Opinions

Veterans 55 years of age or older are invited to participate in the National Veterans Golden Age Games being held this year in Des Moines, Iowa, May 20-25.

Esther Pennington, 291-2629

State lawmakers adjourned Saturday with the adoption of, in the words of Sen. Creigh Deeds, a “skinny” budget, leaving for another day decisions about what to do with hundreds of millions of dollars in surplus funds. Gov. Glenn Youngkin is expected to call legislators back to Richmond in the coming weeks for a special session dedicated to completing work on the budget.

My father died six years ago last month. He was 97 years old, having lived most of his life the way he wanted, a tenacity admirable at times, stubbornly foolish at others.

Feb. 22, 2023 Editor, The News-Gazette: Ugh. The revised designed for the Echelon apartment building is worse than the original. It sticks out more than ever, and looks straight out of the Alexandria, Virginia, stock urban housing playbook. The design is totally disrespectful of what our town’s citizens and planners want.

Feb. 22, 2023 Editor, The News-Gazette: I just read the story about the river rescue of the kayaker in Goshen Pass. Kudos to the rescuers. What the article failed to mention was the names of the two people who used exceedingly poor judgment and selfishly exposed those first responders to danger, not to mention the financial cost of their folly. I certainly hope they make significant donations to the five departments involved in the rescue.

Feb. 27, 2023 Editor, The News-Gazette: We have followed with interest the discussion regarding the conflict-of-interest policy for our city boards, commissions, and councils and are grateful that these groups are treating the issue with such care.

50 Years Ago

When former President Jimmy Carter visited Virginia Military Institute in 2001 to accept the inaugural Jonathan Myrick Daniels Humanitarian Award, he described Daniels, who gave his life in 1965 for the cause of Civil Rights four years after graduating from VMI, as “a true hero … He led an exemplary life. He’s been an inspiration to many people.”

Local Club One Of Only Two In Virginia To Win Grant

This item crossed my email in-box the other week from Al Cross’s Rural Blog, which is a digest of events, issues, trends, ideas and journalism from and about rural America, published by the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, based at the University of Kentucky. The post was headlined: “Paxton Media Group tells at least some local papers to close their offices to the public; target date is Wednesday [Feb. 1].”

The General Assembly’s 2023 session is heading down the home-stretch, with just 10 days remaining before the scheduled adjournment date of Feb. 25. There is a $1 billion question looming over legislators – whether to approve tax cuts of this magnitude, or to boost spending by a similar amount for education, mental health and other basic services. Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin and the GOP majority in the House of Delegates favor the former while the Democraticdominated state Senate prefers the latter.