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Recreation in a recession

Bedford County supervisors figure it's about time they came up with a fresh master plan for parks and recreation. Maybe that's not worth the about $50,000 they plan to pay an outside consulting group, but the plan itself is overdue.

Yet supervisors on Monday delayed action when citizen Ruby Dooley set off a firecracker that could cause some serious headaches for the county.

Dooley reported that land on Falling Creek Road that houses several county-owned facilities shouldn't have been used for them. The nursing home, group home, sheriff's department and park on the land aren't allowed because the 1832 deed contains covenants and restrictions that limit the property's use to a "poor house."

County Attorney Carl Boggess was to discuss the issue with the board -- in a needlessly closed session -- and plans to issue a written opinion on the matter.

With the economy going the way it is, maybe a poor house is just what the region needs.

Don't force concealed carry reciprocity on states

U.S. Sen. David Vitter, R-La., and others are pushing a bill that would require states with concealed-carry laws to honor the concealed-carry permits issued to citizens of other states. Supporters of concealed-carry laws may think that's a good idea, but it's not, and the lead paragraph of a story from the Orlando Sentinel explains clearly why: "Some of the 500,000 people holding concealed-weapons permits in Florida qualified by using toy guns."

Virginia has relatively strict standards for its concealed-carry permits. You have to take training classes (with real guns) and demonstrate proficiency. Background checks are conducted.

In some states, such as Utah, you barely have to have a pulse. Even states with training requirements have varying levels of rigor, as the story from Florida attests. Virginia should be able to choose which states have standards that come close to meeting its own when granting reciprocity. This bill should be defeated.

Bellying up again to the budget trough

The five-year farm bill Congress passed this week is such a mess that it swept through both houses with wide, veto-proof margins. As the senior Republican on the Senate Agriculture Committee, Saxby Chambliss, noted, "there is something in this bill for every member of the House and every member of the Senate."

Chambliss was saying that approvingly. Snort, snort.

President Bush is on the mark in promising to veto the bill, which perpetuates a system of direct-payment subsidies to farmers in good times and bad. Right now, for those growing crops like corn, wheat and soybeans, times are good indeed. Yet taxpayers still will be forking over about $5 billion a year in support payments.

The legislation has some fine, even wonderful, features. Among the $307 billion bill's enticements, for example, is a record $440 million to help farmers in the Chesapeake Bay watershed keep life-choking nutrients like manure and fertilizer out of rivers and streams. Farmers bear heavy costs for doing the right thing. They need the help and encouragement.

Bush, like presidents before him, covets a line-item veto to give the nation's chief executive budgetary control. That'd be an unconstitutional power grab. But at times like these, we find ourselves wishing for line-item approval.

Don't get hooked by phishers

Taxpayers eager for a little payback, in the form of the federal government's economic stimulus tax rebates, shouldn't be so antsy for their checks that they fall victim to online phishing scams.

Phishing is an Internet con that involves sending out e-mails or pop-up messages falsely claiming to be from legitimate businesses or other institutions -- of late, the IRS. The phony messages ask unsuspecting recipients to respond with personal information, including bank account numbers, that they had best keep confidential. The scammers will steal it, along with people's identities.

They'll also steal people's tax rebates if given the chance. Phishers tell their quarry that they're eligible for the 2008 Economic Stimulus Refund, and the fastest, easiest way to get it is by direct deposit into their checking/savings accounts. The con artists provide a helpful link where people can fill in their financial information to avoid delay. Don't click on it.

The IRS says it never initiates e-mail. Remember that when surfing the Internet and a harmless-looking phisher swims by.