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I did my civic duty Tuesday and voted for town council candidates at the National Guard Armory in Christiansburg. When I arrived, I was shocked to find there were no parking spaces available in the huge armory parking lot and many cars were parked illegally along the street.

I thought we were getting a record turnout of voters. I continued driving and parked in the library parking lot and walked a quarter-mile back to the armory to vote.

There were only four people inside voting. I then realized that the candidates and poll workers had taken up all of the close parking spaces and would tie them up all day.

I wonder how many people took a look at the crowded parking lot and just went back home without voting. Wise up, politicians. If you want people to vote, you need to leave them a parking space.

Stay home, Blacksburg Realtors

Blacksburg Realtors are ruining our quality of life in Giles County. Their Blacksburg prices do not belong here.

How many of their high-priced houses sat on the market all year in Giles? Don't they get the message? No one out here can or will pay their prices.

They should stay on their side of the mountain and leave us a decent life in beautiful Giles County.

Reporter missed serious students

I want to respond to your article on students' responses at the mock crash at Christiansburg High School ("High School Students Attend Mock Car Crash," May 3).

I attended the event, as did my 18-year-old son. The Roanoke Times reporter was lax in her efforts to give an accurate depiction of students present. She gave an overall negative spin on the event and students in attendance, failing to interview more than the two in the midst of a particularly disrespectful, immature crowd.

It is unfortunate that readers will only perceive the event as she interpreted -- a body of students who laughed at the scenes depicted.

There were students who did get the message. I sat just two rows from the reporter, surrounded by students who responded appropriately to seeing the depiction of a parents' reaction to the death of a child, the arrest of a fellow student for drinking and driving and seeing the reality of a hearse showing up at the scene taking the deceased actor/student away.

I applaud the efforts of all of the volunteers and professionals who participated in the event and thank the school and Superintendent Tiffany Anderson. I appreciate the time and effort of those involved. Hopefully, your article depicting the students' as being negative overall doesn't prohibit future events such as this. If only one student was impacted by this demonstration, a life may have been saved as the direct result.

Early child care pays off

The article "Who will care for the children?" (April 22) didn't mention that Smart Beginnings, a division of Virginia's Early Childhood Foundation, has provided funding for the Coalition for Children and Families to study the issue of good, accessible, affordable child care. Quality early child care either costs parents upwards of $1,000 per month per child or the government subsidizes the work.

Why would the government want to spend money on early child care? Taxpayers don't like the idea of paying to take care of someone else's kids. Why should they?

If taxpayers were asked if they liked the idea of paying for juvenile detention centers and personnel, for damage to property and for prisons, they might get impatient. Those things are needed to keep us all safe. But what if there was a way to minimize those expenses significantly and ensure a modicum of safety few of us feel these days?

Generations of unproductive children, whose parents won't or are incapable of training their children are costing all of us more than dollars.

In China, the development of young children is seen as an investment in their country. Earmarking numerous resources and implementing important policy has become a priority. Many European countries have been subsidizing child care in homes or centers for years.

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