Deeds Has Logical Transportation Solution
Editor, Times-Dispatch: With a need for solutions for Virginia’s infrastructure system, Creigh Deeds and Bob McDonnell have proposed two different resolutions for Virginia’s traffic jam. McDonnell’s proposition seemed superior to Deeds’ at first, but having taken time to look over both of their transportation solution proposals, I’ve come to acknowledge Deeds as having a plan that will work.

Use Actual Data To Verify Results
Editor, Times-Dispatch: The editorial, “Tort Retort,“ depends for its validity on a Congressional Budget Office estimate that $54 billion would be saved by restricting legal responsibility for medical error through tort reform. One factor is an assumed monetary savings by “lowering insurance premiums” although no explanation is given of how insurance companies would be persuaded to lower premiums—unless malpractice insurance was rendered unnecessary by completely eliminating legal responsibility.

McDonnell’s Education Views Cause Concern
Editor, Times-Dispatch: As true gubernatorial candidates would, Creigh Deeds, a Democrat, and Bob McDonnell, a Republican, disagree on issues such as taxes, ways to stimulate the Virginia economy, social issues such as abortion and birth control, and the significance of government regulation.

Virginia Must Reduce Fossil Fuel Use
Editor, Times-Dispatch: Of two recent Op/Ed columns urging expanded extraction of oil, it is noteworthy that neither column mentioned conservation, efficiency, or the United States’ position as the world’s largest per-capita user of fossil fuels. Del. Chris Saxman states: “Renewables . . . cannot offer the promise of oil.“ He then asserts oil extraction is safe and clean, ignoring numerous spills great and small as well as the increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide. The new discoveries Saxman cites cover only two-thirds of the oil burned in that period.

Garrison Keillor’s Op/Ed column, “Even GOP Deserves Good Care,“ is another of his witty, cynical rants. The big guy with the nice baritone has lost all sense of reality. He is consumed by his hate and contempt for those whose political and social opinions differ from his own.

Deeds Appreciates State’s Rich Diversity
Editor, Times-Dispatch: Creigh Deeds should be our next governor. Currently representing the 25th District in the State Senate, Deeds appreciates the rich diversity of our state. Many times he has emphasized to rural constituents the importance of Northern Virginia’s economy to the rest of the state—in terms of generating tax dollars for schools, transportation, and the protection of natural resources, including farmland—issues that unify all Virginians.

Did Report Skew Coal-Plant Facts?
Editor, Times-Dispatch: The article, “Report: Coal Plant Would Pollute Bay,“ reports that a $20,000 study by a California based private air-pollution specialist projects large amounts of mercury would be added to the Chesapeake Bay by a proposed Old Dominion Electric Cooperative coal-burning power plant.

Don’t Forget To Thank a Vet
Editor, Times-Dispatch: My husband, a Vietnam veteran, hosted his second military reunion recently. The extended weekend affair was a huge success. During a visit to D.C., the men placed a wreath at the Vietnam wall and visited the WWII memorial. Our Vietnam veterans warmly greeted each member of a visiting WWII group (many of whom were in wheelchairs), shook their hands, and thanked them for their service to our country. The tears present in both sets of eyes reflected memories of the proud and patriotic service performed by these veterans. With many of their descendants currently serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, that selfless tradition of service has been projected forward.

A 28th Amendment should read: Congress shall enact no law having more words than the main body of the Constitution. That comes to about 4,400 words, or about six printed pages. Imagine a law, written elegantly enough that not only could the average citizen understand it—every congressman would even have time to read it.

In a time when municipal governments find it difficult to fund special projects, I write to offer my thanks and congratulations to the Richmond Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities for the wonderful surprise I received this morning as I took my daily walk.

Alternative Energy Is a Long Way Off
Editor, Times-Dispatch: In response to Marirose Pratt’s Op/Ed column, “Offshore Drilling No Silver Bullet”: I am all for developing all forms of energy, but alternative energy will take decades to have any significant impact on our energy needs. It accounts for only 7 percent of our energy needs and if developed will be able to increase to only 12 percent over the next decade, according to the experts. Green energy efforts in other countries show that it actually costs jobs and doesn’t create new ones.

Three Very Defining Names for a Team
Editor, Times-Dispatch: If I had known how lame the finalist names for our new baseball team would be, I would have submitted my own three favorites:

• Potholes. Nothing is more indigenous to Richmond than the pothole! Besides, just imagine: It’s the bottom of the 9th, the score is tied, the bases are loaded and the batter is a scrappy young man who will do anything to get on base—including, letting himself be hit by a pitcher! As one, the crowd leaps to its feet and screams, “Hit the Pothole! Hit the Pothole!“ In fact, that could be our summer-long rallying cry.

With all the life-threatening problems and financial woes facing our country today I take issue with the ACLU for arguing over a small cross—built out in the middle of the Mojave Dessert to recognize our World War I dead—as unconstitutional or a government endorsement of religion.

Bill Leighty’s Op/Ed column, “Initiatives Still Make Good Sense,“ regarding the VITA initiative was right on point. As someone with vast experience in information technology issues and someone who has worked directly on this issue, there is nothing as challenging as IT integration.

It is now more than two years and some months since the massacre at Virginia Tech. Many observers still look for closure and are fatigued reading about this tragedy in the papers. Some parents and friends still do not understand how a maniac could have been allowed to progress to mass murder, and they await better explanations of how this happened.