Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, May 22, 1995 TAG: 9505230011
SECTION: EDITORIALS PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Due to mixed signals, one of my children boarded the bus when I was to pick him up at school. I frantically searched the schoolyard; then alerted Tom Dunleavy, the principal of Fishburn, that my son was missing. He calmly began to garner his staff and methodically search for my child while I rushed home to see if the bus had let him off. My child wasn't at home, and the fear escalated. Within moments, I received a call from the school that the driver had returned my son to the school, and all was well.
These mishaps happen. And in my experience, the school responded diligently and with great concern. I've had a child attending Fishburn for the past six years, and have never experienced apathy toward a child's safety as was suggested in the article. The article didn't mention how long it was before the child was found, but since he was still sleeping, I assume school personnel tracked him down very quickly. Had my ``lost'' child been a story worthy of front-page news, I hope that I would have been quoted praising the quick and organized action of the staff of Roanoke city schools.
DEE DUDLEY
ROANOKE
Taxpayers face cruel punishment
WELL, I think I've heard just about everything now.
In the May 12 news article (``Va. scorns latest argument from death row long-timer''), Willie Lloyd Turner, who is facing execution on May 25 for the murder of a jewelry-store owner in 1978, argued his sentence is now unenforceable because he has been on death row for 15 years. He says that he has suffered cruel and unusual punishment.
Really now! Would you say that Willie had any mercy on the jewelry-store owner?
I wonder how much money has been spent by the state of Virginia on his defense? I bet the state would be ashamed to tell us. It could very well be a world record.
What is our present judicial system coming to? No wonder our country is going broke.
RON PENLAND
WYTHEVILLE
Construction delays risk brownouts
GILLIAM Lewis' May 1 letter to the editor (``Availability of power is citizens' problem'') draws an interesting parallel between outdated home wiring and the need to update electricity-transmission systems.
As the writer stated, there has been steady growth in the demand for electricity over the years, and it's only reasonable to expect that demand to continue to increase. As more electricity must be generated, so too must there be transmission lines in place to deliver this power.
Appalachian Power Co.'s responsibility is to make sure that adequate generation, transmission and distribution systems for electric service are in place, and to propose new facilities as the need arises. The utility cannot wait to build until this need is critical. Unlike homeowners who can call an electrician and have their problems fixed in hours, there are no quick fixes for a transmission system that has become inadequate. Apco's 765-kilovolt line, first proposed in 1991, will take years to construct. And every day we delay this process brings us a day closer to the lights going out in all our homes.
JOE HAYNES
Coordinator, Coalition for Energy and Economic Revitalization
CHARLESTON, WV
Disabled, don't ask for special treatment
IN RESPONSE to Jim Kimball's May 5 letter to the editor (``Disabled get a rude reception'') on how the handicapped were treated at the Tour DuPont:
I'm disabled and use a wheelchair. Did this group of disabled citizens expect people to part like the Red Sea and let them through? When you put that many people in a small area, everyone - disabled or otherwise - gets bumped into and run over.
I'm sick of people thinking that just because they're different they should get something special. I don't want anything special; I just want equal!
MARCY BOONE
ROANOKE
Wasena are needs the help
REGARDING Fran Barker's tirade on the Wasena area problem (May 12 letter to the editor, ``Wasena's woes are exaggerated''):
I didn't get the impression that my neighborhood was in any way, shape or form like the South Bronx. The so-called rabble-rousers aren't looking for the spotlight for themselves, but are genuinely trying to keep our neighborhood free from trouble.
What's wrong with Joe Nash (chairman of the Wasena Neighborhood Forum's crime watch) presenting himself as a '60s throwback? At least he's not a yuppie with a BMW and cellular car phone whose only charity is polo matches.
I dug through the recyclables for the picture of the T-shirt Terri Beck (president of the forum) was wearing in support of a ``local bar.'' How utterly ridiculous! Mac n' Bob's is a respectable, family-oriented Salem restaurant that caters to college students and families. There are no bars in Virginia due to state law. A restaurant may have a bar area, but you can't have an on-site bar without food sales. Barker needs to get her facts straight.
We moved into the area less than a year ago. It offered us the sense of family - young families just starting out, empty-nesters, alternative-lifestyle families and, unfortunately, drug dealers. One block from us stands an empty house because the owner is in jail for selling drugs. On our block, there's a house padlocked because the owner is running from the law. I feel safer with them gone, wouldn't you?
I love living here. I have a wonderful life, splendid neighbors, and plan on helping keep it that way. I applaud the Wasena Neighborhood Forum for everything it does. If Barker wants to be an ostrich, she can stick her head back into the sand.
M. KATHERINE HUGHES
ROANOKE
Light will cause more problems
THERE is going to be a traffic light at the intersection of U.S. 221 and Cotton Hill Road in Southwest Roanoke County. This is a near certainty due to housing developments previously approved by the county and now under construction, as well as by the efforts of several groups of petitioners newly active in the Back Creek community.
A conservative estimate of the traffic count at the referenced spot in just four years is 14,300 vehicles daily. Visualize about 3,000 motorists returning home from work between 5 and 7 p.m. in a February ice storm, with cars and trucks backed up along that narrow, two-lane section.
Those petitioners, zealously proselytizing citizens to ``stop any new construction'' or ``contain any construction within the existing U.S. 221 roadbed,'' do not tell citizens about the light. Oh, no! They cloak themselves as environmentalists, protecting the Blue Ridge Parkway's viewshed or preserving the wildlife's habitat.
I suspect their real motives are more selfish: Don't allow construction of a new U.S. 221 that disturbs my business or property - public-transportation needs be hanged. You can thank these public-spirited citizens as you sit in future traffic queues. Be comforted to know that foxes have their dens and rabbits have their burrows, but residents of the Poage's Mill community may never have an adequate, safe roadway.
GORDON E. SAUL
ROANOKE
Another country concert is slighted
REGARDING Mark Morrison's review of the Ken Mellons-John Michael Montgomery concert (May 15, ``Montgomery's show only a little bit country''):
Apparently, we weren't at the same concert. The fans' response pretty much says it all. I think the concert was great from start to finish.
Why is it that all country concert reviews stink? Perhaps you should try sending someone who likes country music.
To even compare this concert to ``Pure Country'' was obviously a lack of judgment on Morrison's part. The two compare in no way. Mellons and Montgomery are just two guys doing what they like. I wish more performers would interact with the fans. It was $22.50 well spent.
LAURA FIZER
SALEM
by CNB