Carol Lindstrom

Terry Ellen Carter (left) and Tacy Newell-Foutz

Lisa Lucas Gardner

Brad Stipes

Christiansburg, it seems, has gone to the blogs.

Blogging -- the Internet activity that evolved in recent years from the online diary -- has swept the country. Blog World Expo, an international blogging conference, estimates that more than 12 million Americans currently maintain a blog and that more than 120,000 new blogs are created each day.

Many of those bloggers share their thoughts on sports, hobbies and philosophical topics aimed at attracting like-minded readers.

But at least a handful of local bloggers fit into a category known as "pajamas journalists" -- keystroke correspondents eager to bestow percipience on the politics, issues and bones of contention rattling local government.

The newest blog -- advancechristiansburg.com -- belongs to Christiansburg Councilman Brad Stipes.

While he doesn't admit to blogging in his pajamas, Stipes said he has found that it is easier to write, as most bloggers do, during his down time at home.

"If you check, you'll see that my postings are usually late at night," he said. "That's when I have time to do it. It's not during the day."

Stipes, who is serving his first term as an elected town official, said friends encouraged him to start a blog as a way to connect with residents when he was running for office in 2006. Because of the rigors of door-to-door campaigning, however, he didn't get around to it. Now, he says, he is finding that blogging allows him a chance to "enlighten and inform" residents about issues of the day.

Since he started blogging in late May, he has covered four topics, ranging from the widening of Virginia 114 -- a project that has been talked about for decades -- to "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?" in which he quotes insightful Christiansburg Elementary School students who have ideas on running the town.

Noting that he speaks only for himself and not his fellow council members, Stipes said his primary motivation "is to provide a forum for people to give their thoughts on what's going on in town government."

"So far," he said, "I've been very encouraged by the feedback."

Starting the conversation

Feedback from people who read blogs is what makes the forum interesting.

Some Christiansburg bloggers, however, have found that some readers want to jump in with criticism but don't want to identify themselves.

Lisa Lucas Gardner, who started blogging more than a month ago at cakewalkblogs.com/speakoutchristiansburg, quickly found a critic when she began questioning the way town government works.

The anonymous critic, she said, posted some comments that she censored.

"What's nice about a blog is that you're the author and you're able to control the content," she said.

Admitting that she is "stubborn, hard-headed and rigorous about issues," Gardner said her blogging is a way to advocate for people who can't speak for themselves: "People who aren't computer literate tell me things and I post them. I'm not afraid to speak out for them."

A former Blacksburg police officer and holder of a law degree from Boston's New England School of Law, Gardner has lived in Christiansburg for the past nine years. She said her frustration with the "negative response" she got from the town inspired her to begin blogging.

"It seemed that whenever I asked about a particular service," she said, "I was told, 'We don't do that.' "

Among other requests, Gardner petitioned the water department to put a meter on one spigot at her house to be used for watering her garden so that she could pay for water usage without paying a sewage fee.

"I told them, 'Blacksburg does it,' and they said, 'We're not Blacksburg,' " she said.

"I don't understand why we can't have the same things that other municipalities have," she said. "Now, I ask, 'Why not?' "

In the short time she has been blogging, Gardner has raised questions about affirmative action in the town's hiring practices, fuel waste in town vehicles and freedom of speech at town meetings.

She said her "Pet Peeves" -- the title of her blog -- have become pet passions.

"People like me have to get out there and speak up," she insisted. "It's free speech. It's not that I'm right -- but I have a right to my opinion."

Attacking apathy

Carol Lindstrom, another blogger who operates depotdazed.com, said she would like to see more people get involved in both blogging and local government.

"In a community, there's a sense of responsibility to each other," Lindstrom said. "I consider my blog an informational blog. I go to the town meetings, I listen to the issues, I ask myself questions and then I come back and start researching them on my own. I seek the educational experience that anybody can attain by asking questions.

"The real change I want to create is getting more people involved," she said, adding that while change in local government may be slow in coming, she's very patient.

"Slow change, rather than knee-jerk reactions, will last, be more effective and have far less negative impact," she said.

In addition to writing her blog entries, Lindstrom makes audio recordings of town meetings so that people can go to the Internet site and listen when they have the time. She also has posted documents such as the Christiansburg Town Code and minutes of Christiansburg Planning Commission meetings online.

She has done all that, she said, because she thinks information empowers people.

And, she added, it may motivate them to be less apathetic.

"When the next comprehensive plan comes up, maybe people will get up and get involved."

Lindstrom created her first posting March 24 and said she has seen a steady increase in traffic to her Internet site. After she was named in a lawsuit recently filed by Christiansburg developer Roger Woody, she said traffic to the site doubled.

Lindstrom and Meghan Dorsett were named in the multimillion suit Woody filed after another local blog criticized a dirt pile at one of his residential developments. Both women have said they had nothing to do with the posting Woody claims has injured him. But Lindstrom says the real issue is freedom of speech.

Tacy Newell-Foutz and Terry Ellen Carter, the other two women named in Woody's lawsuit who post entries on thinkchristiansburg.com, are contesting the claim with the support of the American Civil Liberties Union. Virginia ACLU representatives have said publicly that the First Amendment protects the statements posted on their blog.

"Blogging, as does any method of communication, occurs in a context," Carter said. "Understanding the context is important. Blogging is a fabulous way to express opinions. And in civil society, one has a right to express one's opinion."

Politics and hypertension

"Think, Christiansburg!" was the first blog focusing on town issues and likely the one that inspired others to jump on the blogging bandwagon.

Before starting the blog at thinkchristiansburg.com last September, Newell-Foutz -- an active participant in town government -- had been reporting on town meetings and sending those reports to interested residents via e-mail. She also contributed frequent guest columns and letters to local newspapers.

The blog, she said, was "a natural progression that opened it up to a wider audience."

Describing the blog as a way to start conversations with people, Newell-Foutz said her intent was to get readers to "look more deeply at issues."

If she had to describe what the blog is about in one word, Newell-Foutz said that word is "politics."

Christiansburg Councilman Mike Barber, who was recently elected for a third term, said he has read all the local blogs dealing with town government and has posted comments on them.

"It's an interesting mix of people out there," he said. "I have gleaned some good information from them and it has given me food for thought."

"I do have a problem taking criticism from people who don't have the guts to put their name [on blog sites]," he added. "My life doesn't hang on what these people say."

Barber said he's aware that residents who participate in the blogs have concerns and have the right to voice those concerns. What bothers him is the lack of direct input at public hearings and town council meetings.

"They complain, complain, complain, and no one ever comes," he said. "I don't think they fully understand the system. I just believe you address your critics best when you know who they are."

Although Barber said he will continue to look at the blogs and keep an open mind on the issues that inspire blog comments, he admits it may be hazardous to his health:

"Sometimes I have to take my blood pressure medicine after I read them."