Short takes
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. Roanoke farmers markets making local foods more accessible
9. Virginia attorney general's office grows under Ken Cuccinelli
10. Man's drowning is 5th in Lynchburg area
Saturday, July 6, 2013
Cuccinelli’s debate bravado
First, Republican gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli wanted 15 debates with Democratic rival Terry McAuliffe.
Now, the combative Virginia attorney general wants to have a go at Vice President Joe Biden.
After Biden spoke at a state Democratic Party fundraiser last weekend and characterized Cuccinelli as an agent of tea party extremism, Cuccinelli challenged the vice president to a debate.
“Terry McAuliffe and I are in complete agreement that this election is critically important to Virginia’s future,” Cuccinelli said. “But if he won’t defend his record and articulate his vision through debates, perhaps his surrogate, the vice president will.”
McAuliffe actually has agreed to participate in five debates, more than the number held in recent gubernatorial elections. The Democrat’s dance card included an Oct. 14 debate in Richmond sponsored by AARP and the League of Women Voters, which co-sponsored televised debates in the 2009 governor’s race and the 2006 and 2012 U.S. Senate contests.
But, after all his clamoring for debates, Cuccinelli curiously did not respond to the organizations’ invitation by the Monday deadline.
We’re guessing that Biden is not clearing his calendar to spar with Cuccinelli, as entertaining as that confrontation might be. So perhaps Cuccinelli can dial back the bravado and reach an agreement with McAuliffe on a reasonable number of debates that can be broadcast to a wide audience.
The AARP and the League of Women Voters have offered one opportunity. Cuccinelli should seize it, unless his bluster is just baloney.
Oh dear, no beer?
Baseball without beer? Isn’t that un-American or something? Speaking strictly for fans in the stands, of course, not players on the field?
No, it turns out. Not at professional baseball’s Appalachian League games, anyway. Only about half the club franchises sell beer. The Bristol White Sox organization is not among them, but it’d like to be — and planned to be. Five home games into the season, it’s still dry.
Seems there was a paperwork glitch in its application for an Alcoholic Beverage Control license. Chances still look nil for having a cold one during the three-game home stand that starts Sunday at city-owned DeVault Memorial Stadium.
“Once all the documents are complete, it will go to the approval phase,” an ABC spokeswoman told the Bristol Herald Courier.
Just standard operating procedure. Leaving the club, which wants to use the proceeds to pay off debt for field repairs and further invest in the facility, crying in its beer.
Grotesque never looked so good
Kelly Francisco isn’t sure why his great-grandfather added gargoyles to pillars the stone mason erected in what’s now the Melrose-Rugby neighborhood. Francisco re-attached the jaw to one of the critters this week, but it’s still not talking.
Price Francisco, who created the pillars in 1916, favored a more subtle trademark: a diamond-shaped stone that can be found in many South Roanoke homes today. But he also did work at Sherwood Memorial Park, and perhaps got his inspiration there for the fanciful figures.
Gargoyles were originally employed as decorative spouts to prevent rainwater from damaging the masonry walls of Gothic churches, while also warding off evil spirits. The Melrose-Rugby creatures don’t appear to be engaged in either occupation. Instead, they’ve become the beloved mascots for a neighborhood that’s hard at work sprucing itself up.
Nearby residents have done much of the cleanup themselves, but the gargoyles required an expert touch. Fortunately, the Francisco family has been laying stone for four generations, and Kelly Francisco was delighted to devote his skills to the effort. The gargoyles are back to their original condition, greeting visitors to the neighborhood with their gorgeously ghoulish grins.
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. Roanoke farmers markets making local foods more accessible
9. Virginia attorney general's office grows under Ken Cuccinelli
10. Man's drowning is 5th in Lynchburg area
THE ROANOKE TIMES
