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Wishneff and Lea watch out for taxpayers

Thank you, Councilmen Brian Wishneff and Sherman Lea for voting against giving $880,000 to help in the renovation of the Grand Piano building.

Too many tax breaks have been given to various corporations, and too much funding has gone to fund numerous city projects, while the citizens of Roanoke receive only tax hikes.

On my July gas bill I was charged a $6.11 tax called Roanoke residential heat and $3.51 for the same tax in August. I don't understand why I have to pay this tax during the summer months.

Property taxes have gone up, and many citizens are losing their homes to foreclosure.

Meanwhile, in recent years the city has provided funding for projects such as the construction of the Art Museum of Western Virginia, the renovation of the Higher Education Center, as well as providing financial assistance for the renovation of the Grandin Theatre and money for Ukrop's Ivy Market to open in Roanoke.

If we don't watch how we vote, we will all end up in the poorhouse.

Keep up the good work, Wishneff and Lea. You are working for the voters.

We need to find new sources for fuel

My concern is the gas prices in Galax. They are really outrageously high, and the reason for that is that our source is the Middle East.

If we create our own new source of fuel, then the prices would go down. It would be best if we create better fuel sources in America.

Also, we could use ethanol from corn in the Galax community.

14 years old

County prosecutor can't seem to let go of Vick

So now, after federal prosecutors and Michael Vick reached a plea agreement that recognizes the seriousness of his reprehensible acts with respect to dogfighting and will almost certainly result in jail time, comes the prosecutor for the county in which the illegal acts were committed to seek his own justice for those exact same offenses.

The Surry County prosecutor may not have been a football star, but he certainly knows piling on.

For what purpose? If I were a resident of Surry County, I would be asking the prosecutor how much time and public money he feels is justified to be devoted to layering county charges upon federal charges in order to prove that the county was not asleep at the switch.

In the best interest of the citizens of Surry County and all of us who look forward to putting this matter behind us, the county prosecutor should let it go.

Stop Lieberman from expanding the war

Everyone take notice. Sen. Joe Lieberman is trying to give President Bush and Vice President Cheney the authorization to attack Iran with all military instruments necessary to roll back the exaggerated destabilizing influence of Iran in Iraq.

He has proposed an amendment to the latest defense bill that would be the most bellicose and unwarranted cessation of congressional power to declare war since the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002.

Everyone with a conscience or a sense of judgment must stand up immediately to oppose this. Stop the new war.

Cartoonist draws compelling stories

Harry Brewbaker hits the nail on the head when he says that Jim Robinette's definition of the word "comic" is way too narrow ("Not all strips are drawn to be comical," Sept. 21).

The best humor has always been improved by hints of pathos, nostalgia, compassion, understanding of human nature, sometimes sarcasm/irony.

Tom Batiuk's current story of Lisa dying of cancer is just the latest example of his deft handling of many heavy, dark scenarios he has treated over the years in Funky Winkerbean.

Remember when Lisa was brave enough to give up her "rape baby" for adoption? And Les brave enough to marry her?

Remember when Wally and his girl (now band director at the high school) wrecked after the senior prom, and she lost her arm?

Remember the pathos of Wally joining the military after feeling guilty about the wreck?

Many other real-life situations have been adroitly depicted by Batiuk. Like Brewbaker, I too have learned much from this latest poignant chapter.

Tom Batiuk's comic strip is one of the few reasons I have for reading The Roanoke Times.

Don't look for serious thought in MoveOn ad

Re: "MoveOn ad violated New York Times' standards," dated Sept. 25.

Just as Hillary refuses to admit her mistake in giving authorization for allowing Bush's charge into Iraq, The New York Times also refuses to do so, even though it is now being recognized as a greater military blunder than Lee's ordering of Pickett's charge at Gettysburg.

MoveOn is a secular fundamentalist group and, like religious fundamentalists, its outlook represents a mentality rather than a serious school of thought.

As I returned to my house on the first day of fall, after having spent $49.18 to fill up my van with gas in 89-degree weather and noted my burned-out lawn, I could not help but think that if only those crazy, secular fundamentalists had supported Gore in Florida instead of Nader, our nation would be well on its way to dealing with global warming and our nation's energy needs. Most definitely, we would not have 167,000 troops in Iraq today.

Time for a change in 20th district

I'm writing to express my support of Jeff Evans for the Virginia Senate in the 20th district.

It is time for a change after so long a period with our current officeholder out of touch with the realities that the district faces through years of economic neglect.

Evans, as a supervisor in Carroll County, fought against any tax increase of any kind that would stymie our economic engine to get it running to bring in more jobs and economic opportunity.

Evans, as an Army veteran and a retired state trooper, would get tough in cracking down on illegal immigration that is a very perplexing and serious issue that faces the citizens of the district. He would give law enforcement officials the tools necessary to send them back where they belong.

His opponent, Roscoe Reynolds, had every opportunity to vote on several bills that passed overwhelmingly in the House of Delegates, but his vote in the Senate committee killed them.

Evans, as an interim Baptist pastor, would adhere to our traditional values of protecting human life, against same-sex marriages, and to strongly defend our Second Amendment right to bear arms.

Penn State's coach supports its library

Following up on Paul Field's letter of Sept. 20, I, too, was concerned about the lack of funding for the Virginia Tech library.

Field mentioned Penn State and the words carved above its library entrance. It may be a little-known fact that football coach Joe and Sue Paterno donated $3 million to the library, and hence, it was renamed the Paterno Library.