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10
Finally, it rains!
Oct 25, 2007It might not be enough to break the drought, but yesterday’s rain was certainly welcome. I didn’t hear even one complaint about it. Since autumn brings out the child in us all, I did what any adventurous adult would do - I went for a 3-mile run in the rain. It wasn’t too chilly; actually, it was quite invigorating.
How about you? Did you enjoy the rain? More seriously, will it be enough to spare us from Atlanta’s fate? It’s a bit alarming that leaders of that metro area didn’t sound the conservation alarm until lake levels dipped dangerously low.
Local leaders have offered mostly reassuring words about our water supplies. I haven’t heard any calls to avoid watering lawns or washing cars, for example. During drought years in West Texas, we always had those warnings.
In today’s topsy-turvy weather world, West Texas is looking pretty green compared to East Tennessee. I just returned from a brief trip to the Lone Star State and couldn’t believe how green everything was - the Live Oak, the scrubby Mesquite, even the yucca and cactus are green. And the lakes are full. Not the usual state of affairs on the windswept prairie.
Posted by Andrea Hopkins The goods on the candidates
Oct 17, 2007Detailed information on the Virginia 2007 election is now live on our Web site. We are posting the candidate’s questionnaires as we receive them. Some candidates have elected not to participate (for reasons known only to them, in some cases). Some candidates are just tardy with their answers, which will be added as soon as we get them.
We sent questionnaires to the Washington County School Board and Board of Supervisors candidates in contested races. Also, the sheriff’s candidates and the Circuit Court clerk candidates received questionnaires. Questionnaires were also sent to Delegates Terry Kilgore and Bill Carrico and their challengers, Jerry Taylor and Susie Garner, respectively. Only Carrico has sent his responses back to us. Hopefully, the others will do so shortly.
I encourage you to check out the elections page and use the information to weigh the candidates before going to vote on Nov. 6.
No surprise there
Oct 17, 2007Rep. David Davis says he won’t vote to override the president’s veto of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. No surprise. Davis votes pretty much in lock-step with the administration and the party bosses.
But is he serving the interests of his district?
Tennessee officials report that 56,000 children of uninsured working families will be denied health coverage because of Davis’ vote. Some of those children are bound to live in East Tennessee. Davis, who made his personal fortune in health care, would deny that care to children who by accident of birth don’t live in a family with his resources. Pretty cynical.
Davis trots out several strawman arguments to oppose the plan, including its supposed extension of benefits to illegal immigrants (actually, the amended version of the bill doesn’t even cover the children of legal immigrants). For a complete debunking of the SCHIP myths, check out this informative site by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
There is no good reason to oppose this bill. Davis should be ashamed.
