DATE: Thursday, June 19, 1997               TAG: 9706180016

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B10  EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Letter 

                                            LENGTH:  147 lines

LETTERS TO EDITOR -- THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT

HISTORY

In defense of

Andrew Jackson's wife

On your June 10 Focus page, I saw photos of 15 people who supposedly had committed adultery. Five of the 15 are dead and can't defend themselves.

I was outraged at including Rachel Jackson, wife of President Andrew Jackson. She really didn't mean to commit adultery. She was first married to a man who led her to believe he divorced her. But she married Andrew Jackson in good faith.

When Jackson was running for president, his political enemies smeared his wife's reputation. She died of a broken heart before she could move into the White House. I wish to stand up for a great lady who only loved her husband, Andrew Jackson.

T.G. O'Grady

Norfolk, June 11, 1997

NORFOLK

Moving school will

endanger tot lot

It is with dismay that I hear that the School Board voted to, without further discussion, place Taylor Elementary School 90 feet back from West Princess Anne Road, in front of the present site. This will not only destroy the view and encroach on that street but also affect the young children's playlot on that corner, probably its removal.

The tot lot is the location for ``At the Swings,'' the last poem, in Henry Taylor's Pulitzer Prize-winning book, The Flying Change.

As a resident of Ghent/West Ghent for over 35 years, whose children both attended Taylor, I suggest a reconsideration by the Norfolk School Board and the City Council.

Myreen Moore Nicholson

Norfolk, June 9, 1997

REGIONALISM

``Norfolk Southern''

says it best

In response to a recent letter, I suggest that the present names of Norfolk Southern Railway and Norfolk Southern Corp. fit the bill. Reasons:

1. Norfolk Southern's trackage had been ``south by the compass'' for a century.

2. The old Norfolk Southern went due south out of Norfolk to Charlotte, N.C.

3. Two of the four present lines of the Norfolk Southern presently continue south.

4. The Norfolk Southern Corp. headquarters are in Norfolk.

5. The four present Norfolk Southern lines terminate in Norfolk

(or West Norfolk).

6. Three of the four railroads had ``Norfolk'' in the company title (Norfolk & Southern, Norfolk & Western, Norfolk, Franklin & Danville and Virginian.

While the railroad octopus also serves Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Portsmouth and Suffolk, its head is obviously in Norfolk! Hampton Roads is still a nautical name anyway.

Since 1853, Norfolk has had a railroad named ``Norfolk & . . . '' Let's leave it that way. And please, with the new Conrail acquisition, don't change the name to Nor-Rail or Con-Folk either.

S. David Carriker

Chesapeake, June 6, 1997

VIRGINIA BEACH

Visiting the beach

is no bargain

I read with interest the skateboard ban by the Virginia Beach City Council. It seems, to this fed-up local, that Virginia Beach wants to roll out the welcome mat for everyone except teenagers.

When I take my family to the beach, how does the City Council think I feel about high parking fees (if you can find a space), severely overpriced food, a hotel association that publicly advertises rate increases of $20 to $40, and police and cameras that would make the CIA green with envy.

When my family goes to the beach, we don't want to see 4-foot signs prohibiting 80 percent of what we go to the beach for. The council is in fantasy land if it thinks it's beach is a bargain.

We will continue to go to the Eastern Shore, a much better bargain. It has trees, not concrete.

Greg Garrett

Chesapeake, June 10, 1997

FISCAL WOES

You don't have

to go Albania. . .

I read Keith Monroe's June 5 column this morning, ``Giving money a place on the curriculum would pay dividends,'' and was struck by a a statement he made: ``Capitalism may work because of individual choice,'' he said,``. . . but when the informed meet the unscrupulous, whole societies can be shaken. . . '' He then went on to talk about fiscal troubles in Albania.

Albania? How about down the street and around the corner? How about the ``galaxy high'' interest rates many young high school graduates (now military recruits) pay on cars? How many of us know the exact interest rate charged on our credit cards? And what does APR mean anyway?

Albania, Keith? How about downtown Norfolk, U.S. bankruptcy court?

Billie M. Cook

Portsmouth, June 5, 1997

VIRGINIA BEACH

Sandbridge hotel

has many benefits

Your June 11 article, ``Beach planner envisions a hotel at Sandbridge for the rich,'' conveys only one part of the project's concept. The benefits to residents were largely overlooked.

The project planners expect the hotel corporation to replace the massive and deteriorated Little Island parking lot with a new, better designed and better landscaped lot, and to build additional parking for visitors to the Refuge and False Cape State Park. It would also restore the three historic Lifesaving Service buildings to their authentic 1880 character.

By purchasing 600 feet of oceanfront land and swapping it for another piece, the hotel corporation adds 600 feet to the public ocean front of Little Island Park.

The hotel corporation is expected to handle reservations and visitor management for the public lands, and can serve as a point of arrival, rest, feeding and supplying for a visit to the refuge and park.

False Cape State Park has a plan for four environmental learning centers, each housing about 40 visitors. The hotel corporation would be invited to build, equip and operate the four centers.

There is not a city resident or visitor to Sandbridge who likes the prospect of mediocre development on the private parcel there. What a shame to let miniature golf, ``Crabs are Us'' or an egg-crate motel appear. The False Cape Lodge provides an alternate development path at minimum cost. The lodge is planned to serve as a hospitality spot for all visitors, regardless of income and regardless of whether they stay in the Lodge overnight. The cost for a family of four to stay at the Lodge will me more than resort area hotels but about the same as a Sandbridge rental house.

Roger Newill, Architect

Norfolk, June 11, 1997

Crime

Next generation

won't value life

Concerning the recent news coverage on throw-away babies: I can't believe the articles using words like ``young,'' ``deprived,'' ``frightened.''

When is anyone going to get it straight? The message our youths are receiving from grown-ups and our government is: If you don't want the baby, throw it away. Millions are thrown away through abortion every year.

These girls aren't stupid. It's no different to them, six months, seven months, nine months. Get rid of it. These girls aren't buying the murder act outside the womb when anyone, everyone, can murder inside the womb.

A whole generation coming will not value life and it will be everything from drive-by shootings to throwing away their own young.

Carol Reed

Virginia Beach, June 11, 1997

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