LETTERS: Cuccinelli understands issues in the region
Cuccinelli understands issues in the region My husband and I want to thank Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli for holding a chat at New River Comunity College Aug. 2. He took all questions and offered sound solutions on a host of issues. At a time when Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe is dodging questions and not presenting himself to average citizens of Southwest Virginia, it was refreshing to discuss regional concerns
COMMENTARY: Don’t impede oil and gas industries
As a senator, candidate and now president, Barack Obama has regularly assailed oil companies. His mantra for action has been hit them with higher taxes and punish them with regulations. You know the words to his song: “We have subsidized oil companies for a century. That’s long enough.” “Tax giveaways aren’t right . . . and we need to end them.” Add to that Obama’s refrain: “These companies pay a lower tax
EDITORIAL: Another hitch in Boones Mill’s giddyup
Boones Mill has managed to attract more than its share of headlines in recent years even as the town’s population has dwindled. Back in 2007 when the big news was a dispute between police chief Lynn Frith and a former mayor, the town residents were numbered at 285. The following year, as a three-way tie in town council elections was being sorted out with purple plastic eggs drawn from a
COMMENTARY: Not a failure of Head Start
In her commentary (“Head Start gets an F,” Aug. 7), Deborah Ring selectively uses data to disparage Head Start and ignores data that refutes her case. While the 2008 Health and Human Services study shows that some Head Start benefits dissipate by the third grade, it did find statistically significant positive impacts for 3- and 4-year-old children enrolled in Head Start on pre-reading, pre-writing, vocabulary and parent reports of children’s
ESTHER CEPEDA: Defining learning down
When prospective educators go through training to prepare for teaching low-income, minority or at-risk children, they learn how to empathize with their students’ lives. They’re taught to acknowledge environments lacking in resources, order or stability and “meet” the students at their level before expecting them to learn as easily as other children do. Yet for all the lip service that modern pedagogy pays to the precept that “all children can
PICK OF THE DAY: And why is it Muslims can’t write of Jesus?
Robert Young seems to take the same position he criticizes (“A fair question for a Muslim writer,” Aug. 7 Pick of the day). If he fully accepts Lauren Green’s main question, then does he judge this book by its superficial title and by her narrow standards? The Quran includes the story of Jesus, but a Muslim scholar cannot write about him? Only Christians have jurisdiction over Jesus? If so, which
EDITORIAL: Selling the Roanoke Valley to job-makers
The Ardagh Group’s can manufacturing operation that will bring at least 96 jobs to Roanoke County will be taking over the old Hanover Direct building, where 200 people worked at the time the mail order distribution center closed last year. The swap will be more than even, though — and not because there was anything wrong with Hanover’s presence. The can manufacturer will bring significantly more revenue into the community by
EDITORIAL: More work to do on college costs
For the second consecutive fall, most Virginia students attending the state’s four-year public colleges and universities can return to campus without experiencing extreme sticker shock. Tuition and all mandatory fees for in-state undergraduates will increase by an average of 4.7 percent, or $468, over last year, according to a report released last week by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. Students at community colleges will see a 4.4 percent
Taming the tax code beast
“Colleagues,” said the June 27 letter to 98 U.S. senators, “now it is your turn.” The letter’s authors are Max Baucus, D-Mont., and Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, the chairman and ranking Republican on the tax-writing Finance Committee, respectively. From their combined 71 years on Capitol Hill, they know their colleagues will tiptoe gingerly, if at all, onto the hazardous terrain of tax reform. Together with Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., of the
LETTERS: Jackson will kill Cuccinelli’s hopes
Jackson will kill Cuccinelli’s hopes The more the Rev. E.W. Jackson says, the more I’m convinced he is in the employ of the Democratic Party. If not, he is proving to be the most valuable ally the Democrats have in this campaign. Jackson’s “anti-God,” “anti-life” and “anti-family” remarks on radio WLEE in Richmond Aug. 1 dampen further any hope for the GOP this fall. A man of the cloth, Jackson
Registrars told persistence may pay off
Voter registrars are not a shy group of people. The election officials held their statewide conference in Roanoke last week and invited three local legislators to speak. Before the lawmakers could settle into their seats, they were asked when they planned to raise registrars’ pay. How’s that for an ice-breaker? I guess you have to be pretty assertive when it’s your job to referee tired voters, impatient politicians and late-night
COMMENTARY: Social justice “acceptance” and the 1st Amendment
Re: “Defending against discrimination” (commentary by Joe Ivers, Aug. 4): A correction concerning a quotation inaccurately attributed to me has been issued (and I understand the mistake was due to an editorial slip). However, I feel my position has been muddied. As I carefully explained in my July 7 commentary (“School board vote on orientation challenged”), sexual harassment rules already protect against discrimination. Montgomery County Publc Schools attorney Brad King
EDITORIAL: Bridging the technology divide
This spring, the state Department of Education required all elementary schoolchildren to take their reading and writing Standards of Learning exams on computers. While the switch from pencil and paper was some years in the making, for many Roanoke students the fine-tuning of software and formatting changes fell a little too close to exam time for comfort. For children whose every-day lives are filled with typing, texting, swiping and maneuvering
PICK OF THE DAY: History museum should mind its business
Perhaps the History Museum of Western Virginia should not have borrowed money with no income to pay the note back (“Historical society faces ‘untenable situation,’ ” Aug. 3 news story). Why do we continually read about museums in Roanoke not living within their means? Those who run a business know how to make a profit and survive. Why not hold the history museum to the same business model? Maybe it’s because
COMMENTARY: A tenuous link to gun sales
Re: “Gun crime drops in Va. as gun sales rise,” Aug. 4 news story. Improvements to gun safety laws were proposed to stop criminals from being able to obtain guns. If we have speed limits, but enforce them only Monday through Thursday, speeders know exactly when to do their speeding — and that is during the 40 percent of time the law is not enforced. The law-abiding driver does not
COMMENTARY: Climate-change zealotry will cost jobs
America is in the process of shooting itself in the foot. At a time when the U.S. economy is improving and offering relief to middle-class families, the people who run our government seem more determined than ever to dampen opportunities for prosperity. Statistics show the U.S. economy finally is regaining strength. Domestic oil and natural gas production is climbing due to advanced technologies. U.S. manufacturing is experiencing an uptick while manufacturing
Virginians must continue to safeguard the national forests
Since they were established 95 years ago, the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests have provided a beautiful backdrop and a beloved back yard for the Roanoke Valley region. Now the GW, the largest national forest east of the Mississippi, faces an unprecedented threat as the federal government considers opening it up to natural gas drilling. The treasured GW helps support Virginia’s multimillion-dollar tourism and outdoor recreation industry, as more
COMMENTARY: Foundation for Roanoke Valley
Twenty-five years ago, in August 1988, several civic leaders in the Roanoke Valley were brought together by the Council of Community Services. They met quietly to establish a brand new, nonprofit organization. There was no fanfare, no ribbon cutting, no celebratory speeches. But the shared vision and leadership of this group of nine, chaired by the late Barton W. Morris, set in motion something that would have a dramatic impact
Domestic oil and gas industries would cease without fracking
More than six years ago, I retired from the natural gas and oil industry. I thought I had everything planned until I began worrying about my children’s and grandchildren’s future. Without clean, affordable, dependable, domestic energy, they will have a cold, dark future. If we have to depend on foreign powers for our energy, they won’t be free. My retirement was short — one day. A friend called out of
1. 41-vehicle wreck ties up traffic Sunday on I-81 in Rockbridge County
2. Virginia Tech football roster has holes on picture day
3. Medicare penalties hit hospitals in Roanoke, New River Valleys
4. Microfestivus beer event gets downtown Roanoke hopping
5. McFarling: 2 little numbers are a big hurdle for Virginia Tech football
6. Arrest made in case of missing Nelson County teen
7. DAN CASEY: Copter cost still stirring up dust
8. Virginia attorney general's office grows under Ken Cuccinelli
9. Roanoke farmers markets making local foods more accessible
10. Man's drowning is 5th in Lynchburg area
THE ROANOKE TIMES
