Homeowner dreads another city bill
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
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
Homeowner dreads another city bill
Re: “Roanoke proposing fee to tackle storm water,” June 29 news story:
Again, the Roanoke City Council comes up with a new way to tax the residents. A fee is normally charged when one makes a decision to do something, like register a car or get a license. If one is forced to do something, it is normally a tax. To avoid this word, the council decided it is a fee.
One wonders how they came up with the square footage for the estimate of the cost of this new “fee.” I do not have a lavish house, but do have a driveway that goes behind my house, like many houses in Roanoke. Using the figures of 85 cents to 90 cents per month per 500 square feet, I calculated my fee would be between $102 and $108 per year, not counting the sidewalk.
This is a far cry from the $30 to $32 per year quoted in the article. The estimate used is to avoid as much backlash from the public as possible as another new tax is imposed.
GENE SZUSTAKOWSKI
ROANOKE
Offensive word not spoken by all
It disturbs me that all the recent letters concerning the Paula Deen debacle, including one today from Mary Davis of Vinton (“This letter brought to you by the H-word,” June 28 letter), defend Deen by using the argument that each of us has, at one time or another, uttered the “N-word.”
I have not. My husband and children have not. My parents have not. My sisters wouldn’t dream of it. My friends wouldn’t be friends if they had. Is this truly what your readership believes? That we are all racists at heart, so what’s the big deal? I doubt that very much.
As for these letter writers, please stop painting those of us who have not used that ugly word with the same brush as those who have.
CARRIE MAHIN
RADFORD
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
