As a former resident of Northern Ireland before enlisting in the U.S. Army, I would like to enlighten American citizens about the health system that some of our government leaders are trying to push through on us. My mother, 70 years old, needed a general bladder operation. She had to wait two years for the operation, resulting in the poisoning and deterioration of her innards. She had to be fed through a funnel in her stomach before she died.

When the Virginia Business Higher Education Council recently unveiled its “Grow by Degrees” initiative, it was as if the Boston Red Sox had proclaimed they would strive to win as many pennants as possible over the next 10 seasons, but would attempt to do so with just eight players on the field. Without question, the program’s commitment to help 70,000 more Virginians earn associate, bachelor, and graduate degrees by 2020 is an important endeavor on behalf of the commonwealth. As Council Chairman Heywood Fralin said, “If you want to make Virginia the economic growth capital of the world, you must first make Virginia . . . the educational growth capital of the world.“

AMA Is Committed To Achieving Reform
Editor, Times-Dispatch: Regarding the Op/Ed column by Dr. John O’Shea, “Physicians Want Serious Health Care Reform”: The relationship between a patient and physician is at the heart of health care—and the American Medical Association is working to make sure it stays that way. No insurer, whether it is the government or a private payer, should interfere in medical decisions between a patient and physician.

Why Spend More On a Flawed Contract?
Editor, Times-Dispatch: It is astonishing that after Virginia spends $2.2 billion on a Northrop Grumman computer contract, Gov. Tim Kaine has announced that at least $13.7 million of Virginia’s Child Care and Development Fund—part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)—will be used to create an automated system for child-care data tracking of child care providers.

The Norfolk Three are out of prison and with their families. Derek Tice and Danial Williams were released Thursday from Sussex 1, hours after Gov. Timothy M. Kaine granted them a conditional pardon. Joseph Dick was released from Sussex 1 yesterday around noon, Department of Corrections official Larry Traylor said. “It was very emotional,“ said Melissa Henke, a lawyer who represented Tice.

Join us Wednesday at 12:45 p.m. on TimesDispatch.com for a 30-minute live video chat with R. Creigh Deeds, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate. Submit questions in advance for Deeds at . Please put “Ask the Candidate” in the subject field. Find our Aug. 4 online chat with Bob McDonnell, the Republican candidate for governor, at TimesDispatch.com. Keyword: Video.

A man who robbed a busy coffee shop in South Richmond—firing a bullet that narrowly missed one employee and threatening to shoot a customer—pleaded guilty yesterday to robbery and a firearms charge. Eddie James Edwards III, 21, will face up to life in prison when he is sentenced for last year’s robbery at Crossroads Coffee and Ice Cream. About 10 customers were inside when it happened.

The Arena Football League is on the brink of folding and declaring bankruptcy, an inglorious end for the 22-year-old indoor league that has suffered through a year of turmoil. James Guidry, the regional director of the AFL players association, told The Associated Press yesterday that it “seems to be inevitable at this point” that the AFL will soon announce it has ceased operations. Guidry, speaking by telephone, said the players association will accept the owners’ decision.

As history repeats itself, I have no doubt that this recession will pass. Eventually it will work out and people will be in much better positions than they are now. Jobs will be created and businesses will flourish. I consider myself very lucky to have a full-time job that comes with health insurance. I work with the public, so I see and hear from too many people the horror stories of job losses, loss of homes, vehicles, and the worry that comes along with having little money.

Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz became the latest star implicated in baseball’s ever-growing drug scandal, acknowledging yesterday that the players’ union confirmed he tested positive in 2003. Shortly after hitting the go-ahead home run that beat Oakland 8-5, Ortiz responded to a story on The New York Times’ Web site that he and former teammate Manny Ramirez tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs six years ago.

My husband and I, both professionals in the film business, are free-lancers. We cannot afford health insurance, despite the fact that we both work and make a pretty good living and have no previous illnesses or bad health habits. I am 44, my husband is 45. Neither of us gets check-ups, and I have not had a baseline mammogram yet because we cannot afford it. I recently had to make a trip to the emergency room, and if the hospital had not accepted me into its program for those with no health insurance, I would have had to pay an enormous amount of money.

Following is a summary of some burglary reports made to police recently in Richmond and in Chesterfield and Henrico counties. RICHMOND POLICE 700 block of China Street, between 3:40 p.m. July 25 and 1:43 a.m. July 26, someone stole a laptop computer and a television. CHESTERFIELD POLICE 2600 block of Hicks Road, between noon July 24 and 1 p.m. July 26, items were stolen.

Charges against a Rhode Islander accused of sex crimes against a 13-year-old Bedford County girl will move to a grand jury. Andrew Fitzgerald Holloway, 21 at the time of his arrest in February, waived his preliminary hearing Monday in Bedford County Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court. Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Wes Nance said a mental-health evaluation caused the delay in bringing Holloway’s case to court.

Monica Plumb, an 11-year-old rising sixth-grader in Powhatan County, needed to build a lamp with simple materials at a summer engineering camp. So she filled a box with pennies for the base, taped toilet paper rolls together for a pole, got a light bulb socket with a battery and held it in place with coils, which stuck out and helped adorn the bulb. Then she covered it with pink duct tape.

LeBron James was more Don King than King James as he faced the cameras to promote the huge event planned for next summer. “I think July 1, 2010, is a very big day,“ he said last November. “It’s probably going to be one of the biggest days in free agent history in the NBA.“ Unless James and his pals call the whole thing off. The Cleveland Cavaliers can offer the NBA’s MVP a contract extension tomorrow, shortly after fellow potential 2010 free agents Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh became eligible to receive theirs on the three-year anniversary of the signing of their last deals.