 homicide scene
7. Cooking fire at Roanoke apartment sends 1 to hospital
8. Attorney General Cuccinelli not subject to Freedom of Information Act
9. Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli: Star CEO discussed taxes
10. DADLINE: Parenting in a culture of fear
THE ROANOKE TIMES
