Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, September 24, 1995 TAG: 9509250011
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Arrington has distinguished herself on the School Board as a member who is well informed and visionary. Her work extends from the classroom, where she has served as a room mother and as a tutor for children with special needs, to Richmond, where she has lobbied on behalf of all Montgomery County children.
Seeing the educational needs in the classroom, she has sought to address those needs on the Montgomery County School Board. She has worked toward improving our facilities, in particular, Blacksburg Middle School. She is also committed to seeing Focus 2006 realized. When faced with difficult budget decisions, she has been unwilling to abandon initiatives that affect our children but has worked toward a balanced distribution of funds.
No sign will tell you the number of hours Peggy Arrington has spent in the classroom helping students and teachers, nor the number of hours she has spent listening to parents and teachers. They also won't tell you the hours she has spent studying the issues and working towards action and resolution.
As a parent, I appreciate what Peggy Arrington has done. Let's return her to the School Board to continue working for our children.
Mary Denson Moore
District G, Blacksburg
School funding source of concern
Thank you for your article "Worth going on their own" (Current, Sept. 13) concerning the three Floyd County girls attending Governor's School in Dublin at their own expense. The issue of the funding of Governor's School tuition and transportation has been a source of concern for many Floyd County citizens since the School Board's selective termination of that funding last May.
The opportunity presented by the Southwest Virginia Governor's School is one that these Floyd County students and parents feel is too valuable to pass up. The experience of being in classes that challenge and motivate them to perform at their highest level of ability ... was not being provided in the regular classroom.
The article, however, left the impression that the cuts at the state level by the Allen administration were responsible. We do not believe this to be the case. The Floyd County School system received $9.28 million in funding for 1994-95 and $9.77 million for 1995-96, an increase of $490,000. Cutting tuition for the junior girls and transportation for all six students (approximately $17,500) was the result of a change in commitment by the School Board. The board no longer supports the expenditure of .07 of 1 percent of the Floyd budget for advanced studies for gifted high school students.
Of the eight school systems participating in the governor's school, only Floyd does not provide transportation. The three senior boys are car-pooling, while the girls leave Floyd at 6:30 a.m. and return from Dublin at 10:15 a.m. The parents have appealed to the School Board to consider the safety of these students driving this early on winding Floyd County roads. Appeals have been either ignored or directly turned down.
Over 150 Floyd County citizens signed petitions asking for the reinstatement of funding and over 30 citizens attended the June 12 School Board meeting to express their support for this excellent program. Your article was much appreciated by those citizens.
Jim & Louellen Sharp
Floyd
Tax cuts slash vital services
Taxes are a necessary part of life. They support vital government services. Our concern is the effective management of tax receipts. Virginia is rated as one of the best fiscally managed states in the country by numerous financial publications. This is accomplished with one of the lowest tax burdens in the nation. When Gov. Allen proposes a tax cut for all Virginians, he isn't trimming the fat from a bloated state bureaucracy. He is slashing vital services to the most vulnerable Virginians: children, the elderly, the handicapped and the less fortunate. This proposed tax cut would amount to only about $40 per year for an average family of four.
Sen. Madison Marye opposes tax cuts at this time. He believes it is irresponsible of Gov. Allen to offer Virginians such a meager sum while embarking on a massive prison construction program that will leave the state in debt for years to come.
Virginia Price
Ararat
We need people like Shuler
I would like to say a few things about Jim Shuler. I hope and pray that he gets re-elected to the House of Delegates because we need people like him in office. I have contacted him on several occasions about problems that I have and he always took the time to check into the problem and he always responded. I cannot express what a good and caring man I think Mr. Shuler is. There is not a whole lot of people in political offices that cares about people like Mr. Shuler does. He has all of my gratitude and respect and I hope people will be wise and choose the best people for these positions, in which case, Mr. Shuler is definitely the man for the House of Delegates.
Bonnie Woolwine
Christiansburg
Radford hospital deserves support
New River Valley residents should consider some important issues regarding Radford Community Hospital's plans to build a replacement hospital in Montgomery County. As a member of the hospital's board I have always observed Radford Community to be a forward-sighted institution. When it took the revolutionary step of adopting patient-focused care as a philosophy, I thought "wow" and in our own backyard! As I reviewed some of the recent market surveys, I was impressed with the large percentages of patients Radford draws from the surrounding New River Valley. It is not just a hospital for Radford.
I think it is very healthy that it has carefully planned this outreach endeavor to build a state-of-the-art health care center for Radford and the surrounding New River Valley. The position at the "gateway" to Radford, close to the Interstate 81 corridor where emergency and other vehicles will have enhanced access is ideal. This was not an overnight decision. Radford has been studying the concept for some years.
The plans for Radford focus on its intent to be: full-service (as opposed to the Columbia/HCA proposal to provide limited services); charge lower costs (this has been our history and commitment to customers); an economic growth catalyst (the location makes it quite a drawing card for many support services); and a competitor in the health care market (as opposed to Columbia/HCA which would in essence create a monopoly in this area with Montgomery Regional and Pulaski Community hospitals).
One of my concerns is the obvious impact that an HCA hospital would have on employment for Radford. If beds are reduced at Montgomery and Pulaski and placed in the city of Radford as described by Columbia/HCA, this may create a demand for their displaced employees at the expense of previous Radford hospital employees. I am also concerned about access to care for those families seeking obstetric and pediatric services, which would be displaced to Blacksburg or Pulaski.
We should be supportive of Radford Community Hospital, an institution well known for its commitment to its patients/families, employees and community. The health care arena today is peppered with the carcasses of former noble, well-intentioned hospitals not supported by their communities. Please give Radford Community Hospital the credit and support it deserves. Thank you.
Lin Young, Ph.D., RNC
Board member Radford Community Hospital
Shockley, staff do fine work
I am the proprietor of Jim's Steakhouse in Pulaski and have been for many years. On May 10, 1992, something happened to me that I thought never would - I was robbed! Not only was I robbed, I was beaten. One lone coward approached me from behind and hit me in the head with a bat. He then took a bag of money that I was carrying. Afterwards, even though I was angry, I felt lucky to be alive.
Police solved this crime and arrested my attacker and two others involved. I then felt even luckier because two of them had been involved in an execution-style murder of a robbery victim in a neighboring county. It was just hard for me to believe that people like this live around here.
I am writing this letter to express my appreciation for the enthusiastic handling of this case by Commonwealth's Attorney Everett Shockley and his able staff. He diligently pursued and convicted all three offenders even though the case against one was somewhat weak and even though it appeared likely that two were going to receive lengthy prison sentences for crimes elsewhere. The man who struck me (who had not been involved in the other crimes) received a 20-year prison sentence and, undoubtedly, would have gotten an even bigger sentence had he not cooperated with Mr. Shockley in prosecuting the others involved.
I will always be grateful for Mr. Shockley's efforts. He was genuinely concerned for me as a victim and determined to see that these violent criminals were locked up so that ... they won't be able to hurt anybody else.
I have known Everett Shockley for about as long as he has been in the county and he obviously is someone who is conscientious, energetic and honest. I'm impressed by the job that he's done during the last 16 years and I'm going to vote for him again this fall. I hope that others will join with me in reselecting him as our Commonwealth's Attorney.
Jim Duke
Pulaski
Taylor did the wrong thing
I just read a letter from your paper entitled "When will the madness stop" (Current, Sept. 17) and I think Mrs. Henderson is totally wrong. I agree it is unfortunate that Maurice Taylor was killed, but if he had been smart enough not to ... point a gun at the police, he would still be here today. The pellet gun he used looked real and if I were in that position and he would have aimed at me I would have acted as the officer did. In this day and age you can't take chances and I'm sure that if the police knew that what he had was just a pellet gun they would not have used the force they did. In my opinion the Blacksburg Police did the right thing and I don't blame them for what happened. They were only doing their job. I am curious to know what Mrs. Henderson would have done if she had been in a situation like that.
Travis Beasley
Christiansburg
Highway takes as well as gives
Apropos of the desecration of the village of Prices Fork and the impending ruination of Ellett Valley, these thoughts:
New highway: Gone the pasture, gone the field; gone the meadow with its yield of Queen Anne's Lace and kildeer's nest ... gone the ridge with rocky crest; gone the distant mountain view where the stream meandered through; gone the soft enfolding hills; gone, now, space the highway fills.
B.R. Culbertson
Blacksburg
Historic sites story in error
I enjoyed the story of the historic sites along the New River, but I feel obligated to bring to your attention two glaring errors. The first is that the Shot Tower at Jacksons Ferry manufactured shot for shot guns, not bullets. These are two different manufacturing processes, as I discovered when I visited two shot towers in England who still manufacture the shot.
Also, the article stated that the tower was built in 1807 and made bullets for the Revolutionary War!! A little difficult to do as the Revolution was over in 1783! The tower never operated during any war. Also there is some confusion over the date the tower was constructed. The state flyer, and the present Jackson family, insist that it was built about 1807. However, Thomas Jackson, the builder, did not own the land until 1815! Unlikely, in my opinion, that any business man would built such a structure on someone else's land. There are no records to show when it was built.
Mary Kegley
Author and lecturer on New River Wytheville
Editor's Note: Ooops, an embarrassing mistake. We did know the Revolutionary War was fought from 1776-1783. Luckily, editors, unlike Revolutionary War sentries, are not shot for falling asleep on the job.
by CNB