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Opinion

  • Honoring the Bedford Boys

    Across a vast ocean, 11 boys from Bedford, Virginia are buried overlooking the windswept beaches of Normandy.  Bedford lost 19 during the D-Day liberation…the greatest proportional loss suffered by a single town on that day.  In words inscribed on the wall of a chapel that lies amidst the rows of crosses we are given the following charge: “Think not only upon their passing.  Remember the glory of their spirit.”

  • Obama’s historic appeal...

        Last week, President Barack Obama was in Cairo, Egypt to give a speech that his administration billed as an appeal to a new beginning between the United States and the Muslim world. It did not disappoint.

  • Keeping their story alive

        I got to spend the end of last week in the company of heroes.

        On Thursday and Friday, I attended the Overlord Echoes conference, hosted by Liberty University and the National D-Day Memorial Foundation. Along with the historians, several World War II veterans spoke. There were soldiers, including a silver star recipient, a P-51 pilot and an airborne soldier who arrived in Normandy on D-Day via a glider.

  • Liberty University shows its true...

    Anyone familiar with the political mindset at Lynchburg’s Liberty University should not be surprised that the little college has banned its Democratic party student chapter. The real shock is that it ever allowed one in the first place.

        The very existence of the humble and courageous chapter, a handful of proud Democrats in a lion’s den of right-wing religious fanatics, is due to the high popularity of President Barack Obama among young people.

  • A theological response (Part II)

        This is the remainder of my attempt at the theological response that David McLoughlin sought for his letter published in our March 13 edition.

        I’ll make one last note on the Old Testament before going on to Mr. McLoughlin’s allegation that the New Testament contains multiple, conflicting Christologies.

  • With the money available, the...

    Staunton River will get its office space renovated this summer but students at Bedford Primary School will have to continue to wait to see if they will get a gymnasium. Let’s hope that wait isn’t too long.

  • Letters

    Keep the Memorial going

        The headlines of both the Roanoke Times and The News&Advance read “National D-Day Memorial at risk of closing.”(May29, 2009. ) As a volunteer of the Memorial and a citizen of Bedford County I implore the residents of Central Virginia not to let that happen.

  • Letters

    Needed: More job fairs

     

        On behalf of the Bedford County Ministerial Association I’d like to thank Thaxton Baptist Church for holding a job fair on Friday, May 15. On that day representatives of 12 companies that are hiring met with 30 people who came looking for work. I have no idea of the results but I’ll bet somebody who was unemployed on May 15 will be working soon, if not working already, as a result of that job fair. If so then every bit of work that went into that event was worth it.

  • Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine turns...

    Liberty University decided last week to remove its financial support of the LU College Democrats group, a move that seems in keeping with the pro-life and pro-family principles the college espouses. In fact, the university appears to be bending over backwards to make some accommodation for the group, but, apparently, to little avail.

  • A national energy tax is not the...

    As the summer months quickly approach and families start to plan vacations, our country continues to struggle with high energy costs.  Unfortunately, Congressman Henry Waxman, Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and other Democrats in Congress are strongly pushing legislation which implements a cap and trade system or more accurately: cap and tax.  The simple truth behind the Waxman energy plan is that it raises taxes, kills jobs and will lead to more government intrusion.

  • Dick Cheney, torturer in chief

        Like a dazed dragon you thought you’d slain, former vice president Dick Cheney has arisen from the muck and the ruin of the Bush administration to become the new spokesman for something he really believes in: torture.

        Republicans may have thought they had it bad enough when their only spokesman seemed to be radio fanatic Rush Limbaugh. Now they’re saddled with the angry and smug countenance of a man many of them are horrified to see as the new face of their party.

  • A theological response (Part I)

        In our March 13 edition, a frequent letter-writer named David McLoughlin, wrote expressing skepticism about the Bible (Which Bible?) and who Jesus is. Then, in our May 13 edition, he noted that nobody responded to his previous letter and asked if that means there is no theological response.

        With the thought in mind that atheists have their own holiday (April 1), area pastors may have simply chosen to ignore the letter. Here, at the risk of demonstrating that I’m not as wise as they, is my attempt at a theological response.

  • When it comes to the abortion...

    Republicans and Democrats alike should at least be able to give President Obama credit for stating this truth about the abortion debate to the 2009 Notre Dame graduating class Sunday: “No matter how much we want to fudge it ... the fact is that at some level, the views of the two camps are irreconcilable.”

  • Letters

    Don’t revise zoning laws: abolish them

        As the Bedford County Supervisors are considering a major revision to the county’s zoning laws, now is the time to ask a fundamental question: Who really owns the land?

  • A flawed immigration policy

    Amazingly each year there is a national immigration ‘lottery’ by which approximately 50,000 foreign nationals get green cards to become legal permanent residents of the U.S.  Each successful applicant is chosen at random and given permanent resident status based on pure luck. The visa lottery program threatens national security, results in the unfair administration of our immigration laws, and encourages a cottage industry for fraudulent opportunists. 

  • Give back to your community

    Whether you’re a marketing genius, a frustrated artist or a history buff, there’s a task for you in your community.  Turn a habit or a passion into a way to help others.  To submit information for your non-profit group, contact Mary Wiley, Bedford Community Health Foundation, at 586-5292 or info@healthybedford.org.

  • Democrats must soon choose governor...

    Only a few weeks remain now until Virginia Democrats must pick their nominee for governor to face Republican Attorney General Bob McDonnell in the fall.

        The paper’s policy forbids a direct endorsement of any candidate by its correspondents and writers, and I’m happy to abide by that. But I can tell you what many Democrats are weighing as they consider whether to select state senator Creigh Deeds, former delegate Brian Moran, and former DNC chair Terry McAuliffe.

  • Congratulations are in order

    Congratulations are in order for the Bedford area’s General Assembly delegation.

        The Family Foundation released its report card for the Virginia General Assembly, covering our state legislature for 2008 and 2009. The delegates and state senators were rated on their record for family-friendly votes. Senator Steve Newman, Delegate Lacey Putney and Delegate Kathy Byron all received a score of 100 percent.

  • With the temperatures getting...

    The temperatures are up, the sunscreen is out and the boats are back in full force at Smith Mountain Lake.

        National Safe Boating Week is May 16 – 22, which makes now the right time to remind boaters to be safe on the water. “First and foremost, boaters need to think about life jackets and plan to wear them,” a release from the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries states. Why? Because a significant number of boaters who lose their lives by drowning each year would be alive today had they worn their life jackets.

  • Letters

    Appreciates work

     

        On behalf of the Bower Center for the Arts and the Wharton Memorial Foundation, we want to express our appreciation for the work done by Amy Carter as our executive director.  As some of you may be aware, in this period of economic downturn, we, like many other non-profit organizations, are unable to continue to fund a salaried position.  We therefore regret that we have had to eliminate the executive director position which Amy Carter has so ably filled.